Reflections on the Great Commission
“...go make disciples...” -Matthew 28:19
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Dear Friends and Great Commission Teammates,
This several page “Open Letter” addressed to fellow Christians is the culmination of personal observations slowly made over the last 35 years of International Evangelism’s ministry. Reading its three sections will require some quiet time for prayer and thoughtful evaluation. It is the kind of letter that will never be adequate or truly complete, so I trust you will look beyond its attempted wording to its deep spirit of concern. It is also my prayer that the observations expressed will only ring true to you if they are accurate and genuinely need to be addressed.
Beyond any doubt, I feel that our Christian churches must become prepared for the emerging global challenges that are now facing us. To accomplish this, strategic changes will need to be made. The challenge and opportunities before us center in learning how to consistently equip the millions of Christians in our Lord’s family to effectively carry out their personal ministries. The motivation for writing this letter is my unchanging conviction that the Christian church is called and already fully empowered to fulfill its global mission – and that it is paramount that we finish our assignment. We have long been told that we can live in anticipation of that wonderful day!
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.” (Matthew 24:14)
Christian Leadership –
In recent years, Christianity has lost some of its finest minds and most highly respected leaders. This comes at a time in Western church history when a wide range of highly motivated, but spiritually un-enlightened antagonists to Christianity are diligently working to erode the Biblical values that have uniquely shaped the freedoms and spiritual character of our heritage. The way of life we deeply cherish is now being steadily eroded by our quiet tolerance of sin, violence, immorality, and previously unthinkable crimes against children, ordinary citizens, and even the unborn. Almighty God, who has greatly blessed us, has become a name that our children now often hear publicly and privately used as a curse word in thoughtless disrespect. In this skeptical era of religious diversification and moral decline, our churches urgently need robust Christian leadership that can be trusted because of its integrity, wisdom, and uncompromising quality of faith.
In the United States, in addition to recently losing D. James Kennedy, North American churches are now ministering without the gifted and visionary leadership of Bill Bright, Stephen Olford, Louis Drummond, T.W. Wilson, Adrian Rogers, and Ruth Graham. This has taken place in only eight fleeting years. In lay ministry, we have also lost widely respected Christian leaders like Gene Warr, Wayne Watts, and Carloss Morris during this same brief window of time. Billy Graham’s retirement, plus these important absences, has created perhaps the most notable shortage of internationally respected North American Christian leadership in a century.
Observations –
Today, only a few, like Franklin Graham, Ann Graham Lotz, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Robert Coleman, Louis Palau and a handful of other new but lesser known Christian leaders are globally recognized and internationally active in ministry across denominational lines. Sadly, one or two others who are well known are either so theologically misguided, or materialistic that in many countries, their influence has actually become a confusing deterrent to the church’s important mission.
Due to the impact of secular culture on the Christian church, in many congregations the time honored Biblical doctrines and classic spiritual disciplines of discipleship that develop Christian character and leadership skills have been neglected. Arguably they are no longer the central focus of attention in a significant number of the world’s Protestant churches. Additionally, over the last several decades, many other well meaning but trend conscious congregations have slowly drifted into highly expressive but often shallow forms of worship. Typically their services leave little time for the centrality of Biblical preaching and teaching. Internationally, it can also be observed that in large families of churches, lay ministry is actually little understood and New Testament disciple-making is seldom practiced. This striking omission in our Protestant and Evangelical educational tradition continues to be a longstanding, logistical reason why the Great Commission remains unfulfilled. For scores of decades, we have been modeling and transplanting a ministry methodology that largely depends on proclamation. However, in spite of good preaching and small group Bible studies, our statistics remain alarmingly poor. Why? Because there has been limited application of the New Testament equipping model that is designed to produce spiritual growth and evangelistic multiplication naturally.
Ministry Methodology –
Forty or more years ago at the Layman’s Leadership Institute in Miami, Florida, the venerable Canon Bryan Green of England said, “Mark my words you North American Christians, if you do not change your methodology, your churches will one day be as empty as the cathedrals of Great Britain.” He spoke like a prophet and pointed out the great danger of enjoying sound theology, while relying on deficient methodology. Since the day he delivered his unmistakably clear and disturbing message, little of substance has changed. All too often our Western churches have employed a well intended but faulty church model which has failed to adequately “equip God’s people” to carry out their ministries.
