Make Disciples of All Nations :: Finishing the Task

 

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:18-20)

This is a very familiar passage of scripture – perhaps the most familiar after John 3:16. It is most commonly referred to as “The Great Commission.” Regardless of how familiar it is or what it is called, the Great Commission is there and it appears to be a command. But what exactly are we being commanded to do here? There appears to be several things involved, but the primary command is to “make disciples of all nations”. Everything else describes how we are to accomplish this task (i.e. by going, baptizing, and teaching). Since this is a command, I believe it is beneficial for us to look into this command to discover EXACTLY what we are being commanded to do.



Before we get started I do want to warn you that we will be looking slightly into the Greek language in this post (The bible was originally written in Greek). This will be a very brief look at the Greek as I do not know Greek myself. Due to this fact, my sources will be The Complete Word Study New Testament (Word Study Series) and Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.

Make Disciples of All Nations!
There are roughly 236 different political countries throughout the world. We as Christians have done an amazing job at teaching the nations when “nations” is defined as specific political countries. There are Christians, missionaries, and church planting movements in all 236 political countries around the world! We’ve done it! We’ve made disciples in every country! Does that mean that the Great Commission is complete? Absolutely not! I am going to make the argument that when Jesus told us to “make disciples of all nations” he was not referring to political countries; but rather, he was referring to people groups (for a definition of people groups click here). And if that is the case there is much to be done in order to finish this task.

Political Countries People Groups
In the Greek, the word translated “nations” is actually ἔθνος (ethnos). Ethnos literally means, “a multitude, people, race, tribe, nation, people group.” This is also where we get our English words “ethnic” or “ethnicity”.
With that in mind, when Jesus says, “make disciples of all nations” what is the command here? Is it to make disciples of all political countries? It would appear that the Greek would indicate that it is actually speaking in terms of making disciples of all peoples, tribes, races, and people groups.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all peoples, tribes, races, and people groups.”
(Matthew 28:19a authors translation)

That appears to be a more literal translation of this command. It also helps our perspective when it comes to Mission (I say “Mission” as opposed to “Missions” because the Great Commission is one SINGLE mission on which the church has been sent). When God looks down at the earth he does not see black lines separating political country from political country; but rather, he sees individual people – people who group together based on language and region. Some of these people live in areas or speak languages with little to no access to the Gospel. I believe that we need to begin thinking in terms of people groups.

Unreached People Groups
Let’s take a look at some statistics about people groups and the spread of the Gospel (source: Joshua Project).

• Of the 16,344 people groups (totaling 6,700,000,000 individuals), 6,639 people groups (totaling 2,743,659,000 individuals) are still considered unreached (“unreached” means that less than 2% of population are evangelicals, and that there is little to no church planting movement).
• Of these 6,639 unreached people groups, approximately 1,540 of them are unengaged (“unengaged” means NO Christian and NO missionary).
• 40.6% of all people groups and 40.9% of all individuals are still considered unreached.
• There are approximately 6,900 total languages in the world. Over 4,400 of those languages have NO translation of the Bible – even in part.

These numbers are staggering! How is it that after 2,000 years 40% of the world has yet to hear even ONE WORD of the gospel? Many of these people are still unreached because they are difficult to reach, whether it be because of terrain or persecution. Who will reach these people? Some will have to go. Most won’t. Those that go will have to sacrifice much in order to reach these people! Those that stay SHOULD sacrifice much in order to give to those that go!

Christian Giving
Take a look at these statistics on Christian giving (source: Mission Frontiers).

• The total global church member annual income is $12.3 trillion ($12,300 billion).
• Of this, $213 billion (1.73% of total global church member annual income) is given to Christian causes.
• Of this, $11.4 billion (0.092% of total global church member annual income) goes to Foreign Missions
• Of this, $9.9 billion (0.08% of total global church member annual income) goes for work among those already Christian; $1.3 billion (0.011% of total global church member annual income) goes for work among already evangelized non-Christians; and only $114 million (0.00092% of total global church member annual income) goes to the unreached.

Again, those numbers are staggering! Only 0.000092% of total global church member annual income goes to the people who have never heard the gospel or the name of Jesus! That needs to change! We need more people GOING and finishing the task! But we also need more people GIVING so that the task can be finished.

Conclusion

“Go therefore and make disciples of all peoples, tribes, races, and people groups”
(Matthew 28:19a authors translation)

This is a command from our Lord Jesus Christ. We ALL need to play a role in finishing the task that our Lord Jesus gave to us. What is your role? Is it to go? Then GO! Is it to stay and give? Then GIVE! God forbid that “goers” stay and “stayers” go! If you are a “stayer” then give so that “goers” can go. As I mentioned before, it takes sacrifice to finish this task – not only on the part of those who are going, but also on the part of those who are giving so that the “goers” can go. If you go you WILL sacrifice everything. If you stay you SHOULD sacrifice everything so that you can give to those that go. I know it is not easy, especially in these times, to give of your money. This is the life that Jesus called us to – suffering and sacrifice (Mark 8:34). What role will you play? What sacrifice will you make in finishing this task?

Testifying to the gospel of the grace of God,
Robbie
Acts 20:24