As a Believer and a minister of God’s Word, missions is a subject that is very dear to my heart. Not just because I work in a missions movement. As a disciple of Christ, I do care about God’s Kingdom and God’s Kingdom is the foundation of the life of the Church. If God’s Kingdom didn’t continue to expand outside of early Palestine, Asia minor, then Europe, then some of us, like those of us here in South Africa would not have had the privilege of receiving the Gospel of Christ. This is the missionary cry of today – that this Gospel continue to move forward, breaking new grounds and barriers!
When we look at the ‘Great Omission’, sorry I mean the ‘Great Commission’ in Matthew 28, we see that fundamentally only Christ’s disciples can go out into the whole world and make disciples. Come to think of it, the very first generation of disciples went as far as India to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The disciple Thomas, the very one who we label, doubting Thomas, was the one who accomplished this feat (Foxe J. 1899:37). How much more should we have covered the globe with the Gospel by now, if that type of momentum continued.
What is the great challenge we face, what has or is keeping us from job done? I think somewhere along the line we stopped the pursuit of producing disciples in the vein of Jesus Christ, instead most try to produce well ‘churched’ people. The decline of the church in Palestine and Europe shows us that this model is unsustainable. People do not need religion, they need Christ! The Church is an instrument that was designed to always move forward, pushing back the boundaries of the kingdom of darkness (Matthew 16:18). Only light can dispel darkness and so only truly discipled individuals would embark on the journey of praying (Matthew 9:37), sending and going (Romans 10:14-15). Only those who have received grace can be truly gracious and take the Gospel to those who don’t have easy access to it. Whether that is next door, across the city or across national and cultural borders.
Reflection Questions
- Would you consider yourself a disciple of Christ, and if so why?
- What can you do to better share the Gospel?
- Can you think of at least one person you can pray for to receive the Gospel?
- Are you being Discipled? In other words, is there a number of mature Christians whom you hold yourself accountable to in your journey with the Lord?
- Can you see yourself discipling someone towards a devoted walk with Jesus? If not, what is holding you back?