Reproducing Character

 

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…”

—Matthew 28:19a

The Great Commission goes well beyond simply carrying the “Good News” of the great outpouring of God’s love through the death and resurrection of His Son. It’s not enough to share what God has done. The Great Commission commands us to make disciples.

Notice what Jesus says, as recorded in Matthew 28:16-20:

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

In this encounter, Jesus commands more than the simple telling of our story—the way the power of God has intersected with our lives. He commands the making of disciples.

Telling our story is truly an important part of the process. But, telling our story may take but a moment compared to the amount of time and effort it takes to make disciples.

Telling our story may certainly represent a personal act of obedience on our part. Making disciples takes the corporate effort of the Church—the Body of Christ—to apply all its missional engagement in order to guide new believers along the pathway that leads to true discipleship.

I urge each one of us to reconsider the implications of this Great Commission from our Savior. Let’s determine to tell our story of how God’s grace has overtaken us. And, let’s determine to be Christ’s ambassadors in making a disciple of each one who hears our story and opens his or her heart to God’s life-transforming power.

 

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