It’s Great!
“How’s the food?”
“It’s great!”
We use that phrase of approval frequently. It can be our response to a question about the weather, coffee, worship, a football game, a Bible teaching, or prayer.
Great is also a word used to describe something which is ‘large in amount, size, or degree.’ In Global Disciples—and for most of us involved in taking Jesus to the world—we often attach the word great to the Great Commission.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
I was startled by the results of a 2022 study which said, “When U.S. churchgoers were asked if they had previously heard of the Great Commission and what it means, only 17% knew its meaning. Though 28% vaguely knew the phrase, just over half (51%) were unfamiliar.”1
That is not a great sign! While I’m confident it’s not true in many of the churches I relate with, it’s very sobering.
Why do we call this commission Jesus gave to his disciples and us before he ascended to heaven great?
- The Great Commission is ‘notably large in size and in scope.’2 Today over eight billion people occupy our world. In my lifetime, world population has grown by one billion people every 13 years. About one-third of all people self-identify as Christians and nearly another one-third are unreached. But before “the end” comes, the Good News of the Kingdom will be preached to all nations/ethnic groups (Matthew 24:14).
- The Great Commission is ‘remarkable in magnitude.’ Between 10,000 to 24,000 ethnic groups (depending on how ethnic group is defined) speak over 7,100 languages in our world today. But one day we’ll join “a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people, and language standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9).
- The Great Commission was given to us by the greatest man to ever walk on earth: Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man, our crucified and risen Lord and Savior. “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).
It’s great to be able to participate in the Greatest Co-mission assignment ever given—to be co-workers with Christ (1 Corinthians 3:9), sons and daughters of God and fellow workers empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Let’s make the most of this great opportunity! What a great honor to be alive at this time in history!
–Galen Burkholder, CEO
[1] The Great Disconnect: Reclaiming the Heart of the Great Commission in Your Church, Barna Group Research, 2022.
[2] Single quotes for words borrowed from the Cambridge Dictionary and Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
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