And
Jesus came and said to them, “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. (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)
This passage is “The Great Commission.” Jesus
spoke these words to his followers before ascending back to heaven to be with
the Father. His followers were left to discover the Holy Spirit and to change
the world through one simple process—making and multiplying disciples [learners]
of Jesus. Many people teach on this passage, most of us don’t regularly obey
it. Below are five of the more common myths about the Great Commission that
lead us to miss out on disciple making.
Myth 1: It will just happen.
Many Christians think, consciously or
unconsciously, that we can make disciples without changing anything in our
daily lives; that as we go about doing our own thing, disciples will be almost
accidentally made. This comes across in phrases like, “I will just live my
daily life and if someone wants to ask about the Gospel, I will share it,” or,
“I just ‘do life’ with others and pray that they will start becoming interested
in Jesus.” Many Christians are willing to talk about or declare the Gospel, but
only if opportunities pleasantly come their way. They are waiting for the
perfect moment to drop from the sky upon them to actually verbalize the Gospel
or start demonstrating the Gospel. The myth here is that merely “doing life”
with others is a straight path to making disciples.
