9 Aug 2015
The command by the risen Jesus in Matthew 28:19 to “make disciples of all nations” is given to ALL Christians who believe in Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Missions, simply put, is obeying The Great Commission of Jesus to share with everyone who He is and what He has done to reconcile people to God. Make Jesus Known. Jesus is the Only Way and The Truth and The Life. No one comes to God the Father except through Him (John 14:6). We share through God-honouring ways by which we live our lives, through our verbal testimonies and through our virtuous acts of love, forgiveness, kindness, etc. It is a continuation of the work of salvation that Jesus started on earth more than 2,000 years ago, and a wonderful privilege given to the disciples of Jesus.
Those who we reach out to usually start from within the small circle of our own families, neighbours, friends and colleagues. But it should not stop there. To Make Jesus Known should be like a ripple effect, moving outwards in an ever-widening circle, to those in our neighbourhood/community and should include people from other ethnic groups/cultures beside our own. Going beyond the shores of Singapore is one way of reaching other ethnic groups/cultures but sharing the gospel with people from some of these groups is also possible right here. Although not “every nation, tribe, language and people” reside in Singapore, we have quite a large and diverse group of foreign workers, students and visitors/tourists in our midst.
The Great Commission was originally given by the risen Jesus to the eleven disciples on a mountain top in Galilee but it applies to all Christians today. This obedience should not be out of burden or duty, but love: “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again… All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-20)
Our mission to Make Jesus Known does not end with a person’s salvation but progresses into disciple-making – nurturing new Christians into mature disciples of Jesus. A statement that captures this well is from The Navigators: “To know Him. To make Him known. To help others to do the same.” We will not be alone in this mission for Jesus has promised that He will be with us in this endeavour till the end of the age and that we can also rely on the mighty power of God the Holy Spirit.
