A theology of the Great Commission is inextricably tied up with a theology of the church. King Jesus, after all, commands the believing community to baptize the nations, and to plant congregations across the planet. Contemporary evangelicals seem to recognize at least this much. What is often missed, however, is the authority Christ grants to his church in the Great Commission. At the calling of the apostle Paul, Jesus does not say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting a voluntary association that mentions me in their constitution and by-laws?” Instead, he asks, “Why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:5).
The New Testament presents the union of the head and his body as a mysterious “one-flesh” union (Eph 5:31-32). What is true of the one is to be true of the other (Matt 18:18-20; cf. Isaiah 22:22). This means that the church is to mirror the mission of Jesus in seeking the salvation of the world (Matt 18:10-14). A non-evangelistic church is more than just a disobedient body (although it is that). A non-evangelistic church is denying before the nations that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And that is blasphemy.
The church, however, is to throb with the same evangelistic fervor that fuels its king, and to call, with his authority, the nations to surrender before his coming global reign. Thus, the apostle John sees the universal invitation to Christ coming not only from Jesus, but also from his Spirit and his Bride, the church (Rev 22:16-17). A church that is not enflamed for evangelism, missions, and church growth is not just practically ineffective; rather, it is theologically anemic. A church that prizes itself on its pristine confessional statements, but is not seeing sinners converted to Christ and is not fueling the global missions endeavor has a defective Christology. It may have some cognitive knowledge of the attributes of God or the ordo salutis, but a church that does not long for the expansion of the name of Christ to the nations is at cross-purposes with the Father God (Ps 2:8).
A non-evangelistic church is also in the midst of an identity crisis. This is precisely because the Great Commission is not a “program” of a voluntary association. Instead the Bible presents both the church and the Great Commission as parts of the sweeping and awe-inspiring unveiling of the mystery of Christ. This is clear in the apostle Paul’s appeal for the Roman church’s support for the mission to the Gentiles, an appeal we know as the Book of Romans. Paul did not nag or prod the church to grudgingly fulfill a duty. Instead, he pointed them to the climactic eschatological nature of their very existence as the purpose for a global missions thrust. The advance of the gospel is “the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith” (Rom 16:25-26).
A congregation that is not ignited for the salvation of the nations doesn’t know what time it is. This is because the New Testament concept of the church is not that of a place to encourage one another in discipleship and to pool together missions offerings. It is a declaration of war. In the church, the triumphant Warrior-King has established an outpost of the Kingdom, a colony of the reign that will one day engulf the world (Eph 1:20-23).[1] The New Testament presents the church as a sign to the demonic powers, a sign of their doom (Eph 3:10). This is specifically true in terms of the reconciliation experienced within the church between Jews and Gentiles as the one people of God (Eph 3:6). This is because the gathering of a unified flock means the defeat of the wolves, and the triumph of the shepherd-king. Preaching to the Gentiles is bringing to light the mystery hidden for ages (Eph 3:1-10; Acts 15:14-17), precisely because it is the onset of the triumph of the Kingdom (Rom 8:19-23).
This means that the focus of the church, both in terms of theological conviction and missiological action, ought to center on the Great Commission. But this Great Commission vision is rooted in a theology of the purposes of God and the mystery of Christ. We have forgotten the big picture. This is why churches that seek to minimize theology cannot long sustain Great Commission. This is why so many churches, large and small, “traditional” and “contemporary,” are so irrelevant, and frankly boring. This is why contemporary gospel ministers too often resemble more attendees at an insurance sales convention rather than pioneers of a coming global empire. The watching world should identity local congregations as globally engaged in evangelism. Churches should cultivate peace and unity within the congregation, not just to maintain order, but also to herald the coming kingdom of Christ.
Rather than planting congregations based around common interests (for example, “cowboy churches” or, more commonly, churches geared toward upwardly mobile young couples), churches should intentionally seek to manifest a commonality in the Spirit of the risen Christ (Gal 6:12-15), not in shared tribal identity or economic status. What would a Jewish-Palestinian Christian congregation on the West Bank say about the gospel? What would a racially mixed congregation in South Africa demonstrate about the triumph of Christ? What would it mean for the Great Commission if a high-powered Wall Street church looked to the leadership of a godly, Spirit-gifted layman, who also happened to be a public school janitor (Jas 2:1-6)? Such things would say precisely what was said in the first-century when uncircumcised Gentiles took up offerings to aid their Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ (Rom 15:22-28). It would say: “Jesus is lord.” And human beings aren’t the only ones watching.
Demonic powers don’t tremble before denominational programs or bureaucratic public relations campaigns. What they fear is something more ancient, more mysterious, and more personal. What they fear is not a program, but a person, a person with a name, an authority, and an inheritance. Since the church bears the Spirit of the Anointed One (1 Pet 4:14), the satanic powers lash out violently against it (John 15:25-16:11). Their question to the missionary advance of the church is the same question they once voiced to the church’s King in his hometown synagogue: “Have you come to destroy us?” When the church is faithful to the commission of its Warrior-King, the answer is heard by an expectant creation even when it is not voiced: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Rom 16:20).
And that is what Jesus would call “good news.”
