The Great Commission: Shame on Us

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,

and teaching them all things I have commanded of you.”

Matthew 28:19-20a

The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20a) should be at the core of the mission statement for any church that claims Jesus as Savior.  It should be at on the heart and mind of every person who calls themselves a Christian.  Our top priority, individually and collectively, should be to grow the church that was established in the Name of Jesus.  A new poll from the Barna Group underscores how far short we have fallen in not only living out Jesus’ command but in passing it on to the next generation.

According to the survey, over half of the Christians (51%) polled are not even familiar with the term “Great Commission.”   That is a serious problem.  How can we expect success when most of the membership do not even know and understand why we exist?  What kind of success would a company have if half the sales force did not know the details on the product they were representing?    Unfortunately we cannot assume that the other half of those polled even know of Jesus’ command to “make disciples.”  When presented with a list of scripture references, only 17% were able to identify Matthew 28:18-20 as the “Great Commission.”

    

Age seems to make a significant difference in whether Christians recognize the Great Commission. More than one-quarter of Elders (29%) and Boomers (26%) says they know the text.  That compares to 17% of Gen X and one in 10 Millennials (10%).  Still that is nothing to brag about.  Even older adults seem to have lost sight of what the number #1 priority of the Christian Church should be.  In my opinion, that can be traced to the reality that for Christians over the age of fifty the number one priority is preserving what they have, rather than sharing it. 

I would like to think that not all is lost.  If you have read this far I believe you have a heart for ministry.  I would hope that 100% of my readers are aware of the Great Commission and that most could quote it from memory.  If that is the case, change has to start with us.  The key to passing the torch to the next generation is to make sure that generation understands who we are and what we stand for.  That begins by making sure they know Matthew 28:19-20, and then modeling that in our own lives.