The Past Observed –
In retrospect, the past century witnessed the birth and rapid growth of numerous highly successful para-church ministries. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association saw more people in a greater number of countries respond to the preaching of the gospel than at any time in the 2,000 years of our Christian faith. Campus Crusade for Christ enlisted, equipped, and raised more individual support for its mission teams than any organization of its kind in history. The Navigators, Evangelism Explosion, Youth for Christ, Young Life, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Child Evangelism Fellowship, Overseas Crusades, Market Place Ministries, New Tribe Missions, Bible Study Fellowship, Promise Keepers, World Evangelism Fellowship, and scores of other excellent para-church ministries were raised up by God to address the specific spiritual needs not being met by our many Protestant and Evangelical churches. The entrepreneurial spirit of these dynamic new ministries attracted both the participation and faithful support of large numbers of highly dedicated lay persons.
The Problem Identified –
To our surprise, during the later decades of the 20th century when our eyes were fixed on Christianity’s new “para-church ministries” which experienced outstanding visible success in evangelism, something unnoticed and little publicized was also taking place. Year after year, in the United States, a growing number of denominations were experiencing a marked decrease in their numerical percentage of the nation’s population. This reflected the larger reality that worldwide, Christian churches were merely adding new believers while the national populations on every continent were rapidly increasing through biological multiplication. Our ineffective traditional methodology of addition was simply not adequate to keep up with the growing human birth rate. In reality, the practice of addition was ensuring the long-term, steady decline of the church’s membership. Somehow, we either failed to see or comprehend the important lessons which should have been learned from the experience of our dedicated forefathers in Great Britain and Western Europe.
Over the last five decades, a second persistent and equally serious problem has been observed. However, it too was seldom discussed in our theological forums. A concerning percentage of new believers and other church members were quietly leaving through our churches’ “back doors.” These dissatisfied parishioners typically left unnoticed and either drifted back into the world, were proselytized by cults, or ended up perpetually moving from “church to church.” Many of these saved but undiscipled seekers genuinely wanted to grow spiritually, but that innate desire remained unfulfilled. Decade after decade the pattern of addition followed by attrition repeated itself resulting in large numbers of new Christians hearing the gospel and sincerely responding, but failing to mature and multiply spiritually.
Observations from the past –
Alarmingly, because of the absence of trained disciple-makers in our churches, we learned that our numerous effective church outreach events and the successful para-church ministries which flourished during the latter part of the 20th century both proved unable to translate their success in evangelism into sustained local church growth!
Emerging Mega-Churches –
In the United States, spanning the last five decades, we have observed two opposing trends. During this seemingly progressive period of growth for some churches, many thousands of other congregations plateaued numerically. Then, when that problem was not corrected, these churches gradually started to decline. Ironically, this second trend took place during the dynamic “mega-church era” which proved to be highly effective for thousands of church members who lived in or near our large North American population centers. This was also true in several heavily populated Asian and South American centers. In many respects, the world’s high profile “mega-churches” appeared and actually were successful in terms of attendance. For that reason, in addition to the lay centered “para-church” movement, we naturally focused our attention on these churches’ creative energy and impressive numbers. However, two haunting realities were overlooked during that period of time. First, the mega-churches had their own serious “back door” problems and second, many thousands of the estimated 250,000 or more non-mega churches in the US, Great Britain, and Western Europe were having very few baptisms. Additionally, their “back doors” were swinging wide open! Even South Korea, which reported many conversions, was experiencing the same “back door” dilemma.
Theological Trends –
Unquestionably, in Western Europe during earlier decades, the negative spiritual impact of theological universalism had made its mark. This debilitating theology inspired by a low view of Scripture played a significant role in the decline of evangelism. The alarming trend was especially noticeable in the West’s mainline Protestant denominations. However, there was another underlying factor affecting the spiritual health of our Christian churches. This had to do with the absence of a practical understanding of how the church’s global mission mandate practically related to – its own ministry methodology.
The Global Mission –
Jesus’ last compelling words to the church were both corporate and personal – we were individually and collectively called to equip disciplined followers - not just make converts! He said, “…go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19) The Lord personally modeled His disciple-making methodology so we would be able to understand how it related to His global evangelistic mandate. His equipping principles were so visibly imbedded in His lifestyle that they could not be missed. Observing the disciple-making pattern of His life enabled the first century believers to immediately follow His example. Without questioning His methodology, they personally put disciple-making into practice. However, as the church became increasingly institutionalized, this important New Testament approach to ministry eventually became obscured. Finally, it was lost altogether during the spiritually dark ages of the church. During this protracted period which lasted for centuries, both the theology and methodology of the Christian church suffered greatly.
