We can make the great not so great

I am amused and saddened by the disagreements that Christians have with each other when we are called to love God and also to love others. These disagreements give non-Christians more reasons to call us hypocrites and not follow Christ. My definition of a hypocrite is someone who says one thing but does something else – many times the exact opposite.

I am seeing that now with those who believe that evangelism is the only thing that we should be doing as Christians. They say they follow the Great Commission as we are directed by Christ but they only use one aspect of the Commission for their purposes, the part that says we should baptize others. Well that’s part of it but if you read it in its entirety (see below) you will see that there is more to it.

Matthew 28:19-20 – Great Commission

¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

See what I mean. It says go and make disciples, baptize them and teach them.

What happens if we only baptize but don’t teach as some churches do? We end up not making disciples and that is the opposite of what Jesus intentionally did when he was on earth. The whole process is to develop disciples. Disciples are followers, not just believers, and are those who are more committed to Christ. Notice that Jesus didn’t say ‘go and make volunteers’ or ‘go and make donors’. He said ‘go and make disciples’ and from the disciples you will find those who volunteer, give, teach, etc.

Pat Morley from Man in the Mirror states it this way in his new book ‘Man Alive’, an excellent book: ‘…a disciple is equipped by a process of ongoing spiritual teaching, growth and transformation. To not disciple (train and equip) people who profess Christ will almost always mean they become lukewarm in faith, worldly in behavior and hypocritical in witness. Evangelism without discipleship is cruel’.

What Morley is saying is that those who aren’t discipled become ineffective in spreading Christ’s message or susceptible to questionable teachings or other religions that don’t offer what Christianity does and may leave the faith.

So it isn’t a matter of baptizing only or teaching only it is doing all that is required in Matthew 28:19-20. Decide to work to follow the entire Great Commission and do not criticize or condemn those who only believe one way or the other. This may require you to get a mentor but we should work together to follow Christ’s teaching.