Fulfilling The Great Commission-Basics

"Go, send, or disobey."

- John Piper

Anyone who has attended a church for any particular length of time has heard of the Great Commission in one way or another. They have either read it, heard it read, or have heard Matthew 28: 18-20 preached at least once in their Christianity if not dozens of time. Most Christians would also probably agree with Hudson Taylor that, "The Great Commission is not an option to be considered, but a commandment to be obeyed." Yet so much of the Great Commission still goes unfulfilled.

I'll briefly unpack 4 common aspects of fulfilling this commandment. Pray. Give. Go. Send.

Pray. This should go without saying, but even in the age of technology, wealth, innovated ideas... God is still far more creative than anyone else and far more wealthy. Prayer is still the fundamental cornerstone in all that we as Christians are and should be. Yet I do believe God calls us to do more than pray.

Give. Probably the most common form of missions involvement (and just as important) is when believers give of their own finances. Never let a missionary tell you his or her job on the mission field, local or overseas, is more important than those that give financially - if he or she does then stop giving and they'll understand how important both sides are. More than likely though the missionary already understands this. The sacrifice of giving is just as great as one who lives overseas.

Go. When I quit my job during a failing economy and packed a few bags and took my wife and 4 month old baby boy across the ocean to the Philippines people thought I was crazy. They still think I'm crazy when I plan to quit my job again during the same failing economy and taking my toddler and 2nd newborn to Romania. Yet, this is what God has called my family to do. He calls certain people for a certain work. Some he calls to do missions in their work place, their neighborhoods, their friends - some he calls to head overseas to other countries.

Send. This form is really only done by churches or missions organizations. They help equip and train missionaries for their future work and provide a covering for that missionary in terms of praying, helping, supporting, encouraging them and making the missionary accountable while they are on the mission field. Missionaries enter dangerous territory when they decide to go as lone rangers without the backing of a church or organization.

Our family has been fortunate enough to be a part of Trinity Dallas Church where all four of these aspects are being fulfilled. They pray about missions and missionaries. They give-this year alone they've given over $200,000 to missions. They go-they have multiple scheduled missions trips open to the congregation each year, I think in 2012 they have 6 trips open. They also send. In our short time there we have already seen videos of missionaries they sent out and have heard missionaries speak that they personally sent out. They aren't the only church doing all 4 aspects but they are where we call home!
Like I said this post was mere a brief unpacking of fulfilling the Great Commission. There is much, much more to it than what is above but I felt compelled to simplify things and post a reminder of what we as believers should be doing.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28: 18-20