The Supremacy of the Great Commission – (Matthew 28:16-20)

Matthew 28:16–20

Imagine that in our city there is a large shoe factory. The management has invested an enormous sum of money in it, and a great deal of effort, so that the factory would produce the finest possible shoes. Money has been spent on workers’ wages, on equipment, on the special machinery they will use, and on the materials the shoes will be made from. The factory is already up and running. Hundreds of workers bustle back and forth across the floor. The machines are running at full steam. The work is in full swing.

But one day the president, the owner of the factory, asks the production manager, “How many pairs of shoes have we produced so far?”

“None,” answers the manager.

“None?!?” exclaims the owner. “But how long has the factory been operating?”

“Two years.”

“Two years? And still not a single pair of shoes has been made?”

“That’s right,” the manager replies. “No shoes—but we are truly busy with production. In fact, we are so busy that we are genuinely worn out from the work. The whole time we have been especially active in carrying out our tasks.”

What would the owner of this factory do? Most likely he would be deeply concerned, he would fire someone, and he would go looking for where the problem in this organization lay.

Now, if we place a cross on the roof of that shoe factory and turn it into one of the local churches in Bulgaria, what do we get? Many people working hard. Services, events, and activities in abundance. The budget grows higher and higher with each passing year. But is this church fulfilling its primary task—to make disciples—or is it busy with some other activities?

THE CONTEXT OF THE GREAT COMMISSION

Before He left them, Jesus told His disciples what He wanted them to do. He gave them a very specific and concrete task, which we call the “Great Commission” (Matthew 28:16–20). These are the last words of Christ in the Gospel according to Matthew.

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 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 28:16–20)

The power of the Great Commission comes, first of all, from the context in which it was given to us. The context is the words before and after the text we are examining. It is the setting, the surroundings in which certain words were spoken. It is also the literary and historical frame of a given text.

The first context of the Great Commission is the resurrection of Christ: “Then Jesus came to them and said…” The Great Commission was given after Jesus rose from the dead. The risen Lord Jesus Christ Himself is speaking. It is He who gave this charge—the risen Christ, who is the exalted King of kings and Lord of lords. The One whose name is above every other name is the One who speaks. The authority and power of the Great Commission come from its source—from the One who gave it. The Great Commission is great because it was given by a great Lord!

The second context of the Great Commission is Christ’s supreme authority over everything (v.18): “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” This is a “kingly” authority. In Daniel 7:14 we see one like a son of man who comes with the clouds to the Ancient of Days, and to him is given a “dominion… that will not pass away” and “a kingdom… that will never be destroyed.” This is authority that was given to Jesus by the Father (John 17:2). But in its fullness Jesus received it after the resurrection. This authority is called “all authority”—it is full, total, and supreme authority. Moreover, it is authority “in heaven and on earth”—authority both in the spiritual realm and in the realm of the flesh, both in the realm of angels and in the realm of human beings. This supreme authority makes the Great Commission oriented toward the kingdom of God in its scope and its principles.

The third context of the Great Commission is its apostolic focus—Jesus spoke these words to the apostles (v.16): “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.” In its original context Jesus gave the Great Commission to the eleven remaining apostles—without Judas. This circumstance underscores the apostolic character of the Great Commission. It is a sending mandate. Jesus sends them and says, “Go!” He tells them, “Go!”—they are sent by Him. An “apostle” is someone who is sent, and something “apostolic” is something connected with being sent by Jesus Christ. The Great Commission is the apostolic authority and the apostolic mandate that Jesus gives to His disciples. And because it is apostolic, the Great Commission is connected with the foundation of the church—it is fundamental, foundational in its very character.

The supremacy of the Great Commission rests on these three contexts:

• first, the resurrection of Christ—the risen Christ gives it;
• second, the authority of Christ—He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me…”;
• and third, its apostolic focus, because it was originally given to the apostles.

And because the Great Commission is supreme, it must be:

• the priority task of the church—its highest priority; Jesus said, “Do this!” and we must ask ourselves, “Are we doing it?” For Jesus is making disciples today.
• the defining vision of the church.
• the highest directive determining the existence and the manner of operation of the church.