The Reformation –
When the Reformation finally arrived, church renewal wasn’t far behind! It gave us back the “priesthood of the believer,” but it failed to recognize and restore the important early church practice of relational ministry. It was this natural lifestyle approach to Christian discipleship that most clearly demonstrated the time honored educational principle of – “learning by example.” (1 Corinthians 11:1) This profoundly simple but consistently successful pattern of spiritual training ignited and sustained the first century’s disciple-making movement. Through its resulting evangelistic multiplication, the Roman Empire experienced the explosive expansion of the Christian faith.
Relational Ministry –
The formative years of church history witnessed the amazing power of lay ministry in the form of a mission movement. This first and most effective spiritual awakening was based on personal evangelism intertwined with one Christian friend discipling another. This early relational style of ministry had its own unique characteristics. By nature, it was both personal and transparently honest. These characteristics were made obvious in Paul’s epistles to his spiritual trainees. Additionally, this approach to ministry was shown to be both long-term and personally time intensive. Fortunately, for those early generations in Christian history, time was a currency gladly given and disciple-making was a process that could best be carried out through friendship. It required little or no financial resources and because of its unique simplicity, it proved capable of quietly changing lives with scant public notice. Through it, Christianity steadily increased and redemptively challenged the world’s largest and most powerful political empire. The Lord’s relational methodology worked so effectively that the new found faith flowed smoothly from life to life. Disciple-making allowed spiritual growth to take place naturally with transforming power. Simply believing, repenting, and following the example of an older Christian became the uncomplicated process which God used to bring His glorious truth into the pre-Christian world.
The Lord’s enduring message of faith, hope, and love was universally understandable. Its method of delivery was so reproducible, it could be used anywhere. His truth advanced through the very people whose lives had been changed by it!
He declared, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:32)
During those eventful days, the Great Commission moved forward triumphantly. This was long before we had – schools, church buildings, the media, or the many other resources that we have come to depend upon today. However, unintentionally, and without anyone’s recognition, the church gradually forgot the secret of its own world-changing growth. Over time, it slowly replaced its highly successful practice of relational ministry, which equips future leaders by providing them with quality examples to follow. Instead, it placed its full educational emphasis on teaching and proclamation and for all practical purposes, training simply disappeared.
This was brought to our attention about a century ago by A. B. Bruce through his timely research and writing entitled, The Training of the Twelve. Following that, Dawson Trotman, Robert Coleman, Leroy Eims, Walt Henrichsen, Max Barnett, and other Christian leaders were raised up by God both to model relational ministry and to call future generations of Christians back to the basics of the church’s own proven methodology.
Spiritual Health –
Preaching, teaching, and training all worked in tandem in the Lord’s ministry as well as in the early church, however, as that balance gradually shifted away from training through relationships, personal evangelism and disciple-making were deemphasized. Ultimately, early church disciple-making was replaced by form and ritual. We have learned from history that the sustained spiritual health of a church requires balanced methodology that establishes mature spiritual roots in each new generation of believers. In today’s context, it is fair to say that most of our excited and potentially effective new believers do not experience this and are basically left to seek their spiritual growth from only a few minutes of weekly worship plus an hour or two of small group Bible study. The privilege of guided relational growth throughout the week is still foreign to our thinking. The stark contrast between our convenient small group approach and Paul’s long-term relational ministry with young Timothy and Titus seems to have somehow missed our attention. Both of these men were individually trained, prayed for, and encouraged for years through the personal ministry of disciple-making. That was the deeply meaningful equipping model that the Christian church was called to emulate.
