The Great Commissions: John

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After Jesus rose, He spent forty days teaching His disciples. Some of that teaching is recorded in the four Gospels and in Acts. Though we often think of Matthew 28:18-20 as the Great Commission, it is actually just one of four sayings that Jesus said to commission His disciples. When we put all four together we get a much more robust picture of the role Jesus wants us to play.

This is the third in a series of posts that is looking at each of the Great Commission statements of Jesus. Interestingly only one of these is in the imperative and that was in Matthew (“make disciples”). So, once again, when we come to the Johannine Commission, we find an indicative.

John 20:19-23

In the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because of their fear of the Jews. Then Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” Having said this, He showed them His hands and His side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” After saying this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Context: Same context as Luke, but from John’s perspective. In other words, this is the same day as the resurrection and Jesus is, for the first time, revealing Himself to all of the disciples. The text tells us that this was the first day of the week (Sunday) and that the disciples were cowering behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jews.

Here are a few insights from this passage:

  • We know Jesus now has power over the temporal world because He is able to enter a locked room. However, we can’t make too much of this as some sort of new ability of Jesus and tied exclusively to His resurrected body. Rather, this is typical Jesus in that He is able to do whatever needs to be done to bring glory to God. For example, is walking on water any more or less spectacular than being able to enter a locked room?
  • “Peace to you!” might have been more of an attempt of preventing heart attacks than it was a typical greeting. What would you do if someone you thought was dead appeared in a locked room?
  • After proving His identity by miraculously appearing in a locked room and then showing the disciples His wounds, Jesus says, “Peace to you!” again. The disciples must have been jumping up and down and falling all over themselves after seeing that this was, in fact, Jesus!
  • The phrase Jesus speaks that is often referred to as the Johannine Commission is “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” So, how did the Father send the Son? The first thing that I’m reminded of is how shockingly miraculous AND humble Jesus’ first days were in the flesh. What other thoughts do you have about how the Father sent the Son?
  • Jesus sends us in that same way! We are a part of a divine plan. Does this give you a sense of purpose? It’s the greatest story ever told and we are participants in that story!
  • When Jesus breaths the Spirit on them, this is not Pentecost. That happens several weeks later after Jesus’ ascension. Instead, this could be a promise of the Spirit.

Conclusions: The Johannine Commission is stated very simply yet it is extremely profound. There are a lot of similarities in how we are sent and how Jesus was sent. Jesus invites us and commissions us to go into the world and be a part of reconciling the world to God. It’s our purpose. Jesus may have sent us to our job site, but He sent us there to do what He was sent to do, and not just pull down a paycheck each month. We are sent to our family, our co-workers, and our friends with a purpose. Of course, other parts of the Gospels explain more about a) how Jesus was sent and b) what our task is as a result by being sent, but this one statement lets us know that we won’t be complete if we are just living a selfish life. It’s time to join Jesus’ purpose and live sent.

What insights have you gleaned about the mission Jesus has called us to from John 20:19-23?

The Great Commissions: Luke

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The Lukan Commission is quite different from the Matthean Commission (which is usually the one we think of when we think of the Great Commission). This series of posts is intended to help broaden our understanding of what Jesus wants us to do with our time, our talents, our resources, and our passions. Jesus gives His disciples a purpose. The Matthean Commission is extremely important and should not be diminished by this series of posts, but the other commissionings of Jesus are equally informative and important and help us to have a more robust understanding of our role in God’s plan.

Luke 24:44-49

Then He told them, “These are My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. He also said to them, “This is what is written: the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And look, I am sending you what My Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.”

Context: This commissioning took place on the same day as the resurrection and it happened in Jerusalem with the 11 “and those with them” including Cleopas and his friend who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus. When Jesus appeared in the room they were startled and thought He was a ghost. So He confirms His humanity by asking for some food. He also confirms that the cross wasn’t an illusion by showing them His scars.

Here are a few insights from this passage:

  • Jesus first says that everything that has happened is a fulfillment of prophecy.
  • He opens their minds to understand the Scriptures. By doing this, Jesus is confirming the role of Scripture in the life of the disciple. (Note: The Matthean Commission also points us to Scripture when it says we are to teach disciples “to observe everything I have commanded you”.)
  • Jesus’ teachings are then summarized by Luke: “This is what was written…” 1) The Messiah would suffer, die, and rise in three days (meaning that a child of God cannot deny the resurrection of Jesus). 2) Jesus’ death and resurrection accomplishes forgiveness to those who repent (meaning that a child of God is one who has repented from sin and has received forgiveness from God). 3) This repentance and forgiveness are to be extended to all nations beginning in Jerusalem.
  • There is no command here, just a simple statement that “You are witnesses of these things.” You can’t be a witness of these things and not experience transformation. Unlike the Matthean Commission, the Lukan Commission focuses on who we are as a result of walking with Jesus. There’s no need to remind them, at this point, of what they should be doing, instead, there is simply a reminder of who they are: witnesses.
  • To those who are witnesses of these things, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit because He promised to do so. Meanwhile, the disciples are to “stay” in the city until they are empowered from on high. In our hurry to “go”, Luke emphasizes Jesus’ command to “stay” and wait on the Spirit. In fact, “stay” is the only imperative in this passage. This staying resulted in the Day of Pentecost when they were truly empowered to be witnesses. In other words, it’s not enough to just be a spectator, we also need God’s Spirit to give us words to say, to draw people to Himself, and even to give us opportunities to “bear witness” to that of which we are witnesses.

Conclusions: One of the intriguing things about Jesus’ mission and the subsequent commissioning of His disciples is that his birth, life, death, and resurrection were all the fulfillment of prophecy. But until it actually happened with witnesses, it was only a future hope. The resurrection inaugurated an “already but not yet” era that would be corroborated by His witnesses. That present reality still exists today by those of us who are also witnesses and disciples of Jesus.

What insights have you gleaned about the mission Jesus has called us to from Luke 24:44-49?

Collision: Hitchens vs. Wilson

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I must be way behind the times, but I just found out about a documentary / debate called Collision. It’s a behind the scenes look at a series of debates held by prominent atheist Christopher Hitchens and an evangelical pastor and apologist Douglas Wilson.

The documentary explores the question: Is Christianity Good for the World?

Christopher Hitchens describes himself not as an atheist, but as anti-theist. He is probably most known for his book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (2007).

Douglas Wilson, on the other hand, has written several books about marriage and childrearing, including his book Reforming Marriage (1995). However, he does a lot of speaking and teaching on worldview and apologetics.

Hitchens sets the stakes high for this “collision” between the two when he says, “One of us not just has to lose the argument but has to admit real moral defeat. I think it should be him.”

You can watch a 13 minute preview of Collision here.

There’s also a good review of the documentary by Chuck Colson on his blog.

You can buy the DVD here or rent it and watch it On Demand [affiliate links].

If you’ve seen this movie, care to let us know some of your thoughts? Or, if you’ve read anything by either of these guys, feel free to share some of your reactions to their work here!

(HT: Theonology)

The Great Commissions: Matthew

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Matthew is not the only one who records Jesus teaching and commissioning His disciples after the resurrection. In addition to the Matthean Commission there are two Lukan Commissions and one Johannine Commission (there’s also a Markan Commission but it is in a disputed text). Jesus spent forty days after His resurrection teaching His disciples about the mission He was sending them to do.

In this series of posts I want to look at each of these Great Commission texts to mine them for insights into the mission that Jesus gives to us to complete.

Matthew 28:16-20

Matthew is a good place to start since Matthew is the first Gospel in our New Testament. However, that doesn’t mean that the Matthean Commission happened first. In reading through these various commissionings of Jesus, it’s clear that Jesus spent the forty days between His resurrection and ascension “commissioning” and teaching, and training His disciples on a number of matters. He spent time teaching them and explaining to them their task. Since Jesus spent a lot of time with His disciples, the chronology of these Great Commission passages aren’t as important, though I do hope to share a bit of context for each one as this series unfolds.

So let’s take a look at what Matthew records starting at verse 16:

The 11 disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. When they saw Him, they worshiped, but some doubted. Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Context: On the mountain in Galilee. It says that when the disciples first saw Him in Galilee, they worshiped, “but some doubted”. These first words of Jesus upon seeing the disciples in Galilee were meant to establish His identity and allay their doubts. Jesus had spent His entire ministry making disciples and now He is telling those disciples to carry on the task. Note that this is not the first time they’ve seen Jesus alive, but they still have doubts.

Here are a few insights from this passage:

  • This commission is not a suggestion or  wishful thinking. Jesus says, “All authority has been given to Me on heaven and on earth.” In other words: take note of what I’m about to tell you to do and then do it!
  • Jesus tells them: “[As you are going], make disciples of all nations…” This is to be a way of life and it’s a global mission.
  • Two essential elements of the ‘making disciples of all nations’ process is to baptize and to teach.
  • Baptism is done in the name of the Trinitarian God. Belief in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is not optional for a child of God.
  • “Teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” This is a perpetual commissioning because this includes the Great Commandments (love God and love your neighbor as yourself) and the Great Commission. If they don’t make disciples then they are disobeying Jesus’ commands and the church is never established.
  • Jesus will always be with us. This is a relationship-oriented, not a task-oriented, mission. We have a relationship with Jesus and Jesus is asking us to do something similar to the relationship building that He did with His disciples (the 12 AND all the other disciples).