The supremacy of the Great Commission requires that we give it all the attention it deserves—and not only attention, but obedience and determination to carry it out. It is not just one more program, method, strategy, formula, or idea to add to our ministry. No, the Great Commission is—or at least should be—our fundamental ministry! We must do what Jesus said.

The Great Commission is a supreme, defining, commanding, and specific mission that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has called us to carry out. That is exactly why we must know it, understand it, recognize it, and take it as our own. It is not something that applies only to the apostles. It is something that applies to us today as well. For Jesus said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The apostles did not remain until “the end of the age.” They fulfilled their task. They made disciples in their own time, but they have handed the baton of discipleship on to us. And now we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who watch how we will carry out the Great Commission in our generation (Hebrews 12:1–2). And whether they will be successful depends on whether we will be successful. For if we fail, we put an end to everything they did. This is something very, very serious. That is why we must know the Great Commission, we must understand it, we must take it as our own, and we must do it! Anything less than that is an insult to the One who gave it!

UNDERSTANDING THE GREAT COMMISSION

As you can see, I have laid out the text of the Great Commission in both Bulgarian and Greek, because there are some things in our Bible that are not stated quite clearly. And I want to clarify them. I do not know why this error crept in, but I think it has robbed the Bulgarian church of much. The skeleton of the Great Commission consists of one verb and three participles. The verb is “make disciples” (matheteusate). And the participles are “going,” “baptizing,” and “teaching”—poreuthentes, baptizontes, didaskontes. You know what a participle is, don’t you? A participle is when you do something alongside something else. The verb tells us what to do. The participles tell us how to do it. We make disciples by going to potential disciples, by baptizing them, and by teaching them to obey Christ.

The main verb in the Great Commission is “matheteusate.” In our Bulgarian translation this word is rendered “teach.” But in Greek the word is not “teach”—it is “make (produce) disciples.” You see, in Bulgarian we do not really have such a phrase—“make disciples”—because how do you “make disciples”? By teaching them, right? And perhaps that is why the translators of the New Testament did not say “make disciples” but said “teach.” But it is not the same, it is not the same! And I will tell you why. Because there is a difference between simply teaching something in a lesson, or passing on some piece of information, and making someone a disciple of Jesus Christ, which means making him a follower of Christ. There is a difference, and it lies in the change of character that takes place in that person. Making a disciple is not merely the transfer of intellectual knowledge, but a change in the person—he becomes a Spirit-filled follower of Christ.

To understand this difference between “teach” and “make disciples,” let us look a little more closely at the text. Notice that in v.16 it says “the eleven disciples”—“hoi de hendeka mathetai”… Remember that word—“mathetai.” The “mathetai” are the disciples, do you understand? And in fact the root of the word “matheteusate” is the same as that of “mathetai.” Because “mathetai” are the disciples, and “matheteusate” is “make disciples.” And I will tell you what the difference is between “make disciples” and “teach.” Notice that in verse 20, where our Bulgarian text says “teaching them,” the Greek word is not “matheteusate” but “didaskontes.” In Bulgarian both “make disciples” and “teach” are rendered with the same root, “teach,” and so we cannot catch the difference. But look, in Greek the words “make disciples” (“matheteusate”) and “teaching” (“didaskontes”) have different roots. The use of different words in Greek underscores the difference between merely teaching someone something and making him a disciple, or more precisely a “follower” of Christ. The one is “make (produce) disciples” (“matheteusate”), and the other is “teaching them” (“didaskontes”).

And so, the main verb is “make disciples” (“matheteusate”), and the three participles are “going,” “baptizing,” and “teaching”—notice that in Greek they all end the same way: “poreuthentes,” “baptizontes,” and “didaskontes.” But the main work that Jesus commanded us to do is “matheteusate”—not merely to teach, but “to make (produce) disciples.”

