Everyday Teaching (2)

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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…”
Matthew 28:18, 19

This is perhaps the most mistranslated verse in all of Scripture. Frequently, when I have taught the Great Commission, I will say, “Now there is only one imperative, one command, in this passage. What is it”? to which people almost invariably reply, “Go!” However, that’s not true. The only command in the Great Commission is “make disciples.” Now making disciples, as Jesus continued to say, involves teaching the things of Christ to other people. Whose job is that? Certainly those who are called to the teaching office in the Church. But, as we have seen, that duty of teaching the things of Christ to one another and the world also falls on every believer in Jesus Christ. In the Kingdom of God, we are teachers all; thus, we must make sure we understand where and how we may carry out this duty which has been appointed us by the Lord.

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So let’s re-examine the Great Commission of our Lord and see if we can’t glean some additional insights into how He expects us to carry out this witnessing and teaching mandate. The word “Go” is, as I mentioned, consistently mistranslated in our English Bibles. Rather than being a verb in the imperative mood, as it seems so often to be, the word is actually a participle, and should be translated temporally: “as you are going.” So what Jesus actually commands is that, as we are going about in the everyday situations of our lives, we must be ready with a word of witness or instruction, so that we might teach others to be followers of Jesus Christ.

Let’s face it, we talk about what excites us most. Seen a good movie lately? You’ll share it with your friends, often with much enthusiasm, urging them to go see it. Get a new car? You’ll want to show it off to all your friends. God a new tech-gadget? You’ll parade it out with joy for everyone to gawk at and covet. New child or grandchild? Out come the pictures. It’s the way we are: we talk about the things that excite us most. When our relationship to the Lord Jesus and the Gospel of the Kingdom affects us like movies, cars, gadgets, and kids, we’ll talk about it with anyone and everyone who will listen.

So whom should we expect to be our audience? Well, ask yourself, “Where do I go each week?” What constitute the “as-you-are-goings” of your life? We pretty much have these in common: our homes, neighborhoods, places of work, local community, service organizations, churches, circle of friends, clubs, professional associations, and so forth. As Jesus was sent to a particular place and time to do His disciple-making work, so He has sent each one of us to our own “Palestine” with the same mandate (Jn. 20:21). When we learn to see our everyday places as our “classroom” and all the people we routinely see there as our “students”, we’ll be in a position to start lining-up the curriculum of Truth that we’ll want to present to them as we are going about our everyday tasks.

Assuming, of course, that we are growing in our excitement about the things of the Lord. How’s your daily time in God’s Word? Rich? Full? Yielding regular encounters with the glory of God? What about your prayers? Do you really experience being in the presence of Jesus as you open your soul to Him in prayer? Do you find that your times with the Lord are increasing the hope of glory in your soul and the experience of righteousness, peace, and joy in every area of your life? Work harder at your spiritual disciplines, and be sure that you go with Jesus into all the as-you-are-goings of your life, and soon enough you’ll find that you can’t not think about the Lord and His goodness. You will always have something to say about the One Who always fills your life with meaning, purpose, wonder, glory, and love.

Everyday Teaching

For additional insight into the topic of this essay, review the book, Knowing God, by J. I. Packer from our online store. Or read the article, “Seated with Christ: Living Then and There, Here and Now,” by T. M. Moore.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.