Going - part 1

I plan on doing several blog posts on the Great Commission and in doing so I hope to answer the following questions: should we all "go", what does it mean to "go"  and how we should "go" as 21st century followers of Jesus Christ?

It seems prudent to address the question - is the call to "go" relevant for all believers, even before defining what it means to "go". If "going" is not expected of us, it is unlikely we will desire more details on what it means to "go" or how to "go"!

With that said, we will start with the passage from which the call to "go" is most readily drawn -

Matt. 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

"Go" is not a suggestion, but a command in this passage! OK, I will stop using "quotes" around go, it gets tiresome for me also!

Clearly making disciples  involves teaching the word and calling folks to obey, but does the call to go apply to all believers, only these original apostles/disciples or just those specially gifted/called to go? 

Don't miss the connection to the Holy Spirit and going in the passage above (v. 20 "I am with you") and the one below (v. 8 "when the Holy Spirit comes upon you...") -

Acts 1:4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Jesus first commanded them not to go. Jesus said stay in Jerusalem and wait, so they remained assembled as commanded! They were to stay until the Holy Spirit came upon them, then they should go, then they would go! They would be His witnesses everywhere, after they received the Holy Spirit!

Consider what happened after they received the Holy Spirit and Peter preached at Pentecost -

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Wait, is this "gift of the Holy Spirit" promised to these converts, that comes through the preaching of those who were previously filled with the Holy Spirit so they could go, also given to these who heard and repented - so they could go? Are all these who the Lord "called"  to salvation, as evidenced by their repentance, also called and empowered to go?

Acts 8:1 Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. 4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.

The apostles (Jesus' firsthand audience for the Great Commission) are still in Jerusalem, but because of persecution, everyone else "went everywhere preaching the word"!

I must acknowledge that there are different gifts given by God to individual believers through the Holy Spirit. Clearly carrying out the Great Commission, going, will look different for each of us as we use our gifts toward that end. With that said, it seems irrefutable that to have the Holy Spirit is to be called and equipped to go and of course to not have the Holy Spirit is to be the target of going (lost), not the instrument of it!

More soon, but for the moment, consider if you are one in whom the Holy Spirit dwells and if so are you going as called?

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."