When talking about the Great Commission many people focus on either the Matthew Great Commission or the Mark Great Commission. Rarely do you ever hear someone talk about both being essential to our calling as Christians.
You’ll hear something like “we need to preach to everybody!”
or
“The Great Commission is about making disciples.”
When it’s really about both.
So here are the two:
15He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Mark 16:15-18
18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
So the Mark passage is all about Preaching to Everyone & the Matthew passage is about teaching or discipling all the nations.
Just a quick note on the Matthew Passage. It says to make disciples of nations. For too long we’ve been content to make disciples in nations when Jesus specifically commanded us to make disciples of nations.
Okay…I digress.
I believe the Mark commission is a generational commission whereas the Matthew commission is a multi-generational commission.
Mark says to preach to every creature in the planet. Lets say you finally find the last person on the planet who needs to hear about the Kingdom and you go up to them and begin to tell them how awesome Jesus is. And you’re so excited because this is the “last person” on the planet!
And while you’re sharing the 4 spiritual laws, or whatever method you prefer, a baby is born at that very second. In fact, in 2008 they figured out that 4 babies are born every second in the world.
So even if you have your gospel presentation down to 10 seconds 40 people have been born around the planet that you now need to go find!
Therefore the Mark Commission is every single generation’s responsibility because it is a perpetual work.
Now the Matthew Commission is a Multi-Generational command. Meaning you can do the work now and it will last 3 generations down the line.
I learned about this from non other than the golden arches, McDonald’s.
You can go to a MickeyD’s anywhere in the world and have the same experience nearly every single time. Ever wonder why?
It’s because this guy named Ray Croc got together with the McDonald brothers years ago and saw that they had something going for them. So Ray asked himself “How can I systematize this process so I can hand the system to a 15 year old kid and they can run it?”
And that’s what he did. He created a system that to this day is used all over the world. They basically sell you a business in a box for a million dollars. You put the system to work and it will work for you.
What does this have to do with the Great Commission?
Everything!
Jesus told us in the Matthew Passage that we are supposed to teach the nations to obey his commands. If Ray can do it with hamburgers; If he can teach a system that to this day works around the world if he’s there or not, surely we can teach a way to obey the commands of Jesus that will work in the nations no matter if we’re still alive or not.
And since we’re lining up the nations to the very design of the creator of the universe. It will work!
Just think…what if we taught Government officials & business men how to really obey the command of Jesus to let your yes be yes, and your no be no. That would make an amazing difference in our planet!
I believe in this so much that I write articles on this site about how to obey the commands of Jesus. I’d love your input also! So go visit those posts and leave a comment!
Many Blessings,
RK Castillo
I can’t find anything in the Bible that supports anything that you are saying. The Great Commission was given only to the Apostles that Jesus had chosen. There is no “we.” Only preachers are under the Great Commission. When you are under a commission, it’s all you do, no moonlighting is allowed. You work until the job is done, and you are paid. We pay you, and you do the work. You cannot ask me to do any free work, because the Bible expressly forbids it: Deut. 25:4. Why are you trying to get free work out of me? Are you trying to make me a slave? I wonder if my neighbor wants to be a miserable slave who gives a tithe of his income to a fat lazy clergyman whose only purpose in life is to rob the poor and take bread out of the mouths of children.
I recently calculated that if we took all the money given in one year to fat lazy clergymen in this country, WE COULD SEND SIX MILLION MISSIONARIES OUT TO INDIA AND AROUND THE WORLD….
So who gets to decide which clergyman is a fat and lazy one? Is there a weight limit?
And where do you expect to find 6 Million missionaries? The largest missionary organizations in the world have about 20-25,000 Full Time workers.
First of all, the Bible wasn’t written only for Apostles and Preachers. It was written for everyone. The Great Commission was given to the Apostles so they would teach people to obey everything Jesus commanded (Which includes the Great Commission!).
And it’s hard for me to believe that you actually believe obeying Jesus to make a difference in the world is “Free Work.” What you call “Free Work” Jesus paid with his life and rose from the Dead for.
Do you really think he gave his life so only a select few “preachers” in the world could obey him?
