{"id":2661,"date":"2014-06-17T05:40:21","date_gmt":"2014-06-17T10:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thomrainer.wpengine.com?p=2661"},"modified":"2014-06-17T05:40:21","modified_gmt":"2014-06-17T10:40:21","slug":"churches-talk-great-commission-dont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/churches-talk-great-commission-dont\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Churches Talk the Great Commission but Don\u2019t Do It"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chuck Lawless<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In seventeen years of doing church consulting, no church leader has said to me, \u201cOur church really doesn\u2019t want to do the Great Commission.\u201d I\u2019ve worked with many churches, though, that proclaim the Great Commission but never get around to doing it. Here are my conclusions about why churches so often fit this description.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Church leaders talk the language without letting the biblical texts \u201csink in.\u201d<\/strong> They speak about the Great Commission because the Bible so obviously commands it (Matt. 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:45-47, John 20:21, Acts 1:8). I suspect many leaders, though, echo the words out of evangelical habit more than out of heartfelt burden. When we proclaim the message without obeying the command, the words have not settled firmly in our heart.<\/li>\n
  2. Pastors are themselves not committed to this task.<\/strong> Again, leaders whose ministries are built on the Bible often do proclaim the mandate. I cannot say these words strongly enough, however: I have never seen a Great Commission church led by a pastor who was not himself deeply committed to the task. Unless a pastor bleeds for his neighbors and the nations to know Christ, the church he leads will not live out this burden, either.<\/li>\n
  3. Churches see the Great Commission as a task for full-time ministers or missionaries.<\/strong> This finding is reflective of a problematic clergy\/laity divide in many churches, but we church leaders must take some responsibility here. Because we so often choose not to make disciples and delegate responsibilities, we propagate the idea that only \u201cpaid folks\u201d can do this work.<\/li>\n
  4. Churches do not really believe nonbelievers are lost.<\/strong> If you want to find out what your church members believe, survey them anonymously. Ask them if they believe good people without a relationship with Jesus will go to heaven when they die. Find out what they believe about the fate of those who die without hearing about Jesus. You might discover many church members have a theology that does not require taking the gospel to the nations.<\/li>\n
  5. Some leaders settle with partial obedience to the Great Commission.<\/strong> The Great Commission passages resound with proclaiming the Word, making disciples, teaching obedience, reaching the nations, and relying on the Spirit. Some churches focus, though, on evangelism while failing to teach believers. Others emphasize discipleship but do not evangelize. Some influence their community but never touch the nations; others focus on global needs but miss their local community. These congregations may be partially obedient to the Great Commission \u2013 but partial obedience is also disobedience at some level.<\/li>\n
  6. Churches tell<\/em> members to do the Great Commission without\u00a0teaching<\/em> them how.<\/strong> Most churches are guilty here. We tell<\/em> folks to share the gospel with their neighbors but seldom train them to do so. We speak about discipling others, yet expect members to learn on their own how to do it. Likewise, we challenge folks to go to the nations without adequately assuring them of training and support. When we tell without teaching, we shouldn\u2019t be surprised when our churches only talk about the Great Commission.<\/li>\n
  7. Church members fail to see the world around them.<\/strong> The world is among us \u2013 as our neighbors, our co-workers, our store clerks, our teachers \u2013 but we fail to see them as sheep without a shepherd (Matt. 9:36). Somehow, we hear the words of the Great Commission without recognizing the opportunities around us to develop gospel-centered friendships. At a minimum, seeing our neighbors with God\u2019s eyes should cause us to pray for the world represented among us.<\/li>\n
  8. Church members don\u2019t know missionaries.<\/strong> We know that mission work matters \u2013 after all, the Bible tells us so \u2013 but many church members have never \u201cput on a face on\u201d that work. They know no international missionaries. They seldom even think about \u201cmissionaries\u201d serving in North America. Thus, they know few stories of the amazing work of God around the world. Frankly, I lay this responsibility at the feet of church leaders as well: Great Commission pastors will<\/em> introduce their church to Great Commission people.<\/li>\n
  9. Churches confuse \u201csheep swapping\u201d with the Great Commission.<\/strong> Transfer growth among churches is not always negative, but it is seldom Great Commission growth. If a church is not reaching non-believers, baptizing them, teaching them to obey Jesus\u2019 commands, and taking the gospel to the nations, they are not doing the Great Commission.\u00a0 They may, in fact, be only talking about it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Which of these reasons most reflects your church? What other reasons would you add?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n

    Chuck Lawless currently serves as Professor of Evangelism and Missions and Dean of Graduate Studies at Southeastern Seminary.<\/em>\u00a0You can connect with Dr. Lawless on both\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Facebook<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"PhD_ThomRainer\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve worked with many churches, though, that proclaim the Great Commission but never get around to doing it. 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