Making Disciples

"The Great Commission:"

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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

We seem to be doing at least OK (not super, but OK) with the 'going out' part. We deliver furniture, serve meals, offer classes, and fund clinics. But I think we're doing it only in light of the commandment:

Love your neighbor as yourself.

We have neglected the full meaning of the commission, because we are weak on the "making disciples" part. We do our good works, but are embarassed to mention Jesus in the process. Understandably so - some elements in the Evangelical movement gave Christianity in general a bad name, by using the Gospel as a weapon rather than as a tool. The minute many people hear "Jesus" or "Church," they think of judgmentalism, fear, and divisiveness. Or they think of the message, "Repent and come to church right now or you're going to hell forever." This was not a productive way to make disciples.

But neither is never bringing it up. When we are allergic to talking about Jesus, we can't claim to be doing good works in the name of the Lord. We might as well be good Buddhists, good atheists with a dose of liberal guilt, maybe even morally defunct souls who have been ordered into community service by a court. When our good works are repeated, over and over again, without ever a mention of WHY we do them, we are equally ineffective at making disciples.

The song says, "They'll know we are Christians by our Love." That love certainly includes caring about people's bodies enough to feed, clothe, treat, care for them. It includes caring about their minds enough to train them.

It also includes caring enough about their souls to tell them about the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Not as a weapon - "I'm doing this as a way to conquer my enemies." Not as a bribe - "Join my church or I'll stop helping you." Not as an instrument of shame - "I'm trying to embarass you into joining a church." Not as threat - 'Join me or you'll go to Hell.'

As an instrument of Love - "Jesus calls us to make earth more like the Kingdom of Heaven." When we are serving people, ostensibly in the name of the Lord, we ought to be able at least to say that much.