Git 'Er Done!

In what is probably the most familiar rendering of the Great Commission, Jesus said to His disciples (and to us), "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)

Most of us Baptists can quote these verses in our sleep. It is our mantra. It is our mission on this planet to take the Gospel to the ends of the Earth. We have the geographic strategy for world evangelism (Acts 1:8) and the mathematical strategy (2 Timothy 2:2), but what of the mission itself? It simply boils down to making disciples through intentional evangelism, and the discipling of individuals through expository teaching of God’s Word to these new believers. However, discipleship cannot happen until people hear the Good News of Christ. Romans 10:17 tells us that “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” We all know this to be true, but there is a problem. In earlier verses, the Apostle asks this series of questions, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:14-15)

Therein lies the rub.

The challenge is to get the message to the nations. The root Greek word which is translated in our English Bibles as “nations” is “ethnos” (obviously the word from which we derive the English word “ethnic”. It literally translates as “tribes, nations, or people groups”. So our mission is to make certain every people group on Earth can hear. But how can they hear unless someone proclaims the news to them? And how can anyone proclaim the Gospel unless they are deployed? All of us cannot go to every people group personally. Many can go. All can help them go. That is why we give to international missions.

Our church’s giving to missions translate into souls saved for the Kingdom of God. SBC churches giving through sending our international missionaries, and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering has had the following results:
· More than 360,000 baptisms in 2010
· More than 29,000 churches planted around the world
· More than 800 people groups engaged by IMB personnel
Yet there are still 3,800 unengaged, unreached people groups in the world! We are not getting the job done.

Randy Maynard of the SBC International Mission Board will be with us in early October to challenge our congregation to consider adopting an unreached people group. I urge each of our members to begin praying and seeking the face of God as to how we may more effectively do our part in fulfilling the Great Commission.