Great Commission

All Christians are called to disciple one another. This is what we call the Great Commission, as found in Matthew 28:19-20. There are four key words in these verses that illustrate what I call the cyclic effect of the Great Commission: disciples, baptizing, teaching, and observing. Jesus commands us to go and carry out these actions, emphasizing the importance of pouring Christ into others.

Part of this mission is evangelistic. People need to know Christ and be born again. Jesus instructs us to go and make disciples, baptizing them. According to our hermeneutic principles, this means that a person is born again before being baptized. We are not talking about baptismal regeneration here. Baptism does not save; it is the Spirit of God who saves by quickening them from death to life. After they are born again, they are baptized.

Our mission involves evangelizing, reaching people so they are born again, and then teaching them. We teach them to observe all that Jesus has commanded us, leading to transformation into Christ’s likeness. This transformation inspires a desire to go and share the gospel, continuing the cycle.

This cyclic effect also serves as a diagnostic tool to evaluate where we might be breaking down. Are we born again? If so, we should be teaching others, whether as parents, friends, or pastors. Though there are few pastors comparatively, we all should be teaching in some capacity, sharing Christ and teaching others to observe His commands. Some of those we teach will become born again and will want to join this cyclic effect.

At Life Over Coffee, we embrace this cyclic effect of the Great Commission through our conversations for transformation.