I want to stress that there is a difference between simply “teaching the nations” and “making the nations disciples.” For “teaching the nations” is only the transfer of knowledge, and it is something general, something that seems unattainable to us and which, for that very reason, we give up on even before we have begun. But “making disciples” is something personal. You cannot make disciples in general. You have to work with them personally—one by one, separately with each one—until you see the divine change in his character. Making disciples requires fellowship and work with each individual, one at a time. One by one, with each one! That is the motto of discipleship.

You see, Jesus gave us an example in this. He had a general ministry, He ministered to the crowds, but He also chose twelve disciples to be with Him (Mark 3:14). And everything He knew, He passed on to them. But not merely as knowledge—He poured His life into them. That is what I really want to show you: that making disciples is not merely the transfer of information, but the pouring of our life with God into the life of our disciples. There was a difference between the way Jesus taught the crowds and the way He taught His disciples. And the difference lay in the personal approach. There is a difference between “matheteusate” and “didaskontes.” “Matheteusate,” the making of disciples, is our fundamental task, while “didaskontes,” teaching, is only one of the means for carrying it out.

And so, making (producing) disciples is our main task, and going (bringing people to Christ), baptizing (joining people to the church), and teaching (bringing people to spiritual maturity) are the means for carrying out that task.

MAKE DISCIPLES

“Make disciples”—this is not something optional. It is unconditional. Making disciples is a command. Moreover, it implies deliberate effort and work in this direction—not merely to be, but to act. Making disciples is not a state; it is an action. A disciple, in Greek “mathetes,” is a follower, someone who is learning. You see, whereas today students study subjects (such as literature, mathematics, or biology), in older times a disciple studied not so much information as a particular person and his worldview. That is why attachment to a specific teacher was the essence of discipleship. The Pharisees and John the Baptist had their own disciples (Mark 2:18). The Jews, for their part, considered themselves disciples of Moses (John 9:28). In the same way today, in order to be disciples of Christ, we must attach ourselves to Him and follow Him.

How do we “make” disciples? The fact that it speaks of “making” or “producing” shows that we are dealing with a process—a process that includes:

• Change, transformation—conversion, repentance, and being “born again.”
• The building of character—a change of outlook and of one’s system of values.
• A change in behavior and in the way one acts and reacts in various situations.

What do we mean by the term “disciple”? A disciple is a Spirit-filled follower of Christ. That’s it—it is not something complicated, but neither is it cheap. In Matthew 16:24 we hear Jesus say the following to His disciples:

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)

According to what Jesus says in this verse, discipleship includes three essential actions.

• Denying oneself—a process of daily disciplining of ourselves. Discipleship is a radical change, but it is not easy, it is not “cheap.” It requires not only effort and discipline, but “denying oneself”!
• Taking up our cross—the full and total surrender and dedication of our whole life to God. “The cross” means death. In Christ’s day the cross was not an ornament on churches and around people’s necks, but an instrument of agonizing execution. In Galatians 2:20 the apostle Paul says:

20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

You see, this is exactly what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Not merely to go to church, but to deny yourself, to take up your cross, and to follow Christ in everything He does.

• Following Christ—a life of submission and obedience. We call Him Savior, but He is not only our Savior; He is also Lord. This means that He is our Master and we are His servants. And if you are His servant, then you must know that a servant does not do what he himself wants, but does what his Master commands. If you are a servant of Christ, you will not go where you want, you will not do what you want, you will not look at what you want, you will not say what you want—but you will go where He wants, you will do what He wants, you will look at what He wants, and you will say what He wants.

This is the fundamental thing. We want to fulfill Christ’s Great Commission to make disciples. And a “disciple” is someone who has been changed by God, born again, a Spirit-filled follower of Christ who has denied himself, who takes up his cross every day, and who lives a life of obedience to Jesus. In our own strength we cannot do all this, but filled with the Holy Spirit we can.

And so, how do we make disciples? On the basis of Matthew 28:18–20 we can draw out the following formula, or cycle, of making disciples:

GOING + BAPTIZING + OBEYING CHRIST’S TEACHING = MAKING DISCIPLES

We could “translate” or present this formula in the following way:

GOSPEL (GO) + CHURCH (BAPTIZE) + OBEDIENCE (TEACHING THEM) = A MATURE FOLLOWER OF CHRIST

This formula shows us that the process of making disciples includes three phases:

• 1. Bringing people to receive Christ.
• 2. Incorporating the new believers into the church.
• 3. Teaching the baptized to live the Christ-centered way of life by carrying out His commandments.

