A. I like the story told about a truck driver who was hauling a load of 500 penguins to the zoo.
1. Unfortunately, his truck broke down.
2. He eventually waved down another truck and offered the driver $500 to take the penguins to the zoo.
3. Later that day the first truck driver got his truck fixed and drove into town and couldn’t believe his eyes!
4. Just ahead of him he saw the second truck driver crossing the street with the 500 penguins waddling single file behind him.
5. He jumped out of his truck, ran up to the guy and said, “What’s going on? I gave you $500 to take these penguins to the zoo!”
6. The man responded, “I did take them to the zoo, but I had enough money left over so now we’re going to the movies.”
7. See, that guy didn’t fully understand his assignment - he didn’t understand the command he had received.
8. Likewise, many of us who are disciples of Jesus are fuzzy about the command Jesus gave to His disciples.
B. Today, as we continue our series on discipleship, we are going to explore the command of discipleship – in other words, what is the mission and commission for disciples of Jesus?
1. Before we get into this important subject, let’s review what we have learned so far in our series on discipleship.
2. We have learned that being a disciple of Jesus involves a lot more than church membership and church attendance.
3. We have learned that a disciple is someone who is following Jesus, being changed by Jesus, and is committed to the mission of Jesus.
4. And we have learned that although the call of discipleship is open to everyone, not everyone answers that call because the cost of discipleship is everything we are and have.
C. So, what is the mission and commission for disciples of Jesus?
1. As we begin to answer that question, consider this illustration (borrowed from Tommy South).
a. Many of you know how much I enjoyed playing basketball over the years, and I still enjoy watching the SU basketball team.
b. But can you imagine how dull basketball would be if there wasn’t a goal at each end of the court?
c. Imagine 10 guys just running around the court playing keep away, but with no way to score a goal.
d. What makes basketball interesting and exciting is scoring more points than your opponent.
e. Without the goal of scoring, the game would not be nearly as interesting, and has no way to measure who wins.
2. I wonder if basketball without a goal isn’t something like what God sees when disciples of Jesus don’t know and obey the command of discipleship.
a. Do we as a church know what our goal and mission is?
b. Do we know what we are supposed to be accomplishing for Christ?
c. If we don’t know what the command and mission is, then we just end up with a lot of spiritual activity that may be good, but doesn’t necessarily move us toward fulfilling the real mission of Jesus.
D. When we study our Bibles, it isn’t hard to discover what the real command of discipleship is.
1. Jesus declared that the reason He came was “to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
2. Jesus hinted at the mission for disciples of Jesus when He first called those fisherman, Peter, Andrew, James and John, and told them He was going to make them fishers of people.
3. But it is in Jesus’ final words in Matthew 28 that He clearly states the command of discipleship: 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Mt. 28:19-20).
4. It is interesting to note that the imperative is the verb “make disciples,” not the verb “go.”
a. A better translation might be “as you are going, make disciples” or “wherever you go, make disciples.”
b. So what is the command for disciples of Jesus? It is to make other disciples of Jesus from people of all nations.
c. That is what we are commanded to do – that is our mission.
5. Notice that the command to make disciples in this verse involves two things: baptizing them and teaching them to obey all things.
a. “Baptizing them” represents the work involved in bringing them into a relationship with Jesus, and “teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you” represents the work involved in helping disciples grow and live faithful lives in Jesus.
b. Years ago, we used a mission statement based on this verse, we said: “Our mission is to make and mature disciples of Jesus to the glory of God.”
c. This is still the mission I am trying to follow and obey and it is the one that I am trying to help all of us follow and obey.
6. This mission wasn’t just for the apostles as some may try to claim.
a. How do we know that this command is for all disciples, not just those original disciples?
b. Because when Jesus commanded them to make disciples and then teach them to obey everything Jesus had commanded them, embedded in teaching everything is the perpetuating mission.
c. The apostles were to make disciples who were to teach others to make disciples, who would teach others to make disciples.
d. Can you see how the mission is embedded in the mission and is perpetuated from one generation of disciples to the next?
e. And so, until Jesus returns, this is what the church is supposed to be doing: making disciples who make disciples.
f. The command of discipleship isn’t just for preachers and missionaries or gifted evangelists, it is for all disciples.
7. Certainly disciples will be involved in disciple making in different ways depending on our personalities and giftedness, but all of us, as disciples of Jesus are expected to be engaged in carrying out the command of discipleship – the making of disciples who make disciples.
