In Matthew 28, verses 19-20, Jesus gives what is known as the Great Commission. He has his eleven disciples with him and gives them a charge with the mission he has for them.

He says, 19 “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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

I love the simplicity, here. Jesus envisioned a world where more and more people were following him and he entrusted this process to his disciples. Now, for anyone who claims to be a Christ-follower, the same mission is presented to us. The baton has now been passed to us to go out and make disciples.

I went through a book called, Start With Why by Simon Sinek. One of the things Sinek makes clear is that without a clear and compelling why, all the how’s and what’s don’t matter all that much. For Christians, this is our mission. This is what we are called to do. He didn’t say, “Therefore go and make churches.” He didn’t say, “Therefore, go and make compelling outreach programs.” He said, “Therefore go and make disciples…”

A disciple is someone whose 24/7/365 focus is following Christ. They know they’re not perfect, but they’ve parted ways with who they used to be and are in hot pursuit of Jesus. They want to know him, follow him and represent him to the world.

So, a couple clarifying questions for consideration:

  1. Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? How do you know?
  2. Are you actively engaging with his mission to go out and make disciples? How do you know?

What Jesus said just before he left this planet was massively important. If you were about to leave your close friends for a long time, you would want to condense things and make sure you communicated clearly. Jesus told them, 19 “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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Every follower of Christ would do well to meditate on these words and consider what they mean for us today. I think the implications are life-altering.