by Yanisa Reyes, second year resident

“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 command you. And behold I will be with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

This is the Great Commission, which Jesus commanded all believers to obey, yet some in the church still struggle to grasp Let’s dissect this a little.

First, Jesus said “Go,” not “call” or “invite so they can come and hear”. We have been instructed to go out and make disciples. A disciple is a learner, a student in the “school of Jesus,” as Pastor Jimmy Scroggins often says. Jesus did not ask believers to make spectators or converts, but disciples, people who obey the Word of God

Jesus also said, “all.” He did not say, “Pick and choose whom should hear the Gospel,” but all nations should hear. Everyone who is far from God is included. It is not the job of believers to filter who should have the privilege of hearing the Gospel.

Lastly, Jesus said, “baptizing them”. This is an important step in the life of a believer, as through baptism a believer identifies with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. It is a public declaration to the natural and spiritual world that a person is identifying with and following Jesus.

Few, if any, Christians would disagree with the importance of these three things. But often in the church, new Christians delay baptism and evangelism. So when one repents and believes, how soon should he or she be baptized, and start sharing the Gospel?

2 Corinthians 5:17-19 sheds some light into this question: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has passed and the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

In this passage, the apostle Paul says once a person repents and believes in the Gospel, the person is a new creation. This person has not only become a new creation, but has also been given the ministry and message of reconciliation – immediately at repentance! All believers are equipped by God to share the Gospel, to be agents of the Lord so all may be reconciled to God through Jesus. This process of being an agent of reconciliation (also known as a missionary) should not be one of “holy procrastination.” Obedience to the Great Commission should be a top priority as soon as someone comes to faith in Jesus.

The story of the woman at the well in John 4 perfectly illustrates rapid obedience in sharing the Gospel. In this story, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman. He initiates a conversation by asking for water, which leads to a discussion on the Messiah. When Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah, the woman almost immediately goes to her town and tells people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did.” Later in the chapter we learn that many believed in Jesus because of her testimony, and many more believed because of his word. Rapid obedience can bear powerful fruit!

After repenting and believing, the next step in the life of a believer is baptism. The story of Lydia in Acts 16 is a great example of rapid obedience to this component of the Great Commission., While Lydia was working, God opened her heart to hear the message of Paul. Lydia repented and believed and rapidly shared the Gospel with her family, and together she and her family were baptized almost immediately.

Like Lydia, all new believers must be trained to continue sharing the Gospel with those who are lost, and follow in obedience of baptism. These new believers must also teach others the importance of baptism, and sharing the Gospel. We should not be dead-end roads, but should consistently lead others to the truth of the Gospel and teach them how to lead others to Jesus as well, so that the Gospel might reach all nations.