E. It is so important for us to understand what our real mission is and to focus on it, because there are many other good things that could be substituted as the main mission for disciples of Jesus.
1. Consider some of the many things that we have not been commanded or commissioned to do as disciples of Jesus:
a. We have not been commanded to alleviate hunger and poverty or create recreation programs.
b. We have not been commanded to take on the movie and TV industry or tackle illiteracy.
c. We have not been commanded to build low-income housing or to promote political campaigns.
d. We have not been commanded to create hospitals or to provide psychological counseling.
e. We have not been commanded to provide disaster relief or to alleviate drug and alcohol abuse.
f. We have not been commanded to provide day care centers or Christian Schools.
2. Do you see what I’m trying to show? None of these things are bad things to be involved in.
a. All of these things can be considered good, worthy efforts, and many disciples will be engaged in these kinds of ministries, but they should never take over as the church’s main mission.
b. Satan would love for the church to abandon its real mission and take up one of these secondary missions as the church’s primary mission.
c. No one else in the world can embrace the salvation and discipleship mission of the church—if we don’t embrace it, it won’t be accomplished.
d. Many other groups and organizations can take on these other needs I have listed, and churches and individual Christians can be involved, but we must always keep our eye on our real business—the saving of the souls of people – the making of disciples.
3. What ultimate good will we have done if we will have fed the hungry, provided recreation for the young, medical care for the sick, illiteracy for the illiterate if we have not brought salvation to the lost?
4. As you know, Jesus often ministered to some physical need in a person’s life, but it was always done in order to minister to the most important need—their spiritual need.
5. Disciples of Jesus must keep first things first – the making of disciples who make disciples!
F. So, how can each of us begin to fulfill the command of discipleship?
1. First, we can be active in reaching out to the lost, and second, we can be active in helping to mature and equip those who are already disciples of Jesus.
2. Let’s briefly explore those two parts of our mission separately.
G. Disciples of Jesus know and understand that we are to be involved in seeking and saving the lost, and yet how many of us are engaged in that kind of effort?
1. When was the last time you cultivated a relationship with an unbeliever and helped them become a Christian?
2. If the answer to that question is: “It has been a long time” or “I haven’t ever helped someone become a Christian,” then it might be helpful to ask ourselves why that is the case.
3. It might be helpful for us to recognize that we have different reasons why we don’t always fulfill the Great Commission as we would like to.
4. Perhaps the thing that holds us back the most is fear.
a. Fear of rejection - Fear of losing a friendship or our job - Fear of being considered a religious nut - Fear of handling tough questions - Fear of past failures in evangelism being repeated.
b. Each of those fears can and should be addressed with God’s help.
5. A second thing that often gets in the way of fulfilling the Great Commission is apathy.
a. For some of us it might be being too busy or being too distracted.
1. It’s not that we don’t care about the lost, we are just too caught up in other things to get around to helping them.
b. For others of us it might be that we don’t really believe that the lost are lost.
1. It has been reported that 50% of those who say they are Christian say that Satan and hell are not real.
2. And 2 out of 5 of those same people say that good people can earn their salvation.
3. Many people today say that it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe something.
4. The prevailing attitude is that the Bible, the Koran, and the Book of Mormon are all different expressions of the same truths and that they will all lead people to heaven.
c. But the Bible, however, tells us a different story.
1. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn 14:6)
2. Peter declared in Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” That name is Jesus.
6. With God’s help we can overcome our fears and our apathy.
a. With God’s help we can become more single-minded and convicted that the lost are really lost and that Jesus is the only one who saves.
7. One of the best ways to work on these hindrances is through prayer - Here are some things we can be praying about that will enable us to fulfill the great commission:
a. We can pray for the salvation of lost people, mention them by name.
1. God answers prayer, and the Holy Spirit is at work in the hearts of people even before they are Christians.
b. We can pray that our lives and words are a holy, sincere, testimony for Christ.
1. As Jesus said in Matthew 5:13-16, “you are the salt of the earth…you are the light of the world…let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
c. We can pray for opportunities to share your faith.
1. That was something that Paul prayed for and asked others to pray for, like in Col. 4, Paul wrote: Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should (Col. 4:2-4).
d. A final thing we can pray for is for laborers for the harvest.
1. Jesus said: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:37-38).
8. Prayer certainly is the best place for us to start fulfilling the great commission.
a. Andrew Murray said, “The man who mobilizes the church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization in history.”
