The Reasons God Wants You Involved in Community Building
It’s time.
I can’t explain it beyond that little nudge of direction the Holy Spirit gives you when He wants you to take action. I’ve long held back on talking about Great Commission work because, to be honest, a lot of folks yawn when I bring it up. Maybe it’s because as westerners (or even Americans), we have it all and aren’t really interested in what’s going on in other nations. Or maybe it’s because most are not familiar with the term Great Commission, let alone its meaning.
In 2017, the Barna Group did a survey of churched people asking about the Great Commission. Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed were unfamiliar with the term.
Whaaaat? More than half of churched Christians?
And among those who were familiar, most weren’t sure what it meant beyond church mission work. And get this, of these same familiar folks (less than half of churched people, remember) most couldn’t identify where in Scripture Jesus commissioned His disciples at His last command before ascending into the Heaven.
Great Commission Skinny
Here’s the skinny: The last thing Jesus said face-to-face with humans was that He’d given the disciples (and us) full authority and that now it was time to go into every nation, teaching, discipling, and baptizing in His name. He commissioned His disciples to do what He had done—share the gospel and the Word.
In the book he wrote, John tells us that Jesus is the Word. So we know the written Word serves as our current embodiment of Christ—which is Truth—which is a person—which is revealed through the Word, what we call the Bible.
It’s a bit complicated, but I promise, if you pray through this asking for insight, the Holy Spirit will give you revelation. It’s His job to teach, guide, and equip us with knowledge. He’s happy to comply when we ask for help.
But yeah, this commissioning that happened is a bigger deal than I think most understand. There’s a meaty history behind the idea that we go into the whole world sharing the Truth and when we look closely, we find this has been God’s plan since the garden of Eden. His world plan has been for us—the humans he made—to carry His glory to the ends of the earth, building a community (or what we call a kingdom) for one great purpose. That purpose is dwelling.
So He’ll have a holy people to dwell among.
His desire is to be with us. How cool is that?
This is actually our purpose. It’s why we were made—to dwell with God. Only … there’s evil and in His unusual, higher-than-we-understand-way, He wants us to do the kingdom building that will overcome the evil.
Your purpose is so far beyond your own spiritual growth. Your purpose is to literally build this large, holy community for which Jesus will reign over.
No kidding.
And your individual purpose, considering your own unique giftings, may look different from mine, but our goals are the same—kingdom build. Or call it community build to get a fresh perspective.
To help us all grasp the history and the purpose of God’s plan, I’ve compiled a short list of reasons our God wants you involved in His Great Commission work.
Ten Reasons You Should Get Involved
- Acts 17:26 Because every person’s time and place is determined by God. You’re living in an historic time with the Great Commission could reach fulfillment. There’s a worldwide Christian movement underway with Bible translation targeting every language group in every nation. We’re close to getting the “going into every nation and discipling” done.
- Revelation 7:9 – Because the Apostle John saw every tribe, nation, and tongue standing before the throne of God in a prophetic vision. John, years after receiving the commissioning of Christ, is shown the result–every nation at the throne of Christ.
- Genesis 1:28 – Because God’s first corporate instructions were to multiply, be fruitful, and subdue planet earth. He gave these to Adam and Eve. God reveals His blueprint to subdue every nation for His glory right out of the gate.
- Genesis 9:1 – Because after destroying all inhabitants of the earth because of widespread evil (save Noah and his family), God instructs Noah and his sons to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, going back to His original blueprint of creating an earth filled with people who bring Him glory.
- Genesis 11:4, 8 – Because when the new breed of humans from Noah refused to obey the Lord and scatter across the earth (they wanted to form one massive group of inclusive people), God forced the issue by creating more than 7,000 languages so they would not understand each other and move out into the world (the nations). His continual plan has been to go. Go and spread His glory.
- Genesis 12:2 – Because God promised He would make Abraham’s descendants into a great nation on earth. Yes, He continues the plan to build a population of holy people who bring Him glory.
- Matthew 28:19 – Because when Christ was born into Abaraham’s descendants He became not only the Savior for Israel, but catalyst to bring all of mankind, finally, into a right relationship with God. After His sacrificial act of death on a cross, He rose to share a final, but familiar command to His disciples and subsequently, the church. He said “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” In essence, Jesus told them to go, multiply, and subdue for the sake of the Gospel.
- Revelation 21:3-4, Because God’s 6,000-year plan for giving all people of the earth the opportunity to become His is realized in a future day when an angel will announce: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’”
- Revelation 11:15 – Because, finally, God’s plan to have the kingdom of the world choose to be the kingdom of God with Christ reigning as commander and chief forever is realized. You’ve been a part of something much, much bigger than yourself.
- The Great Commission should be important to you because when you tie these Scriptures and Bible history all together, the big picture is evident. God’s plan has always been about building a holy kingdom where our Lord will dwell among His people. And because He has chosen you to be one of His builders, you are an intricate part of the Great Commission.
Convinced? If not, please study more. Take interest in world affairs. Pray for the nations, which are Christ’s inheritance. Tell your tribe and world about Christ, go disciple, give to international missions, and/or pray for the world to come to know Him. You’ve got this. You were made and equipped for it.
Walk in it, Warrior.
I love Psalm 2:8 where God speaks of His anointed One whom we now know is Christ. He said:
Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
What’s so great about the above Scripture is this: God is giving the nations to Christ as His inheritance, but He’s creating the gift through you.
You are the catalyst for the holy inheritance presented to Christ in Revelation 7:9.
Wow.
Go forth, Warrior. Share the Word through doing, supporting, and praying. You’ll want to know you’ve taken part when those nations gather at Christ’s throne.
Can’t wait!
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. – Habakkuk 2:14
If I perish, I perish,
Laurie
I hope you enjoyed learning a little about the Great Commission and God’s worldwide plan. For more on the Bible and being brave, be sure and check out my podcast here:
And to take this beginner’s look at God’s worldwide plan to have His Word conquer the nations through you, check out my Bible Brief: