The Great Commission Does Not End with Evangelism

Matthew 28:19-20 NASB – “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

As careful reading of v.20 will show, the Great Commission does not end with evangelism. Unfortunately, many seem to focus exclusively on this part of it. Sure, it is awesome to see people coming to Christ and seeing the Church of God grow. Growth, however, does not end with numerical advances; rather, it begins as new believers are then to be taught and encouraged as they grow in the knowledge and grace of Our Lord. For many pastors, Christians, and churches, this part of the process, discipleship, has been lost due in part to the euphoria of success driven by the desire for numerical growth. Unlike salvation decisions and baptisms, the process of maturity within a believer’s life cannot be reduced to numbers. Furthermore, the sheer amount of effort required of the church and the believers to engage in the process of maturation requires consistent commitment over the lifetime of the believer.

Churches that truly honor the Great Commission will spare no effort when it comes to edifying their members. This, of course, would include sound instruction in the Word (that appeals first to the mind), personal encouragement to remain faithful, and even correction and rebuking for those who have gone astray. Such churches will not shy away from the confrontation (and conflict) required when a sinning member is in need of church discipline. Such churches will value the pleasing of God over the pleasing of men even if this means, in the short term, everyone’s peaceful bliss has to be disturbing as the Word of God is employed to confront sin head-on.

Instead of performing the ongoing and biblically correct ministry of the word, many churches have chosen to reduce their people to seat warmers on a Sunday morning. These churches typically focus heavily on emotionalism and experientialism with little to no regard for the sound instruction wrought by expositional preaching where the sermon is rooted in the revelation of God and the minister’s task is solely to make that revelation clear in the minds of the people. These churches often rally around the Great Commission flag and make the task of evangelism their end all be all task. For example, Steven Furtick, megachurch pastor of Elevation Church, has told his congregation that once they become members the church is no longer for them. On the surface, this sounds good as it raises the evangelistic endeavor to the status of being the exclusive mission of the church. Despite the seeming worthiness of such a call, Furtick has failed to consider v.20 of the Great Commission, and for that matter, has failed to consider why Paul bothered writing his many letters to the churches as he taught, admonished, and even rebuked as he ministered to them and prayed for them in the hope that they would reach maturity.

This hyper-focus on evangelism has led to an American church which has become increasingly weakened by half-baked Christians who may hold resolutely to what they hope is a secure salvation (and is if they are truly saved) but fail to embark on the messy life of holiness to which all Christians are called. Venturing down this path may even seem wrong to these ‘Christians’ as it will mean an initial disturbance in their own peace as they confront their own sins and even those of others in their churches.