Day 15 - From Neighbours to Nations

Day 15 — From Neighbours to Nations

Author: Josh

“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, baptising 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.’” Matthew 28:18–20 (NIV)

Focus: Neighbours to nations

Reflection

Before Jesus commands His disciples to go, He reminds them of who He is.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” V 18

Jesus gives His disciples the mission to make disciples of all nations. He sends them out to the entire world. However, before He sends them out, He calls them back to Himself.

He doesn’t begin with the movement, he begins with authority.

When we consider the mission in this light, our small, daily obedience take on new weight. The mission is not about you leaving your house, or expressing yourself, or discovering yourself so you can better fit, rather it starts with submission to the authority and person of Jesus. Somewhere along the journey, we particularly of western cultural leaning have mistaken self-expression and servanthood. We get these out of order. We ask questions about ourselves before asking questions of submission. Thus, we get self-leading motivation not Christ. What am I good at? What are my gifts? What is my best fit? These questions have a place but not before asking, what is Jesus asking of me? Jesus starts with submission to his authority not with expressing our self. Jesus continues…      

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” Therefore, because he has commanded, because of his authority, we start a journey to the ends of the earth making disciples. The curious things about this text is how often people polarise the text I think in slightly incorrect ways. Some only hear “all nations” and thus think discipleship starts ‘out there’ somewhere. Thus you must ‘go’ there to make disciples. Some rightly make the observation that the tense of go is more an ‘as you go’. Thus we should be making disciples where we are. I think this is correct. We can’t say we ‘love the nations’, if we don’t love our neighbours. However, even if tense is ‘as we go’, the trajectory, is “all nations”. My loving of my neighbour is to be toward the nations.

As we love our neighbours, reach them with the gospel, a question must ring in our soul, are there neighbours without someone like me?  You see, global mission does not exist simply because there are no unreached but because many cities, regions, people and nations have no “reachers”. But what am I to do in making disciples? We are to?      

“…baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”

This is inclusion language, not just ‘in Christ” but in his body, his bride, the Church. Whether to my neighbour in my home nation or another, am I investing in, inviting people to, including people in the community of grace?

Am I instructing them, giving them an accessible life to imitate?

Jesus said,

“…and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Our discipleship leans into obedience not simply the accumulation of knowledge. This can all be a little confronting at times and thus Jesus’ last statement is crucial.

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”

I can tell you, sometimes this journey has felt lonely even when I am surround with people. Lonely, not because people have abandoned me but because this obedience to the ends of the earth regular reveals my own inability and vulnerability. In this I must know the presence and power of the Spirit.

Jesus is ALWAYS with us and so we walk in faithful obedience to his call.

Will you join me in praying for the nations?

Heavenly Father, thank You that You are ruler over all nations and authorities. Teach us to see where You are at work all around us. Help us to love our neighbours well and pray for the nations with hearts that are willing to follow You wherever You may lead. Keep our feet rooted in obedience and our eyes open to Your purposes. We trust that You are with us always. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. Have you checked out Divergent Global and our posture in the mission? Check out our Global pages

Reflection questions

1. Where has God already placed me to live out His purposes in ordinary, faithful ways?

2. How can I pray and hold both my relationships and the world before God?

3. What would it look like for me to trust that Christ is with me today in my everyday obedience?