H. So the first part of being engaged in the command of discipleship is trying to bring others to Christ, but the second part is helping new disciples and not-so-new disciples to grow and multiply.
1. And so, every one of us who are disciples of Jesus are to be faithfully living for Christ, helping lead others to Christ, and mentoring other disciples so they can be faithful and productive in Christ.
2. Unfortunately, many have mistakenly thought that the mission and goal was simply to bring people to a decision for Christ.
a. They put great effort into people in order to help them to believe, repent, confess their faith, and be baptized into Jesus, but then they move on to the next unbeliever.
b. These people leave new believers to find their way in Christ on their own.
3. Can you see how this approach to fulfilling the great commission falls far short and won’t lead to multiplication?
a. It would be like being a couple who loves to bring children into the world, but doesn’t like to parent them.
b. Leaving a new spiritual baby to raise itself, is just as illogical as leaving a new physical baby to raise itself.
c. Those who help bring physical or spiritual babies into existence have a responsibility to provide for them and guide them, right?
4. The apostle Paul is a great example for us in the discipling or mentoring process.
a. At one point in Paul’s missionary journeys, he took Timothy along with him to train him in ministry.
b. When Timothy was ready, Paul then sent him to minister on his own.
c. In Paul’s last letter to Timothy, he reminded him of this principle: You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also (2 Tim. 2:1-2).
d. In other words, Paul was saying: What I taught you, teach to others, who can teach others.
5. Here’s a powerful quote from Billy Graham: “One of the first verses of Scripture that Dawson Trotman, founder of the Navigators, encouraged me to memorize was 2 Timothy 2:2. This is like a mathematical formula for spreading the gospel and enlarging the church. Paul taught Timothy; Timothy shared what he knew with faithful men; these faithful men would then teach others also. And so the process goes on and on. If every believer followed this pattern, the church could reach the entire world in one generation! Mass crusades, in which I believe and to which I have committed my life, will never finish the Great Commission; but a one-to-one ministry will.”
a. Dr. Herschel Hobbs wrote: “The work of evangelism is never complete until the one evangelized becomes an evangelizer.”
6. And so this is the part of the command of discipleship that involves carrying out the “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
a. The goal is not to have converts to Christianity; rather the goal is to make disciples who in turn make disciples, who in turn make disciples – and the commission is carried on from spiritual generation to spiritual generation until Christ returns.
b. The great evangelist Dwight L. Moody said, “It is better to train ten people than to do the work of ten people, but it is harder.”
c. Each of us might be able to do the work of ten people, but then the work stops with us.
d. But if we train ten people, and train them to train others, then multiplication results.
I. So how can each of us begin to be engaged in the discipling and mentoring process?
1. Let me start by saying that no one is too old or too young a Christian to be mentored by someone and to mentor someone else.
2. Dr. Howard Hendricks wrote: “Every disciple needs three types of relationships in his life. He needs a ‘Paul’ who can mentor him and challenge him. He needs a ‘Barnabas’ who can come along side and encourage him. And he needs a ‘Timothy,’ someone he can pour his life into.”
3. So I want to encourage each of us to ask God to lead us to someone who is older or more mature in Christ who can mentor us, and to lead us to someone who is younger or more inexperienced in Christ whom we can mentor.
4. Once God makes clear who these individuals are, begin to spend time together – share life together, encourage each other, challenge each other in the principles of discipleship, pray together and hold each other accountable to grow in our obedience to the Lord.
J. There are many resources available to aid us in carrying out the command of discipleship.
1. We have developed resources for studying the Bible with unbelievers in order to help lead them to Christ.
2. We also have developed resources for studying the Bible with new believers in order to help grow them in their walk with Christ.
3. I want to challenge all of us as disciples of Jesus to prepare ourselves and engage ourselves in the mission of Jesus – the mission of making disciples who make disciples.
4. I want to challenge us to repent of anything that is holding us back from being engaged in carrying out the mission of Jesus.
5. And finally, I want to remind us that the power to carry out the command of discipleship does not come from us but is from the Lord.
a. Jesus promised to be with us always to the end of the age and God promises that His power would be at work in us and through us (Eph. 3:20) - What God expects, God empowers!
Resources:
The Disciple’s Mission, Sermon by Tommy South.
The Disciple’s Heritage, Sermon by Dave Mcfadden, SermonCentral.com
What is the Goal of a Disciple?, Sermon by K. Edward Skidmore, SermonCentral.com