Dare I say, the way you are thinking is the problem in the body of Christ. It is the reason the Great Commission has not already been fulfilled.
great response admin.
i am amazed at the depths of incredible and creative thinking and excuse making that people will go to so as to avoid their responsibility to god.
matt 28 is jesus final command to his church. our obedience to that command (and all his others) is an indicator of how much we love god. our love for him is measured by our obedience to his commands (if you love me you will obey me).
there is a job to do and the hour is late… and yet we have those who say they love jesus trying to get out of obeying jesus.
all the while the lost are waiting for us
Excuse me, sheep-beater, I know you love to bring your bloody flagrum down upon the back of the working man to turn him into a miserable slave who despairs of life and eventually kills himself, but lets not talk about the fact that you are a murderer for the moment.
FREE WORK IS ILLEGAL. It violates at least nine scriptures: Deut. 25:4; Matt. 10:10; Luke 10:7; 1 Cor. 9: 7; 1 Cor. 9; 1 Cor. 14; 1 Tim. 5:18; 2 Tim. 2:6; Prov. 14:23. Free work is illegal. You can’t ask me to do any free work at all. The bloodstained/sweatstained dollars that generously provided from the calloused hand of the working man are sacrificial gifts and are service to God. Sadly, these hard-earned resources are wasted on Fat Lazy Clergymen (FLCs). FLCs don’t want to go and labor in the harvest field for the money we pay them, they want to sit in their comfortable offices and write stupid sermons and then preach to the choir. None of these lousy deadbeats are standing on Mars Hill crying, “Men of Athens!” as they should be.
During the week, the paid Christian is supposed be out knocking on doors and preaching house to house and in the streets. There are enough paid Christians in my town to evangelize the town in only ten hours. We paid them 6 million dollars last year. Nation wide, it’s around 10 billion dollars annually.
The reason the Great Commission has not been and will never be fulfilled is because FLCs syphon away resources that could be going to the mission field. These blood-sucking parasites just want to live comfortable middle-class life styles and retire in luxury and comfort. I’ve even heard stories about gifts earmarked for the mission field being taken for the building fund (and likely other things like country club dues). Look and see all the FLCs that have become wealthy off the backs of the working poor. David Jeremiah–$160,000 a year; Luis Palau–$240,000; John MacArthur–$120,000; and the list goes on and on. With all the billions going into the pockets of FLCs, we should not be surprised that we have so few funds left over to train and hire missionaries and evangelists ( all pastors are required to “do the work of an evangelist: 2 Tim. 4:5). It’s time to get rid of the clergyman, since he is the main reason why the entire world is going to hell. He sucks up all the resources, refuses to go and preach to the lost, and construes the Bible in such a way that he takes the money, BUT WE DO THE WORK. “Who serves as a soldier at his own expense?” (1 Cor. 9:7). Only paid Christians are soldiers. The church plays a supporting role, as any army cannot take the field without a supply of resources provided by a civilian population. WE HAVE BEEN PROVIDING YOU WITH RESOURCES FOR CENTURIES. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
Further, you erroneous interpretation of Ephesian 4:12 seems to be how we got in this mess. The purpose of the five-fold ministry IS NOT TO “EQUIP THE CHURCH FOR WORKS OF SERVICE.” This interpretation comes from Westcott and Hort (the two queers from Cambridge), and is not found in the KJV, which renders the scripture correctly, as the three clauses are adverbial in nature, and cannot modify any other than the main verb “gave.” Subordinate clauses are not permissable in the old Greek (see T. David Gordon).
Additionally, your “Whatsoever I have commanded you” argument seems to be overlooking a particular command: “The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel shall make their living of the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:14). Since this is a command, why don’t you obey it? Aren’t you asking us ALL to go and preach the gospel?
Every Christian should go and bring the Gospel to the world. Jesus paid for all of us with His Blood. There are so many people in this world that never knew about Salvation. They never knew about the first coming of Jesus Christ never mind about the second. Have been on 23 Mission trips with DMI (Disciple Making International) : in 8 countries of Africa, Ukraine and Russia. and know first hand.
None of us get paid, just some of us can’t pay the trip to go, but God provides.
I am ready to go again if It is God’s will. Only by going and doing you will realize how important it is ti bring the Gospel. God bless !!!
Disciple Making International (DMI) has seen thousands of people find a relationship with Christ through teams who share their faith stories alongside national believers. You will visit homes around the local church, share your testimony with the help of your local partner,and present the plan of salvation. For those who respond to the gospel in a positive way, you will return for a follow-up lesson. If you haven’t had the experence of leading someone to Christ -why wait? Amazingly, many Christians have not had that experience.