Today’s semi-effective ministry model which solely depends on preaching and teaching is like a beautiful grand piano that is partially out of tune and plays “off key” because one of its three legs is missing. It sounds poorly for only one reason – it is leaning and out of balance. Strangely, that condition has been tolerated and left uncorrected for so long that the instrument’s deviant sound is now considered normal! For generations, this incomplete “two-legged” church model has been producing congregations with lay members who seldom reproduce spiritually and have little experience in personally training disciples. Statistics show that only a small percentage of the members in our churches typically lead anyone to faith in Christ in a normal year. Sadly, if any of those reached are ever personally discipled, that life-changing experience usually takes place unplanned and little noticed outside the organized ministries of the church. Yet all the while, each generation’s new Christians remain in great need of Christ-centered friendship and the benefit of a more experienced Christian’s example demonstrating:
· Christian love and integrity
· A personal daily quiet time
· Scripture memory
· The ability to make wise spiritual decisions
· Intercessory prayer
· Life-style evangelism
· Moral purity
· Living and giving by faith
Paul commended this infectious ministry principle to the church in Philippi with these words:
“The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you.” (Philippians 4:9)
Section Two
New Planning Urgently Needed –
Today, most churches’ intentional planning directed toward new believers is little more than providing a fellow-up booklet or scheduling a few hours of instruction in a new member’s class. Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Church has recently explained that his church’s popular “seeker sensitive” format draws exceptionally large crowds but has seriously failed to produce lifestyle disciple-makers. His honesty is highly commendable and it literally begs our current and future Christian leaders to reclaim and implement the time-honored ministry modeled by Paul, Peter, and Barnabas. Why? Because even our best-known trend setting churches currently have no one equipped and ready to befriend and personally disciple a new church member. We have totally depended on weekly worship, small group meetings, and periodic outreach events to provide the inspiration and environment required for new believers to grow spiritually. Because this has proven to be highly inadequate, we have been forced to admit that decade after decade, the church has lost the benefit of thousands of its best potential witnesses!
Lost Leadership Potential –
Our failure to equip our seasoned members to personally disciple new believers has created a perpetual shortage of spiritually mature lay leaders. All Christian churches need members who are spiritually qualified and personally prepared to share their faith and multiply. However, because of our past, most of our churches are currently fortunate to have even a handful of members who faithfully practice lifestyle evangelism. Ultimately, to fill this leadership void and most often out of perplexed frustration, many church staff members have substituted a wide range of short-term programs for Biblical disciple-making. As a result, thousands of dedicated pastors and church staff members have slowly “burned out” and are now missing the blessing and joy of fulfilling their high calling. To place this widely shared condition in its international context, many of our Christian church leaders throughout the world simply – have not and are not:
Equipping their people to think in terms of having a personal ministry to new Christians. As a result, new believers are highly fortunate if they succeed in finding the right books, attending the right meetings, and staying in a church long enough to slowly mature and eventually learn how to use their spiritual gifts. Because of this, few new believers enjoy a lifestyle of personal witness or learn how to multiply by equipping disciples. For this reason, the church has continually lost ground to the world’s biological birth rate.
This pressing global dilemma is not the result of anyone’s intentional act of commission, but rather an unintentional, seldom acknowledged act of omission which is deeply rooted in our long standing Christian traditions. In each state and country, we critically need countless thousands of equipped lay witnesses – who comprehend their Biblical role and the strategic importance of becoming multiplying disciple-makers. It should not surprise us that this exact same need currently exists across denominational lines in churches of all types and sizes.
Our Ministry Priority –
In light of these observations from recent and early church history, as we look toward the future, task one is for us to become seriously focused on the united goal of bringing New Testament disciple-making and evangelistic multiplication back to center stage in Christian thinking and church practice. We can accomplish this by encouraging, affirming, and assisting Great Commission-minded seminaries, universities, forward thinking mission ministries, denominational agencies, and individual churches that desire to equip Christians for personal disciple-making. It is our generation’s task to unite in prayer asking God to raise up a multitude of deeply committed, Biblically grounded, “…workers for the harvest.” (Luke 10:2) Those emerging leaders who dedicate their lives to equipping disciples for Christ will be privileged to see greater strides in the Great Commission than past generations have experienced. It is they who will lead and shape the priorities and methodology for tomorrow’s church.