Every strategy for making disciples must be based on and must include these three steps. If we focus only on one of the three phases of discipleship, we will fail. Some churches have a vision for winning the lost. But evangelism and gospel proclamation alone are not enough to fulfill the Great Commission. Others insist on the importance of the church—its services, rituals, government, and ordinances (the sacraments). Again, these things are wonderful, good, and necessary, but by themselves they cannot fulfill the Great Commission. It is the same with teaching. It alone is not enough—all three are required: gospel, church, and teaching—in order to make a mature follower of Christ. When we perceive, understand, and obey the command and the goal of the Great Commission, it will become our vision.

“GO” = PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL

How do we “make” or produce disciples? First, we must go to them. To “go” means to proclaim the gospel to them. In order to make someone a disciple of Christ, we must bring him to the forgiveness of his sins and cleansing from them. And notice that Jesus said “go.” We are the ones who must go. We must not wait for them to come to us. The initiative for discipleship must lie with the mature disciple, not with the potential new believer.

The word “go” includes within it the proclamation of the gospel. But the first step in “going” and in gospel proclamation is waiting to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1:4 Jesus told His disciples not to leave Jerusalem, not to set out to the other nations, not to begin the work of discipleship until they were filled with the power to witness that comes from the Holy Spirit promised by God. In the same way, we too must not “set out,” we must not begin working with a person, before we have prayed and before we have been filled with the Holy Spirit. Without His power our gospel proclamation may turn out to be dry and fruitless. The filling with the Holy Spirit is the power that stands behind us for carrying out this Great Commission.

Moreover, when He tells us to “go,” Jesus Christ is sending us. Being sent means several things.

• First, we are sent as representatives of Christ for the carrying out of a special and concrete mission—to make His followers in His name.
• Second, Jesus sends us in a specific direction—a direction that is universal. He sends us to make His disciples among all nations, or rather among all tribes and ethnic groups.
• And finally, we are sent with a specific transforming purpose—to change people according to the example of Christ and to teach them to obey Him, or to “keep” everything He has commanded.

“BAPTISM” = INCORPORATION INTO THE CHURCH

The word “baptizing them” tells us what to do after we have gone and brought people to repentance and faith through the gospel of Christ. We could say that if the gospel brings people to Christ, then baptism brings them into incorporation into the church and into becoming part of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). Baptism is especially important because it is connected with the incorporation of the new believer into the church. Jesus told us that it is in the context of their belonging to and their relationship with the church that new believers can best follow Him as His disciples.

In the Jewish context baptism symbolized joining the Jewish community. It points to the communal, incorporating aspect of discipleship. Baptism is part of discipleship because it symbolizes the new birth of the new believer through the Holy Spirit. It shows the union, joining, identification, and devotion of the believer to Christ (Romans 6:3–4), and his submission to the Lord and to the church. If someone is not baptized, then he must be baptized if he wants to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. And if you are baptized, then you must be aware of what that baptism means—that you have identified yourself with Christ, submitted yourself to Him, and become part of His body, which is the church (Ephesians 1:22–23).

In order to arrive at the decision to be baptized, the new believer must begin to grow spiritually and to be established and confirmed in his new faith. This includes a certain preparation—several things.