Conclusions: When we engage in disciple making, we must realize that we have not made a disciple if they are not trained or are unwilling to make disciples themselves. The Great Commission passages are about reaching the nations through baptism, teaching, and multiplication. If we aren’t engaged in these sorts of activities then we are not obedient to Jesus’ primary will for His followers to fulfill the Great Commission. If we are engaged in activities that don’t result in baptism, teaching, and multiplication of disciples then we need to rethink our activities and maybe loosen up our schedule. Thankfully, Jesus provides a model for making disciples and we have God’s Word, and God’s Spirit to guide us. So get started!

What insights have you gleaned about the mission Jesus has called us to from Matthew 28:18-20?

Disciples of Jesus Multiply

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Sadly, there are a lot churches that are really good at addition, subtraction and division, but not multiplication.

It’s easy to settle for addition, because at least it is positive growth. Addition is safe. Addition is comfortable. But addition is often the result of a lack of vision and mission. Church leaders get bogged down in caring for the urgent and the existing members are happy because the attention is all on them. Sometimes people move into the area and just naturally look for a church. Put out a sign and we can probably grow through addition.

However, addition is just a step away from subtraction. People start to withdraw from the church when the church has no purpose. I bet more people leave the church out of boredom than from being called to fulfill the Great Commission.

Let’s not even talk about division…

Multiplication requires vision and leadership. Multiplication requires sacrifice and commitment. Multiplication is what disciples of Jesus are doing. Multiplication takes much prayer and a lot of hard work. Multiplication requires evangelism and a passion for making disciples. Bill Hull says,

If the church fails to make disciples, it fails to multiply. If the church fails to multiply, it fails.

We all know that division is failure, but so is subtraction and addition. Multiplication brings glory to God. It is what we are commissioned to do. If it’s division, subtraction, or addition, it may or may not be from God, but if it’s multiplication and it brings Him glory, there’s no doubt it’s of Him!

My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples. (John 15:8 HCSB)

JD Payne in New England

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Today I was a part of a training event for church planters hosted by the Baptist Convention of New England. The guest speaker was JD Payne, author of “Discovering Church Planting: An Introduction to the Whats, Whys, and Hows of Global Church Planting” (Affiliate Link). Everyone in attendance received a copy of the book so I’m sure I’ll be reviewing it here at ChurchETHOS soon.

JD Payne is a national missionary with the North American Mission Board and is an Associate Professor of Church Planting and Evangelism at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY where he also directs their church planting center. He has written two other books and is the founder of northamericanmissions.org.

Here are a couple of insights from JD Payne’s research and missiology from today’s talks (and also from some blog posts and other data I’ve gotten from him in months past):

There are 29 metro areas in the US with fewer than 5% of the population who are evangelical.

When I looked through this data, I discovered that 11 of the 29 metro areas are in New England and I’m living in one of them! Here are some more nuggets:

The way we are planting churches in North America must change. There are 4 billion people around the world who are not following Jesus and 2 billion who have never even heard of him. Our methods need to change if we are going to reach them with the gospel.

Payne’s definition of church planting: evangelism that results in new churches. Question: can you plant a church without evangelism?

If you have a shaky theology then your missiology will be shaky, if your missiology is shaky then your missional practices will be on shaky ground. Our theology informs our missiology informs how we do mission.

Suggested ethical guideline for church planting practices: Since the global need for the gospel is so great, unless God reveals otherwise, we will begin our ministry among people with the greatest need and with a high level of receptivity to the gospel.

Another suggested ethical guideline: Since the world consists of four billion unbelievers, with two billion who have never heard the gospel, our strategy will involve the use of highly reproducible church planting methods.

I couldn’t agree more with JD about these guidelines and some of the thoughts he conveyed at our meeting. I will be sharing more of his insights and my responses in the weeks ahead, but for now I thought I would share some of the highlights!

What are your thoughts to some of his research and insights about church planting in North America?

Embodying Our Faith by Tim Morey

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Embodying Our Faith:
Becoming a Living, Sharing, Practicing Church
by: Tim Morey
Paperback: IVP Books, 2010.
Buy now:  [ Amazon Affiliate Link ]

Tim Morey (D.Min., Fuller Theological Seminary) is a church planter and pastor. His church, Life Covenant Church is located in Torrance, California. He is also on the national church planting team for the Evangelical Covenant Church and is an adjunct professor teaching practical theology at Talbot School of Theology.

