There is a false teaching that reoccurs throughout the history of the church called "The Great Commission." It reoccurs because churches lose sight of their understanding of grace and turn to a works-based approach to Christianity. The teaching of the Great Commission is a human-effort approach to serving God.

Sometime in the 80s, this doctrine came back into vogue, and the church again embraced the Great Commission's pedagogy. The doctrine is still popular today, being the front and center of many modern churches - denominational and non-denominational. Many claim that Evangelism is the sole function of the church body. To be clear, Christians have four functions:

1. To honor, glorify and worship God (Our primary purpose)
2. To share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others
3. To minister to the needs of others
4. To grow in our knowledge and experience of Christ

 

The doctrine of the Great Commission is based upon Matthew 28. The scene is where the eleven disciples are gathered with Jesus, and Jesus is about to ascend into heaven. Jesus turns to them and says:

The teaching extrapolates from these verses that it is the mission of the church body to preach the Gospel to everyone. Often, this mission takes precedence over all other Christian activities.

 

It is also one of our primary functions, as mentioned above. The issue with the Great Commission is how and why we share the Gospel.

As you read this article, I hope to demonstrate that the words that Jesus spoke in Matthew 28 were instructions to the eleven Apostles, not a command to all Believers.

The doctrine of the Great Commission portrays sharing the Gospel as the sacred duty of all Christians - a command from Jesus. It dictates that all Christians should share the Gospel with everyone they know and meet. It subscribes to the idea that we are under orders from heaven to win souls for Christ. We are soldiers, Christian soldiers fighting a battle against the enemy to free the world from the slavery of sin.

It all sounds very noble and virtuous. The high moral facade of the movement attracts people who want to follow Christ because it sounds "Christ-like." Church leadership teaches these Christ-followers that Jesus commanded them to evangelize, so they jump in hook, line, and sinker.

The only problem is that the Great Commission is not valid! This particular commission is NOT our commission at all, as virtuous as it might seem. It is based entirely upon human effort and the idea that Jesus needs us to do this for him! It is all a lie, a very clever lie. It is taking a biblical event entirely out of context.

 

 

The doctrine is serving God through human endeavor. It is based entirely upon human effort, human planning, and human training. We decide whom we should approach, not the Holy Spirit. We decide what to say, not the Holy Spirit. We argue, convince, scare, outwit, and entice people into becoming Christians. There are classes, books, and videos on learning how to tell people about Jesus. These are the tactics and strategies of used car salesmen.

The Holy Spirit's role is to provide us with words to say. It is the role of the Holy Spirit to convict people of sin. It is the role of the Holy Spirit to give us opportunities. We are God's empty vessels filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Let's examine the Great Commission doctrine more closely:

 

The scene of Jesus talking to the Apostles before his ascension into heaven is recorded four times in the Bible:

1. Matthew 28:16-20
2. Mark 16:15-18
3. Luke 24:47
4. Acts 1:8

Of the four, the teaching of the Great Commission uses Matthew 28:16-20 almost exclusively. The reason is that the Matthew account is the easiest to teach and follow. The other accounts provide additional information; however, these are not utilized. There are a lot of questions that arise because of this:

• Mark 16 is never used because it also talks about how those given this commission will drive out demons, not harmed by poisonous snakes, not harmed by drinking poison, and they will heal the sick. These verses make the Great Commission doctrine extremely complicated.
• The Gospel of Luke mentions the whole thing almost as a passing thought.
• The Book of John does not mention it at all, which is very odd if the commission is so important.
• In the book of Acts, Jesus is clearly giving the commission to the eleven Apostles.

The doctrine of the Great Commission ultimately falls apart when one starts to study the Bible looking for support of the "mandate":

• Jesus was around for 45 days after his resurrection. He saw more than 500 people. If the Great Commission is so important, why wait until the hour of his ascension to tell only the eleven Apostles? Why wasn't he telling everybody the whole time?
• If the Great Commission is so important, why wasn't Jesus teaching the crowds this idea all along? Jesus touched upon Evangelism in his teaching, but nothing on the scale of the Great Commission.
• Why wasn't John the Baptist telling people to repent and be baptized and then go out and teach others to repent and baptize?
• Why isn't Paul telling the Galatians, the Thessalonians, or the Philippians, to "go into all the world and preach the Gospel?" Why isn't John, Peter, James, or Jude talking about this? Nowhere in the epistles is there any reference to the Great Commission.

 

This paradigm shift is evidence that church organizations are transitioning from the spiritual realm to the physical realm. Most churches today are driven by numbers and metrics. Most of their programs and instruction are geared toward efforts that increase their numbers and metrics. Making people feel good is an essential criterion in accomplishing this. The doctrine of the Great Commission is an effective tool for rallying people together, making them feel good, and giving them a common purpose.

We cannot worship God from the physical realm. We cannot produce real Christians from the physical realm. Only the Holy Spirit can bring about a fundamental transformation in the hearts and minds of Believers.

We must move forward in our understanding of sharing the Gospel with others. The reality is this:

• We share the Gospel not because it is our duty but because the Holy Spirit guides us to do so.
• We share the Gospel not using method and procedure but by allowing the Holy Spirit to provide us with the opportunities and give us the words to speak in our conversations,
• We share the Gospel not by choosing who we will talk to but by allowing the Holy Spirit to tell us who he has prepared.

 

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See Also:

• Sharing the Gospel