• First, the new believer must be established in the basic truths about Christ and the Christian faith (1 Corinthians 11:2; 15:3–5)—Christ’s coming, incarnation, death, resurrection, ascension, and second coming. He must understand that Jesus died personally for him and begin to have a personal relationship with God. From the very beginning the disciple must build the most elementary disciple’s habits that will help him maintain his spiritual growth (1 Peter 2:1–3)—reading the Word, prayer, giving, fasting. This would help him to orient himself spiritually and to begin to distinguish between truth and falsehood, between what is in agreement with the Bible and what is not.
• Second, through baptism a person is changed, and this inner change that takes place in him is demonstrated through this outward act of immersion in water in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. There is a change that happens to a person who was in the world and has now become a Christian—he connects with new people; his personal and family life also change. The various roles and positions he holds in life change. That is why we must give the new believer time and help him pass through all these changes.
• Besides change and the beginning of spiritual growth, baptism also marks a new relationship of the believer to God’s Church. During this important phase he becomes a member of the local church, of the local body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). Baptism and joining the local church are extremely important, because disciples are made in the context of the church, in a Christian community—in the church the Word is preached, in the church are the other disciples, in the church he is to grow, to serve, and to reproduce himself in other disciples.

“TEACHING” = OBEDIENCE

“Teaching” is the third step in the process of making disciples.

19 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, 20 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 28:19–20)

We could say that if the first two steps—the gospel and baptism—are shorter, the third step—teaching obedience to Christ’s commandments—is longer and, in a sense, continues to the end of our earthly life. A disciple is a follower. He is someone who has dedicated himself to follow the teaching of his Teacher. Teaching is the imparting of Christ’s truths and commandments to our new disciples. But it is not merely the transfer of information; it is bringing them to the Lordship of Christ and to the authority of the kingdom of God. Jesus told us to teach them to keep, or to obey, everything He has commanded us. This means practice—not theory; carrying out—not philosophizing. Christ’s commandments are not merely rules to be observed. They are a way of life. That is why discipleship begins with obedience. In Luke 6:46 Jesus said:

46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? (Luke 6:46)

You see, obedience is the proof of our love for Christ (John 14:15; 23–24). Discipleship is bound up with the obedience of Christ’s disciple to Christ’s commandments. So he must search out what Christ commands and carry it out.

Let us sum up. Jesus told us, “Make disciples”! And how do you make disciples—by beginning with one, one at a time. One by one, one by one, one by one, one by one… Gospel, baptism, teaching obedience to the Christ-centered way of life. And we must ask ourselves: do we have disciples, are we making disciples? Or are we simply counting on them to “happen” somehow? They will not happen “somehow”! If we are followers of Christ, and if we accept this Great Commission, then we must join in this process and take part ourselves in making disciples!

THE POWER OF MULTIPLICATION

Here I would like to tell you something about the power of multiplication as well, because it is one of the principles of growth and reproduction. Remember that already on the third day of creation, in Genesis 1:11–12, God said:

11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:11–12)

You see, this is the principle of reproduction—you produce fruit, and your fruit produces fruit, which produces fruit, which produces fruit… and so on to infinity. Later, in Genesis 1:28, God issued the one command that to this day man carries out without objection:

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:28)

Ever since then we have been faithful in carrying out this command—we are fruitful and we multiply. An example of this is China. Its population at the moment is 1.5 billion. If the Chinese lined up in a single file and began to walk past us in a column one by one, they would never stop passing by. Not because they would all look the same to us, and not only because they are so many, but because, by the time they had all filed past, just as many again would have been born. By the time each one of them walked past us, they would already have multiplied to such an extent that this line would never end.

Another example is Islam. It is one of the strongest religions in the world today. Even in Europe… Statistics show that by 2030 it will be the predominant religion in France, in 2040 this will happen in Great Britain, and by 2050 it will be the predominant religion in the world. And do you know why? Not because they attract followers, not because of the many conversions to Islam, but because of the high birth rate that Muslims have. They have babies, they multiply! And what did communism teach us? To have at most two children—and even they are too many… That is why Bulgaria has such a serious demographic problem and is in danger of disappearing. But those who reproduce—they grow.

I simply want to show you the principle of multiplication in the making of disciples. Why did Christ say, “Make disciples”? It means multiplication. Not merely addition, but having disciples who make other disciples.