Tim Morey asks the following question in his introduction to “Embodying Our Faith”:

“How do we bring the message of Jesus to a culture that is deeply skeptical about truth claims, rejects metanarratives (such as the gospel), considers the church a suspect institution, takes offense at moral judgments and believes any religion will lead them to God?”

When put that way, our task seems a bit overwhelming. However, Morey does a great job of developing a philosophy of church planting for those of us who are church planters while simultaneously making evangelism in a postmodern context a simpler concept to understand. This book is a must read for church planters but it’s also a must read for anyone in the church who seeks to understand how God is moving in our post-Christian, postmodern culture of relativism and how we can join Him in showing love to our neighbors.

Embodied Apologetics

At the root of this book is the concept of “embodied apologetics”. He writes

By this I mean an apologetic that is based more on the weight of our actions than the strength of our arguments.

I underlined this sentence 12 times in my copy of Morey’s book. He’s not saying that we abandon our logical understanding of Truth. In my head I envision a person standing on two feet. One foot represents logical arguments for the gospel. The other foot represents our experience of the gospel. In today’s society, I believe Morey is suggesting that the weight is shifting from one foot to the other; from the logical foot, to the experiential foot. However, we still stand on both feet. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.” We need to maintain our understanding of the truth but realize that many people need to see our faith in action before they will ever consider the truth. Morey spends a lot more time explaining an embodied apologetic than most others who have talked about the concept and I appreciate his ability to take an abstract concept and make it concrete.

More from Morey concerning an embodied apologetic:

The Christian life is not meant to be an objective pursuit of orthodox doctrine but is embodied in those who follow a Person rather than a dogma.

Seldom do you find [in the book of Acts] a proclamation of the gospel without an accompanying experience of the gospel.

Contextualization

From describing an embodied apologetic, Morey then turns to contextualization in the chapter entitled, “Same Wine, Different Skin”. Again, he is able to succinctly describe a vision for the present about how we should contextualize the gospel. Morey wants the church to start being on mission. As church members, we are missionaries in our own neighborhood. He writes:

The task of every missionary is to understand the culture to be reached and to bring the undiluted gospel to that culture in a form that will be understandable to the hearers. This process is known as contextualization.

His point is that we shouldn’t think that this process is only for the missionary in Japan who wears a kimono or the missionary in Ecuador who learns to speak Spanish. In our own communities, we need to begin to grasp the “language” of our neighbors and begin to think more missionally about how to share our lives with them. He quotes Eddie Gibbs:

The contextualized church “represents a serious attempt to engage with the cultural setting in which the local church is endeavoring to bear witness,” whereas the market-driven church “signifies a church that tailors its message and employs any gimmick in order to attract a crowd.”

Clearly, Morey believes we should be more relationship-driven and he calls this “the contextualized church”.

Disciplemaking

Evangelizing baby boomers is like picking fruit from an aging tree, while evangelizing postmoderns is like fertilizing the roots in hope that fruit will one day appear.

Agree? Disagree? In chapters 3 and 4, Morey talks about what it means to make disciples in a postmodern context. In Morey’s mind, we shouldn’t be separating evangelism from discipleship. Jesus didn’t seem to reserve spiritual practices only for those who were “members”. Here’s what Morey says:

Jesus seemed largely unconcerned with who was in and who was out (“You do not want to leave too, do you?” [Jn 6:67]), but simply called all to follow regardless of where they were at in the process, always inviting them to go deeper.

In other words, Morey believes that we are seeing a shift in how people come to Jesus and it may not be a one time event…it might be a process. He describes several shifts for us to consider today:

  • Evangelism as an event to evangelism as a process
  • Impersonal evangelism to personal evangelism
  • Rational apologetics to an embodied apologetic

Too often we present the gospel as a set of truths we must subscribe to, as opposed to a relationship with Jesus.

Elements of an Embodied Apologetic

Throughout the book, Morey is developing a way of thinking about the needs of our postmodern neighbors and how the church naturally meets those needs through an embodied apologetic.

An embodied apologetic must be experiential. Our worship gatherings are, by nature, experiential. Especially when we include elements of communion, prayer, silence,  music, food, Psalms, ancient writings, story, giving, art, meditation, preaching, teaching, and benediction as Morey suggests. This experiential worship resonates with postmoderns who have a need for transcendence.

An embodied apologetic must be communal. This happens through our small groups, hospitality in our homes, mentoring, accountability, confession, etc. These practices really meet the needs of postmoderns who are longing for authentic community.

