Sharing the Gospel in Our Community
I'm sure that nearly everyone at our church can at least paraphrase the Great Commission. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen" (Matthew 28:19-20 KJV). Why the King James? I have been in church long enough to know that this is about the only way this verse ever gets quoted.
We always hear this resounding call with in these words to "Go!" That's why we do outreach the way we do in most Baptist circles. It looks like this. We meet on Tuesday nights to go visit church prospects to invite them to church and possibly even share the gospel with them. Generally speaking, this technique works. Most churches that implement a visitation program see growth in the church body, both spiritually and numerically. There is a better way, however.
If you were to look at the Great Commission and circle the imperatives (the commands) I bet you would circle "go" and "teach," at least in the KJV. Therefore, we generally understand the "commission" in the terms of "going" and "teaching." And honestly, we focus most of our attention on the "go." Herein lies the problem in our evangelistic outreach. We think primarily in terms of going instead of in terms of teaching.
This is why i love studying the Bible in its original languages instead of in the English. The word "go" in this verse is not even a verb. It is a participle. To put that in redneck, it isn't "go", it's "goin". It is not an imperative (command) at all. More acurately, the verse is saying, "as you are going." The expression carries the idea of living your daily routine. As you go to work. As you go to the grocery store. As you drive your car. To smooth out the translation, I would likely say, "as you live." This makes the great commission begin, "As you live, teach all nations..."
This brings us to the only imperative in the verse, "teach." This is probably best translated as "make disciples." This does carry to the idea of teaching, but it puts a more personal spin on it. It is the same basic Greek word used to describe the disciples of Jesus in the New Testament. We knew from Scripture that Jesus was not impersonal with His disciples. He did not simply stand up and preach to people he did not also share intimate relationships with. When the Great Commission tells us to make disciples, it is not telling us to simply get the word out about the sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of the world. The verse is telling us to make disciples of the people of all nations. Jesus has given us the command to engage people in their everyday lives.
"As you live, engage the world with My Gospel." God wants us to live the Gospel. This is what we are going to do at Cambridge Baptist Church. We are going to live the Gospel. We are going to engage our city, our community, out work places, our families, or streets, our neighbors with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In future blogs and sermons I will flesh out what i mean. Be prepared. If we live the Gospel, we will never be the same. Are you ready?
Bro. Bryan
We always hear this resounding call with in these words to "Go!" That's why we do outreach the way we do in most Baptist circles. It looks like this. We meet on Tuesday nights to go visit church prospects to invite them to church and possibly even share the gospel with them. Generally speaking, this technique works. Most churches that implement a visitation program see growth in the church body, both spiritually and numerically. There is a better way, however.
If you were to look at the Great Commission and circle the imperatives (the commands) I bet you would circle "go" and "teach," at least in the KJV. Therefore, we generally understand the "commission" in the terms of "going" and "teaching." And honestly, we focus most of our attention on the "go." Herein lies the problem in our evangelistic outreach. We think primarily in terms of going instead of in terms of teaching.
This is why i love studying the Bible in its original languages instead of in the English. The word "go" in this verse is not even a verb. It is a participle. To put that in redneck, it isn't "go", it's "goin". It is not an imperative (command) at all. More acurately, the verse is saying, "as you are going." The expression carries the idea of living your daily routine. As you go to work. As you go to the grocery store. As you drive your car. To smooth out the translation, I would likely say, "as you live." This makes the great commission begin, "As you live, teach all nations..."
This brings us to the only imperative in the verse, "teach." This is probably best translated as "make disciples." This does carry to the idea of teaching, but it puts a more personal spin on it. It is the same basic Greek word used to describe the disciples of Jesus in the New Testament. We knew from Scripture that Jesus was not impersonal with His disciples. He did not simply stand up and preach to people he did not also share intimate relationships with. When the Great Commission tells us to make disciples, it is not telling us to simply get the word out about the sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of the world. The verse is telling us to make disciples of the people of all nations. Jesus has given us the command to engage people in their everyday lives.
"As you live, engage the world with My Gospel." God wants us to live the Gospel. This is what we are going to do at Cambridge Baptist Church. We are going to live the Gospel. We are going to engage our city, our community, out work places, our families, or streets, our neighbors with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In future blogs and sermons I will flesh out what i mean. Be prepared. If we live the Gospel, we will never be the same. Are you ready?
Bro. Bryan
Labels: Evangelism
posted by Bryan Cirlot at
12:09 PM
1 Comments:
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Ray
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