I was listening to Reformed Brotherhood Podcast – episode #122 and I loved it. I’ve heard plenty of sermons and messages about the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20, especially during my college years. Usually the focus was on going. I don’t know if it mattered where. It seemed to just matter that you went and I certainly did just that. It was exciting to just go somewhere and share the gospel. It was also unsettling at times, almost like I was unmoored from the church and sometimes even my mission agency. I was young and so I didn’t mind the lack of oversight, but that also meant I was unknowingly more vulnerable to the pressures of mission work. I did mind that. Being out in the mission field and in my own head way too much was probably one of the lowest points in my life.
With that experience in mind, I really enjoyed Tony and Jesse’s discussion about this passage, especially how they contend that the passage should emphasize “making disciples.” The way Tony said verses 19 & 20 are best translated as “make disciples of all nations; do this by going, baptizing and teaching them.”
I found that very helpful and encouraging for me as one person who is now just part of an ordinary local church and serving his community in a common grace sort of way. I’m still seeking to do just what Christ told his disciples to do many years ago, but not quite like I did as a vocational ministry.
This is one of my favorite Reformed Brotherhood episodes so far.
Ministry of Reconciliation 