LittleDrummerBoy
Senior Member
A common misconception is that the Great Commission can be fulfilled by sharing the Biblical testimony of the sinless life, death for our sins, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. But Jesus' actual instruction is to teach "... them (all nations) to obey everything I (Jesus) have commanded you."
Scripture reveals this often has three main components:
1) Pre-evangelism. John the Baptist preached repentance and prepared the way for Jesus. Scripture describes the Law as the "schoolmaster that leads us to Christ." When Felix resisted the good news, Paul backed up to pre-evangelism and discoursed on "righteousness, self-control, and the judgement to come." On the day of Pentecost, the Jews in Jerusalem were ready to be evangelized since they were familiar with the Law and Prophets and had known the ministry of John the Baptist.
In contrast, Paul's audience in Athens (Acts 17) needed the essential points of pre-evangelism covered first. a) The real God is different from the pagan gods and unknown to you. b) God is a holy creator who loves and provides for mankind who he has created. c) Man's sinfulness separates him from the holy God. d) If that sin problem is not solved, each man remaining separate from God will be judged.
The Gospel is only good news for men who have a conviction of their sin and separation from God and realize their depravity and need for reconciliation. A common error is attempting to present Jesus as a solution to people who don't yet believe there is a problem.
2) Evangelism is the second component of the Great Commission. It consists of proclaiming the most important doctrine of Scripture, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve." (1 Corinthians 15) A necessary component is also calling the audience to repentance and trust in Jesus, as well as to baptism. "But now God calls all men everywhere to repent."
Often, God's ambassadors are stuck when the audience resists trust and surrender to Jesus and our tendency is to keep repeating the main points of evangelism. One needs to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, but if the issue is that the audience is not convinced of God as creator, sustainer, and judge, or that they are not convinced they have a sin problem (or they think they are already saved without evidence of fruit), the better course is often to return to pre-evangelism.
Remember, Scripture says,
"We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me." - 1 Timothy 1
I think of those with the gifting and calling of evangelists as "closers." They are ready to "close the deal" once an individual is cut to the heart and realizes a sin problem. My personal calling is more as a "pre-evangelist", so my focus is more on those elements. However, God often tells me to "do the work of an evangelist" and I am prepared to be the ambassador who "closes the deal" as the Holy Spirit and circumstance suggest.
3) Post-evangelism covers every aspect of "teaching them to obey everything I (Jesus) commanded" that is not addressed in pre-evangelism and evangelism. There is a lot to this. At the end of his three year ministry in Ephesus, Paul could say to the elders that he had made known to them the "whole counsel of God." There's a lot to that - Hebrews describes both milk and solid food. Peter describes a maturation process as adding to faith, goodness, to goodness, knowledge, to knowledge, self-control, and so on. John describes spiritual infants, young men, and fathers.
Our western minds focus more on head knowledge and not enough on the character development. Knowing without doing is not what Christ desires. Much of Christian truth is more "caught" than taught (in the classroom sense.) In my personal discipleship, I focus on staying in the word and prayer - with the sense God usually has about 3 or so priorities for me to work on at a given time. Likewise, as I encourage others, I am thinking, what does God want to teach them in the short term, and I have the expectation that the best way to find that and accomplish that is to encourage them to stay in the Word of God and be consistent in their prayer life. If I notice a speck in their eye, before speaking to it, I try and take due care to ensure the log is out of my eye first.
The notion of "the whole counsel of God" and "teaching everything" is a challenge for me. We all have blind spots. But God has provided a whole body of Christ with many giftings and many callings to fulfill his Great Commission.
Scripture reveals this often has three main components:
1) Pre-evangelism. John the Baptist preached repentance and prepared the way for Jesus. Scripture describes the Law as the "schoolmaster that leads us to Christ." When Felix resisted the good news, Paul backed up to pre-evangelism and discoursed on "righteousness, self-control, and the judgement to come." On the day of Pentecost, the Jews in Jerusalem were ready to be evangelized since they were familiar with the Law and Prophets and had known the ministry of John the Baptist.
In contrast, Paul's audience in Athens (Acts 17) needed the essential points of pre-evangelism covered first. a) The real God is different from the pagan gods and unknown to you. b) God is a holy creator who loves and provides for mankind who he has created. c) Man's sinfulness separates him from the holy God. d) If that sin problem is not solved, each man remaining separate from God will be judged.
The Gospel is only good news for men who have a conviction of their sin and separation from God and realize their depravity and need for reconciliation. A common error is attempting to present Jesus as a solution to people who don't yet believe there is a problem.
2) Evangelism is the second component of the Great Commission. It consists of proclaiming the most important doctrine of Scripture, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve." (1 Corinthians 15) A necessary component is also calling the audience to repentance and trust in Jesus, as well as to baptism. "But now God calls all men everywhere to repent."
Often, God's ambassadors are stuck when the audience resists trust and surrender to Jesus and our tendency is to keep repeating the main points of evangelism. One needs to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, but if the issue is that the audience is not convinced of God as creator, sustainer, and judge, or that they are not convinced they have a sin problem (or they think they are already saved without evidence of fruit), the better course is often to return to pre-evangelism.
Remember, Scripture says,
"We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me." - 1 Timothy 1
I think of those with the gifting and calling of evangelists as "closers." They are ready to "close the deal" once an individual is cut to the heart and realizes a sin problem. My personal calling is more as a "pre-evangelist", so my focus is more on those elements. However, God often tells me to "do the work of an evangelist" and I am prepared to be the ambassador who "closes the deal" as the Holy Spirit and circumstance suggest.
3) Post-evangelism covers every aspect of "teaching them to obey everything I (Jesus) commanded" that is not addressed in pre-evangelism and evangelism. There is a lot to this. At the end of his three year ministry in Ephesus, Paul could say to the elders that he had made known to them the "whole counsel of God." There's a lot to that - Hebrews describes both milk and solid food. Peter describes a maturation process as adding to faith, goodness, to goodness, knowledge, to knowledge, self-control, and so on. John describes spiritual infants, young men, and fathers.
Our western minds focus more on head knowledge and not enough on the character development. Knowing without doing is not what Christ desires. Much of Christian truth is more "caught" than taught (in the classroom sense.) In my personal discipleship, I focus on staying in the word and prayer - with the sense God usually has about 3 or so priorities for me to work on at a given time. Likewise, as I encourage others, I am thinking, what does God want to teach them in the short term, and I have the expectation that the best way to find that and accomplish that is to encourage them to stay in the Word of God and be consistent in their prayer life. If I notice a speck in their eye, before speaking to it, I try and take due care to ensure the log is out of my eye first.
The notion of "the whole counsel of God" and "teaching everything" is a challenge for me. We all have blind spots. But God has provided a whole body of Christ with many giftings and many callings to fulfill his Great Commission.