Finally, an embodied apologetic must be enacted. The church should be active in compassion and justice both locally and globally. This meets the needs of postmoderns who are trying to find their purpose.

These three elements of an embodied apologetic – experiential faith, communal faith, and enacted faith – are the subject of the final three chapters of the book. These last three chapters are extremely practical and helpful. Notice also that all three of these expressions of our faith are extremely natural and Biblical. They may not be easy, but this is the essence of how God wants us to live. There is nothing new about the gospel or even about how to share the gospel, Morey simply does a good job of matching the needs of our postmodern neighbors to the fulfillment of those needs in Jesus as we live, share, and practice our faith in front of others.

Free TNIV Renaissance Fine Leather Bible from ChurchETHOS

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This giveaway has already been given away. Look for more opportunities to get free books from ChurchETHOS in the future. Meanwhile, join the conversation! It’s fun!

________________

Thanks to everyone who reads my blog and takes the time to share in the conversation!

To show my appreciation, I’m giving away a free Bible to one random ChurchETHOS reader.

The Bible I am giving away is the TNIV Reference Bible from Zondervan. It is the Renaissance Fine Leather edition and is sold for $99.99. In order to qualify, please do the following:

1. Share this post with others on twitter or facebook (use the buttons below the post).

2. Share your favorite Bible verse in the comment section. Or, if you don’t have a Bible, please let me know why you want a copy!

3. Fill out the special contact form that I’ve created to get your mailing address. Sorry, I can only send U.S. on this one!

The chance to get this copy of the TNIV will be over on March 24th at 9PM EST. I will then use random.org to select a random winner! Thanks again for reading, commenting, and sharing ChurchETHOS!

The following is from Zondervan:

The complete text of the TNIV–the most readable and scholarly accurate translation available today–in an attractive single-column setting with a full set of cross references. Also includes other convenient study features.

Description:

Perfect for pastors and teachers who have adopted the TNIV translation—it’s just what they requested in a reference Bible: premium leather binding, single column, full references, two ribbon markers, black-letter edition.

The TNIV Reference Bible is the perfect TNIV for a more in-depth study of God’s Word. The TNIV is the newest translation of God’s Word with the most up-to-date scholarship available today, and it is now available in this larger-format, single-column setting.

Because it is easy to read (no study notes or visuals to clutter the page), it is perfect for use anywhere from the college campus to the church auditorium to the airplane seat.

The full set of cross references aid in studying the biblical text from Genesis to Revelation, and a helpful set of bottom-of-the-page topical ties creates a topically oriented study path to expand this Bible’s flexibility. A helpful concordance is also included—a must in any reference Bible. This black-letter edition of the TNIV is the best, most comprehensive reference Bible available today.

You Share Jesus Like A Girl!

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My dad, who is a pastor in Alabama, has been doing a lot of thinking about the story of Jesus and the Samaritan Woman. He has been preaching on the topic at his church and has recently started a blog series about his thoughts. I’m looking forward to hearing more from him about this and I thought I’d let you in on the fun!

One of his thoughts in his first post is about how the disciples went into town to get some food but really didn’t want to be in Samaria. They could’ve used the opportunity to give “living water” to the residents there. However, when the woman realized who Jesus was, she went and told the entire town about Him! Dad writes,

I discovered from this biblical passage that I would rather witness like the woman than to witness like the disciples. She went back to the village and said “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could this be the Messiah? (John 4:28)

When Jesus truly transforms our lives, it’s worth telling people!  I’ll let you read the rest here.

Church Planting is People Planting

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There’s a lot of imagery in Jesus’ parables of sowing seeds. We use the same imagery when we talk about “church planting”. The essence of church planting is simply sowing seeds of the gospel into our neighbors lives. This becomes harder and harder for established churches as the outward focus shifts inward.

But that’s okay! The good news is that anyone can be a people planter!

Regardless of whether or not we are starting a brand new church or are a part of an established church we can be involved in people planting. Every church leader can invest in people. Every church member can invest in people too! Another way to say that is, we are all called to obey the Great Commandment and fulfill the Great Commission.

Plant a seed. Pray! Water it. Pray! Watch it mature. Pray! Repeat!!

Our neighbors need to know about the good news and all of us are called to share it with them. People planting is about investing in the lives of our neighbors. We need church planters to be people planters. We need established church leaders to be people planters. We need church members to be people planters.

He is like a tree planted beside streams of water
that bears its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers. (Psalm 1:3)

Are you a people planter? Are you equipping others to be people planters?