A good coach never lets his team leave “the fundamentals” behind. Even all-star players with years of experience still invest time and energy into the most basic building blocks of their sport. Michael Jordan regularly took 100 free throws on his own time after practice. Free throws are not glamorous, but they do win championships. Young players who are more interested in showing off than in mastering and maintaining the basics usually don’t make it very far.
A few days after the 7.1 earthquake that shook Mexico City and the surrounding areas on September 19, 2017, I noticed on one of the city’s main thoroughfares a brand new apartment building split in two by a gaping crack running up the front facade of several stories. As I recall, “for sale” signs still hung from the balconies of several units. I’m confident that the finishing touches of paint, shiny appliances, and new cabinetry made the apartments sparkle in an effort to attract buyers. But that visible gleam covered up horribly deficient foundations and inner structure. The authorities condemned the costly new building as uninhabitable.
These two illustrations highlight the importance of foundations. As we consider the global task of the church—the responsibility and privilege of taking the Gospel to all nations—we find the foundational principles in the Great Commission passages in the New Testament. In the 40 days between His resurrection and ascension, Jesus repeatedly commanded His disciples regarding the evangelization of the world. In the centuries preceding and including the earthly ministry of Christ, most of God’s work in the world had centered on the Jewish nation. Now, as Jesus prepared to take His place at His Father’s right hand and pour out His Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, He instructed His disciples repeatedly in the “basics” of the global mission. The Gospels and Acts record at least four different occasions of this instruction. These Great Commission passages are the “fundamentals” of missions and ought to hold the central place in our theology and practice of missions.
In God’s providence, we live in a generation that enjoys the accumulation of centuries of theological resources. We have easy and inexpensive access to thousands upon thousands of physical books, recorded lectures and sermons, online materials, podcasts, and entire digital libraries. God expects us to be good stewards of such favor and use these tools well as He provides us opportunity. But these privileges bring with them the great danger of forgetting or ignoring the basics. All truth is God’s truth, and we ought to utilize insights from anthropology and sociology. We ought to work at appropriate cultural adaptation and contextualization. We should use resources that help us develop sound missiology and practical methodology. But we also need to remember that these disciplines can be used as “polish” to hide deficient foundations.
This post is the first in a brief series that aims to help us get “back to the basics” of the Great Commission by examining and applying those foundational texts. Perhaps our attention to other good resources and disciplines is distracting us from the beautiful simplicity of what Christ taught. We need these words of Jesus to become “second nature” to us as disciples of Jesus. Let’s spend some time on the fundamentals!
In the next post, we will learn from the fact that Jesus gave this command on repeated occasions. Some might assume that Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20, and Acts 1 give different accounts of the same event. But a careful examination of the passages reveals that Jesus gave these instructions in at least four different places and times.
The remaining posts in the series will examine the six specific activities commanded in the Great Commission passages, the four-fold content of the message the disciples proclaim, the three responses required from those who hear, and the six encouragements Jesus gives.
May the Spirit illuminate His words and enable us to get back to basics for His name’s sake!
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the NASB® New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.