Many Christians refer to the Great Commission, but what does it mean? This is the story...

Definition

The term 'the Great Commission' is used as a clarion call for Christians to take the Christian message and expand the Church. Various verses and passages in the New Testament are used to create a theology for the 'Great Commission'.

It is not clear when the term the 'Great Commission' was first coined. The term is not used in the biblical text as such, although some modern Bibles may use it as a helpful sub-heading to Matthew 28:16-20. The first book in English with the title was 'The Great Commission' by Rev John Harris published in 1842.

The term seems to have been popularised in the Victorian era by James Hudson Taylor (1832-1905). He is often quoted as having said, 'The Great Commission is not an option to be considered, but it is a command to be obeyed.' The phrase then comes into more regular usage in Victorian Christian writing from the 1870s.

The key biblical passage traditionally known as the 'Great Commission' is found in different forms in all the synoptic Gospel accounts.

The Great Commission according to Matthew

When the Great Commission is quoted it is usually with the words of Jesus which close Matthew: 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age' (Matthew 28:18-20).

The Great Commission according to Mark

The parallel passage at the end of Mark has 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned' (Mark 16:15-16). That this is what happened is then elaborated, when the Gospel then closes with the verse, 'Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it' (Mark 16:18).

The Great Commission according to Luke

Luke wrote 'repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem' (Luke 24:47). Luke continues the story in the Acts of the Apostles when he reports Jesus saying: '...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth' (Acts 1:8).

Making disciples was the primary goal, and baptising and teaching are part of that process.

Eschatology of Mission

Some people have an eschatological drive to their mission. They want to see the whole world evangelised. Jesus says in Matthew 24:14, 'And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come' (Matthew 24:14 NKJV). Then John wrote: 'After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb' (Revelation 7:9).

Evangelisation

Some Christians talk optimistically about 'finishing the task', whether that is world evangelism, Bible translation, or the Great Commission itself. In reality it is an ongoing task, with the task continuing with each new generation, and Bible translation never finishes because Bibles need to be revised over time.

Evangelisation is the term used to mean taking the Christian message to people who do not have it. This is not a one-off process, and sometimes people talk about re-evangelisation for its ongoing work.

Mission has often been kick-started by outpourings of the Holy Spirit such as among the Moravians in 1727, the Methodist Evangelical Revival of the mid 1700s, and during the Welsh Revival of 1904. The American missionary Vincent Donovan, reflecting on his time with the Masai in East Africa in his book 'Christianity Rediscovered', wrote, 'Evangelisation is a process bringing the gospel to people where they are, not where you would like them to be.'

Understanding the scope

Some Christian agencies take the phrase 'every nation, tribe, people and language' in Revelation 5:9 and echoed in Revelation 13:7, as something which will be literally true, and strive to ensure that it will be. They aim to reach tribes, nations, people groups and languages with no or few Christian believers.

Sending

Jesus said to his disciples, '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). Jesus also said, 'Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you' (John 20:21).

The earliest missionary was Paul. He went on three missionary journeys and took the Christian message beyond the Jewish world to the Gentiles. He explained his rationale in Romans 10:14-15: 'How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?'

These passages led to the idea that people are 'sent' and the idea of 'sending agencies' which are mission agencies or missionary organisations, which facilitate and support the sending of individuals or teams to engage in Christian mission work.

It's coming home

The traditional idea of the Great Commission being 'Go!' to mean go overseas is changing. Parts of the world are now sending missionaries to the West, and it is becoming more common to find missionaries from places like Brazil, Nigeria and Korea in Europe. Movements of people across the world are changing the nature of mission. Many unreached peoples have representatives in the great cities of the world in modern diasporas. Instead of 'from the West to the Rest' it is now 'everyone to everywhere'.

Mission and Technology

Reviewing the history of mission through the ages, sometimes new initiatives in mission seem to have been preceded by technological breakthroughs. Think of the printing press which spread the Reformation, the development of ocean-going ships which took missionaries to far continents, and the modern digital developments enabling mobile phone Bible apps.

Conclusion

The Great Commission remains a central guiding principle for Christians engaged in evangelism at home and overseas. The idea of the 'Great Commission' has driven evangelism through the centuries, but has been interpreted and applied theologically in different ways. The idea of mission everywhere is shown in some churches which have a sign by the exit, which reads, 'You are now entering the mission field.' Perhaps we should think of today's world as pre-Revival rather than post-Christian.