The Great Commission: A Call To Be Personally Transformed

A Sri Lankan Tea Leaf Picker We Met On Our Honeymoon

What if the main purpose of the Great Commission is not to externally transform the world but rather to internally transform our souls?  In Matthew 10:6-9, Jesus sends out his twelve disciples, commanding them to go to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel." He further commands, "as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.  Freely you have received, freely give.  Provide neither gold nor silver nor cooper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food."

One of my favorite theologians, John Piper, posits throughout his preaching and literature that "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him."  The glorification of God through our satisfaction in him directly correlates with the first commandment: "An you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30).  Loving your neighbor as yourself is secondary to your relationship with God.  

But how can we love God with the entirety of our heart, soul, mind and strength?  I believe our ability to love, think, act, and to simply "be" expands exponentially by the act of "going".  We are anesthetized to the heart of God by the riches of our country, the security procured through our education and jobs, the stress we feel relating to city traffic, choosing the best school, what to make for dinner, etc.  I am not minimizing the importance of family and local community.  The sacredness of family is shown in Jesus' relationship with his own parents and emphasized throughout Scripture. 

However, I believe part of loving God with the entirety of our identity also requires purposefully encountering the poverty, suffering, and violence that are the consequences of evil in this world.  In my day to day life, probably the most visible form of suffering I see is the abuse of animals.  Because I regularly encounter neglected dogs at the local animal shelter or hear about the worst forms of human torture inflicted on them, my heart is being transformed by the knowledge and visibility of that suffering.  The proximity of the suffering calls me to act and permits me to act, and subsequently I feel blessed and closer to God by being given the opportunity to have any small part of alleviating an animal's suffering.

What about the more than 400,000 Somalian displaced people, however, who have fled or are fleeing to Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp in Kenya, many of whom encounter rape, starvation, the death of family members, and life-threatening illness during their journey?  Or the prevailing child sex-trade industry that involves the kidnapping of young girls and their placement in brothels around the world?  Or modern day slavery?  Most people would say all of these things are horrible.  How do we bridge the gap though from awareness of suffering and the movement of alleviating suffering?   I believe the transformation of our "selves" occurs most fully by "going" -- leaving our comfortable community -- to embrace, share, act, and grow in and through our love of God.

Since God is all-powerful, there must have been more to the sending out of his twelve disciples than simply healing and cleansing and giving.  Jesus could have perfected the world with a waive of his hand.  While it is clear that the poor and the hungry are blessed and loved by God (Matthew 5:1-12), perhaps God's worldly provision for them will be perfected when we, embracing God, form relationships with them.  The twelve disciples were commanded to 1. go; 2. share God with others; 3. heal and cleanse; and 4. "freely give."   Thus, Jesus asked his disciples to leave the comfort of their community while embracing his message in order to act and give.  Through these actions, the disciples would be transformed to the point that many of them eventually would sacrifice their lives.  The natural consequence of the transformation of disciples' lives was the alleviation of suffering, but it is my opinion that the purpose of the Great Commission is not primarily action but positioning oneself for transformation.

No one wants to look back on their lives when they are near death and ask whether it had meaning. The ability to give is truly a blessing, not a burden.  And "going" and forming relationships with people who are suffering around the world will transform our own lives by allowing us to give.  John Wesley stated: "Every shilling which you save from your own apparel, you may expend in clothing the naked, and relieving the various necessities of the poor, whom ye "have always with you." Therefore, every shilling which you needlessly spend on your apparel is, in effect, stolen from God and the poor! And how many precious opportunities of doing good have you defrauded yourself of! How often have you disabled yourself from doing good by purchasing what you did not want!" (emphasis added).  Wesley is so right!  If we could either spend $50 to buy a new sweater from the mall or use it to free a ten year old girl from sex-slavery, don't we all know we should choose the latter? Daily, however, we chose the materialism. Our hearts and minds have been crippled by the distancing of ourselves from poverty and suffering.  We must go and allow ourselves to be drowned in the suffering of this world so that only God can pull us out and, in doing so, transform our heart and soul and mind and strength.

Finally, it is not possible for everyone to physically "go" to Africa and help the displaced families traveling to Dadaab or to break down the brothel filled with children in India.  Nevertheless, it is possible for us all to "go" to that world through modern technology and by partnering with non-profits who do.  We can use YouTube, Facebook, the news, and a plethora of other forms of modern technology and media to become aware of the suffering in this world.  We can partner with individuals who are assisting those most in need and form deep relationships with them.  We can work with the poor in our own communities.

We can always find ways to personally connect and give to people around the world, but it requires us to "go" physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.  And, in doing so, we are allowing God to transform ourselves so that we love him as we were created to love. 

Please share your thoughts and opinions on these matters and let's start a dialogue!

Liberal v. Conservative Theology: The Role of Social Responsibility

There has traditionally been a perceived split in the value systems of liberal and conservative Christians.  Liberal Christians have appeared to focus on social issues in the world, such as the environment and poverty, whereas conservative Christians have focused predominately on personal issues such as abortion and sexual morality.  The purpose of this blog is to engage in an ongoing conversation as to why evangelical living necessitates a social conscience and activism, to address how the expansion of "evangelism" to encompass social responsibility will deepen our faith, and to provide practical ways to make a difference in this world, as we are called to do.