We must understand that the task of evangelizing the world that stands before us is enormous, and it is beyond the strength of pastors alone, however many they may be and however well-trained and anointed they may be. Many people are needed, workers are needed, disciples are needed who make disciples. Only in this way can the Great Commission be fulfilled. God’s plan includes all the countries and ethnic groups of the earth. We are not talking here only about Bulgaria. This is about “all ethnic groups.” The pastors cannot do it—not even for Bulgaria alone. But if we have “disciples who make disciples,” it is possible. In fact, this is the only way it can be fulfilled.

Here we have a table that presents the evangelistic potential of discipleship. In it we have a comparison between how the church would grow theoretically if, on the one hand, we have a God-anointed evangelist, and on the other, we have disciples who make other disciples. In the first column is this evangelist, who wins one soul a day for Christ—he is incredible, and through him God saves 365 people a year. In the other column we have one disciple who obeys the Great Commission and makes one disciple a year—not a day, not a month, but a year. He chooses a person, prays for him, proclaims the gospel to him, the person repents, then he prepares him for baptism, baptizes him, establishes him, teaches him to obey Christ, and prepares him for ministry. All this—the building of a mature disciple—takes time…

At this rate of growth, after the first year the evangelist will have a church of 365 people, while the disciple who makes disciples will have a church of two people. In the second year the evangelist will have a church of 730 people, while the disciple who makes disciples will have only 4. In the third year the evangelist will already be the pastor of a mega-church—1,095 people—while the disciple who makes disciples will have only one home group of 8 people. By the fifth year, however, things begin to change. The small church of 32 people will, over the next five or six years, catch up with the mega-church and overtake it. Over the next ten years the difference is already striking. The church of the successful evangelist keeps growing, but at the same pace at which it began, while the church of the disciple who makes disciples already reaches one million. If it continues at the same pace, over the next ten years this church will have reached 1 billion, while the church of the evangelist will simply have gone from a small mega-church to a large mega-church, but still far too small for the needs of the world. In 33 years he will still be at roughly the same level, while the disciple who makes disciples, who make disciples, will already have reached the whole earth and should have a church numbering 8 billion—that means the whole earth!

What do you say—which is stronger, which is better? Making disciples, because in mathematical terms this is not merely an arithmetic progression but a geometric progression—multiplication, not merely addition.

In fact, making disciples is the method by which things happen anyway. We have become disciples of Christ because other disciples before us made disciples who made disciples. But the problem is that we do all this very slowly, and we fall behind the demographic growth of the general population of the earth. The growth of the world’s population at present is such that every day it increases by 200,000 people, and although according to the most optimistic statistics 74,000 people a day accept the Christian faith, we continue to fall behind every day by more than 126,000 people. That means we fall behind by nearly 46 million a year. Could we possibly be satisfied with these results?

And the sad statistic—something we experience on our own backs in our churches—is that the number of people who on Sunday do not go to church but stay at home is reaching a record high. Never mind Orthodox Christians, but even in Kenya, where 80% of the population consider themselves Protestants and evangelical Christians, only 7% go to church. Even in the USA, a traditionally Protestant country, 77% consider themselves Christians, but of them only 26% go to church. And even more sadly, most of these people are older, and among them there are only 4% young people. In the USA, 88% of all people under the age of 26 do not go to church at all.

A study in Amsterdam among young people between 15 and 25 years of age shows that 100% of them have an interest in God, but only 1% have an interest in the church. What does this mean? They see no connection between the institutional church and their expressed interest in God. (Wolfgang Simson, Houses That Change the World, OM Publishing, p. 2)

We must begin to do better! We can do better! We will do better! How? By beginning to make disciples.

WHY DO WE MAKE DISCIPLES?

• Because Jesus commanded us to make disciples. He told us, “Go and make disciples.”
• Because Jesus Himself made disciples. He gave us an example. He chose people to be around Him, and He trained them.
• Because making disciples is the only way to reach our generation for Christ. Adding believers to the church cannot save an entire generation. If the church relies on its pastor alone for all the work, it will never manage to fulfill God’s expectations of it. Disciples are needed who make disciples, who make disciples, and then there will be growth. What is more, I think discipleship will reduce to a negligible percentage the turnover in our churches—that turnover of people where some come but others leave, which is our biggest problem.
• Only through the deliberate multiplication of disciples can we win our generation for Christ!

FOUR GIFTS THAT JESUS GIVES US TO FULFILL THE GREAT COMMISSION (MATTHEW 28:18–20)

• 1. His authority—why should we make disciples? Because He commanded us, and He has all authority in heaven and on earth! Someone may say to you, “Who are you to have started making disciples?” You can calmly answer him, “I am a disciple of Christ, and He has commanded me to make disciples.” You see, by obeying His command, we take on His authority. Christ not only sends us to make disciples; He empowers us, He gives us His authority with which to do it.

And I am bound to say at once that this authority must not be abused. For example, baptism must not be carried out arbitrarily, but according to the order established in the given church.

• 2. His name—He told us to baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. When we make disciples, we make them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in the name of God. And when we do something in the name of Jesus, it means that we do it with His character, with His approval, and with His authority, because in the Bible the name is a symbol of all this.
• 3. His word—He told us to keep everything He has commanded us—the teaching of Christ, as it is revealed in the Gospels, applied in Acts, and explained in the letters of the apostles.
• 4. His presence—if we go and make disciples, He promised that He would be with us always, to the very end of the age. This presence is with us when we proclaim the gospel, when we baptize, and when we train disciples to make other disciples.

Authority, Name, Word, and Presence (Matthew 28:18–20):

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 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)

I do not know what you feel while I speak these words, but I feel the presence of Jesus Christ. I think He rejoices when I speak these words of His, because this is His Great Commission, and He is with us when we make disciples.

You see, we have the technology, the people, and the resources to fulfill the Great Commission in our generation. God has given us everything we need to carry out this task. The only thing we lack is vision and determination. Let us simply do it!

OUR VISION BASED ON THE GREAT COMMISSION

We believe that Matthew 28:18–20 is a specific task given to us by Jesus—a task that He expects us to carry out in our generation. That is why it stands at the foundation of our vision. According to the Great Commission, Christ expects us to make disciples and to help their multiplication until this discipleship movement encompasses all the nations and ethnic groups of the earth. Applying this command of Christ to Bulgaria, we have formulated the following statements as our vision and mission:

• Our vision (what we want to achieve):

This means training such disciples as will desire to and will carry out the Great Commission in the time in which we live.

And when we speak of vision, I would like to say something on this subject as well, and especially about the connection between vision and our zeal for the Lord. How does vision work?

• Vision creates passion, or zeal, for the Lord. When we speak of passion in this case, we mean “suffering for a higher goal.”
• Passion gives birth to relationships. Zealous, fired-up, passionate people tell others about Jesus. Every act of reproduction begins with a moment of passion.
• Relationships motivate us toward a deeper spiritual life.
• The spiritual life multiplies vision.

This is the natural and healthy way in which God has ordained the kingdom of God to grow. But what happens when we respond to growth not with an even greater vision, but with structures?

• Growth produces programs.
• Programs require meetings.
• Meetings need administration.
• Administration creates still more programs.
• Leaders turn into managers.

As a result, the vision fades and the passion cools. When the passion cools, the relationships built on the foundation of the vision also begin to fall apart.

The question is: “Which of the two is better? To build on the foundation of events and programs, or to build on the foundation of passion for carrying out the vision?” In the “program model” of building the church, the church is the object of its own ministry. The idea behind it is: “If we can manage to look better, people will come.” In the “passion model” for the growth of the church, the church is the object of mobilization, and the world is the object of its ministry: “Go and make disciples among all nations.”

• Our mission (how we intend to accomplish our vision): We have dedicated ourselves to leading people to God, establishing them in the faith, and equipping them for ministry by pouring ourselves into them, motivating them, and helping them to reproduce themselves in many generations of disciples. I want to draw your attention to several elements in this statement of our mission.

First, it begins with “establishing and equipping” for ministry. We want to take new believers and build them up to the level at which they solidify their Christian convictions to the point of no return—so that there is no danger of their “falling away from the faith.” Moreover, we want to help them determine what their God-given gifts are and to encourage them to serve with them in their local church.

