The Great Commission

Perhaps you have heard of the organization called Abolish Human Abortion (AHA). On the face of it, they're a good thing. They're a Christian group aimed at not merely protesting abortion, but eliminating it. All well and good. Oddly enough, they are adamantly opposed to incrementally eliminating abortion. They state categorically "We reject incremental abolition, the gradual regulation of evil, and 'pragmatic' strategies." Thus, they would reject the recent gains in the fight against abortion. Abortions are down, states are passing laws limiting abortion, doctors are being prosecuted for killing babies, more people are seeing the problem of killing babies in the womb but not out of the womb, and the numbers of abortion clinics are way down. "We reject incremental abolition" the AHA tells us. They say without apology, "That kind of advancement of the cause is not good."

Their first claim is "Central to our work is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." Now, if you're paying attention, you have to ask, "What?? What does the Gospel have to do with abolishing abortion?" And they tell you. "The Great Commission certainly includes the work of evangelism, as well as discipleship. But this discipleship entails teaching the evangelized to obey all that Christ has commanded." (Emphasis is theirs.)

I'm stuck with a dilemma here. I believe that a large number of churches have missed the boat on the Great Commission.

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matt 28:18-20).

The text is not obscure. While most understand the Great Commission to be a command to evangelize, it is abundantly clear that evangelism is only a part -- I would say a small part -- of the Commission. We aren't told to simply preach the Gospel ("evangelism"). We are told to make disciples. This entails going. It is for all nations. It includes baptizing them. And it includes "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." This command is much, much larger than "preach the Gospel". And we are failing miserably. Making converts is easy. Making disciples is a lifelong, deeply involving, heavily interpersonal work. And we seem to think that it's just too hard. "Can't we just preach the Gospel and be done with it?" Indeed, to many "preach the Gospel" is too much work.

My dilemma, then, comes from an initial shout of agreement with AHA. The Great Commission is about "teaching the evangelized to obey all that Christ has commanded." Yes, indeed! But, wait! Included in the very phrase is the glitch. Do we expect the world to obey all that Christ has commanded? Is the point of the Great Commission to produce legislation that corresponds with all that Christ has commanded? Is this Commission a political command?

I'm disturbed by their demand that incremental success be rejected. I'm disturbed because incremental success is the essence of Christianity. We call it "sanctification" and it is an incremental process whereby those who belong to Jesus gradually become more like Jesus. The Great Commission is a command for believers to 1) preach the Gospel and then 2) work at assisting new believers in this process of becoming more like Jesus. I don't actually expect all new believers to instantaneously become obedient to all that Christ commanded. It is, biblically, incremental.

I'm disturbed by their demand that the Great Commission is the driving force for a political movement to affect the laws in order to eliminate the murder of babies, and nothing less than complete success is acceptable. Incrementalism is not approved. All or nothing. And in that I'm disturbed by the suggestion that the Great Commission is fulfilled by the complete abolition of abortion ... as if that is "all that Christ has commanded."

I applaud and encourage those who would work to save the lives of babies in the womb. I'm pro-life. And insofar as AHA does that, I'm for it. But I'm saddened when Christians fail to grasp the scope of the Great Commission that includes discipleship along with evangelism, and I'm just as saddened when Christians wrench the Great Commission from its already loosened moorings to make it a strident command for a political agenda. Brothers and sisters, can we just get on with the task of making disciples, please? I'm pretty sure that "all that Christ commanded" will include addressing this issue without allowing it to short-circuit the Great Commission -- you know, the Great Commission given by the One to whom all authority has been given. I, for one, am not asking, "What are you doing in the fight to end abortion?" I'm asking "What are you doing in the work of making disciples?" You can answer that for yourself.