Second, in our mission statement we say what the method of training our disciples is. It is not attending courses or merely transferring information, but “pouring ourselves” into them. I believe this is the key to success. If we want to succeed, we must learn not merely to proclaim the gospel to a person, but to pour ourselves into him, to pour our life into his life. Just as you live with Christ, so you help him also to gain this same life. Not merely teaching in general. We are used to working in a general, public way. Our public ministry is built up—we speak, we create and take part in events—but otherwise, everyone lives for himself. But God does not want us to serve Him that way. He wants us to be part of a network—a network of people in which an overflowing of life takes place—a network made up of people who pour their life into other people. And we see that in Jesus’ time this is exactly what happened. He poured His life into the life of His disciples. And His disciples poured their life into the life of their disciples. And from history we learn how their disciples poured their life into the life of their disciples, and so on.

What do we understand by this “pouring ourselves”—spiritual fatherhood. In 1 Corinthians the apostle Paul says:

14 I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. 15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. (1 Corinthians 4:14–16)

Here it is a matter of our praying that God would reveal to us the exact person whom we are to “father in Christ through the gospel”—a person to whom we become not only a “guardian” but a “father.” And this is not some title. In Matthew 23:8–12 Jesus said:

8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (Matthew 23:8–12)

You see, this is not a matter of what we will be called, what our titles and ranks will be. No, this is a matter of our relationships and functions.

We think that once we invite someone to church and he comes, our responsibility toward him is finished. From then on it is up to the church to look after him—that is, the pastor. But can the pastor care for everyone in the church? No, and that is not his job. His job is to teach the disciples in the church to do the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:11–16).

You pray for a certain person—good. Then you witness to him and bring him to an evangelistic meeting or to church—good, but after that you must be with him—answering his questions and praying for him until the moment he is baptized in water. And even after that—you take him and continue to train him, so that just as you obey Christ, he too obeys Christ. And I want to tell you that the secret is that when you teach someone, that is when you yourself learn best. So if you begin to work with someone, you will be the most blessed. Well, I am not saying it will be easy, I am not saying you will not encounter demonic attacks and resistance from Satan. But Christ will be with you, and you will be blessed.

And this is not a matter of some “academic knowledge.” It is a matter of teaching him to pray as you pray, teaching him to proclaim the gospel as you proclaim it. To teach him to go to church as you go. Whatever you do in your obedience to Christ—he too is to do. Until the moment he becomes a mature follower of Christ and chooses and begins to work with his own disciple.

The emphasis here is on the personal approach. In 1 Thessalonians 2:8–12 the apostle Paul says:

8 so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. 9 Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. 11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. (1 Thessalonians 2:8–12)

This is what we understand by the term “pouring ourselves” into our disciples.

The last part of our mission statement is connected with our reproduction.

• We have dedicated ourselves to leading people to God, establishing them in the faith, and equipping them for ministry by pouring ourselves into them, motivating them, and helping them to reproduce themselves in many generations of disciples.

This part of our mission statement is the answer to the question of how we can guarantee that the system of multiplication will not stall and collapse. The answer lies in the standard we set for a disciple of Christ. According to the standards of the discipleship movement, a disciple is one whose disciples make disciples—that is, he has not only made one disciple, but his disciple has made a disciple who makes disciples. In other words, our goal is to work to the fourth generation. We find the basis for this in 2 Timothy 2:2:

2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2:2)

That is why, in our mission statement, we say that we will motivate our disciples and help them to reproduce themselves in many generations of disciples—this means working to the fourth generation.

Not merely bringing our disciple to church. But working with him until he decides to have his own disciples—until he begins to reach others for Christ. If we do this, then what will our churches be like in 33 years? And even if it is only a hundredth, even a thousandth of 8 billion, that would still be an incredible success.

I believe that if we obey God’s Word and begin to work in this way, first of all we ourselves will be blessed in our personal relationship with God, because our “first love” will return. And second, there will be people saved. The devil does not like this. Therefore, let us pray that God would give us strength and grace to fulfill the Great Commission in our generation.