Effective Future Churches –
The future of Christianity definitely belongs to those congregations that become effective in lay ministry. We can already see that any church’s lay leaders who are personally discipled through the example of a more spiritually mature Christian friend typically become consistent disciple-makers themselves. Their passion for personal ministry is caught and then passed on by example in the pattern of 2 Timothy 2:2 and Philippians 4:9. Through their relational ministry, each new spiritual generation learns to depend on the Holy Spirit. They become relaxed natural witnesses, and as Dawson Trotman once wisely pointed out, “They reproduce!” They are practically prepared to live out their faith in the market place, at school, at home, and wherever they travel because they have learned by example. God’s Word explains;
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1)
An articulate, empowered, multiplying laity is what every healthy church prays for worldwide. It is this generation of seminary students that is being prepared to build and lead God’s army of millions waiting to be trained in over 200 countries. This is why it is critical for God’s people to strategically assist those institutions, ministries, and churches that are serious about disciple-making. Time and our glaring past failures have clearly demonstrated that only a relational New Testament model of training by example is capable of naturally and consistently re-producing a lifestyle of spiritual multiplication. Disciple-making was unquestionably the Lord’s methodology as well as the first century church’s model – so we are advised by our own history to personally adopt and enjoy this powerful Great Commission lifestyle. Paul was led to instruct us to mobilize the entire church membership by equipping them to carry out their individual ministries.
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11&12)
Effective Ministry –
Ultimately, we know that true spiritual awakening will require much more than a change in the church’s ministry methodology. It will take a sweeping counter-cultural movement empowered by the Holy Spirit. It appears that the spiritual climate for such a movement may be building; however, the church at large has been so preoccupied with its traditional activities and doctrinal disagreements that it has not sought God at this level for many years. Fortunately for those around us, this can be changed through earnest prayer.
For decades, the church’s great capacity for a dynamic lay ministry has largely been consumed by a variety of routine programs. Unfortunately, most of these programs have produced little evangelistic results and made minimal impact on secular society. The life-changing influence of intentional disciple-making is the critically missing element in local church evangelism. As a vivid western example of this reality and urgent need, in the Southern Baptist Convention for years, thousands of local churches across the United States have reported no baptisms! Unfortunately, similar statistics from sister denominations are equally alarming. Some are currently saying that as many as 50% of their congregations have not had even one baptism for 12 consecutive months. Theologically, we know that the gospel’s capacity to affect conviction, repentance, and conversion never diminishes, so we are left to ask ourselves, “What has caused this strange unnatural condition and how can it be corrected?” How can the quality of our individual “salt and light” be dramatically improved? That Biblical answer is timeless; the Holy Spirit anoints and empowers the sanctification process of growth and personal transformation in our lives. Each new believer’s spiritual development takes place slowly in an environment where “iron sharpens iron.” (Proverbs 27:17a) This is the essence of intentional disciple-making – and the ministry model that is still largely unknown and missing among our churches!
Our Calling –
At this time, the pursuit of positive change for the purpose of personal holiness and spiritual awakening is basically foreign to our “feel good” church mentality – but God can and I believe desires to deepen us as He has at other times in church history. However, that level of spiritual commitment calls for personal denial and self-discipline “…for the purpose of godliness…” (2 Timothy 4:7). This is still far from normal in our thoughts and experience. Perhaps the adventure of living under Christ’s lordship appears too costly to many of us. Fortunately, that spiritual condition can also be changed through prayer and discipleship in the coming decades. On a personal level, a decision of this significance can only be made individually, and God is patiently waiting on us to become deeply dissatisfied with our current spiritual mediocrity. Once we are broken, yielded, and obedient He can bless and use us in every neighborhood, city, and nation.
God’s Spirit –
With these reflections and considerations in mind, it is natural to ask, “Where do we go from here?” Let’s consider this possibility – “Would the world’s evangelical seminaries not be a likely place for spiritual change and awakening to begin?” In North America, many of them experienced God’s wonderful touch in the early 1970s. Could this not happen again? This time let’s ask the Lord to send His awakening internationally and let that revival move naturally into the ministries of both new and existing churches. It is important for us to remember that the last outpouring of God’s Spirit came about as the result of several years of consistent prayer on the part of highly devoted professors and students.
Positive Signs –
The good news is – we can already be deeply grateful that on three continents, a 2 Timothy 2:2 vision of spiritual multiplication which ignites lay ministry is now being made tangible in several of the world’s leading and most influential seminaries. Thanks to Southwestern and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminaries in North America, the International Baptist Seminary in Argentina and the Bonn Baptist Seminary in Germany, the early decades of the 21st century will be privileged to experience a new day of leadership development which is strategically and functionally committed to “…equipping the saints for the work of ministry.” (Ephesians 4:11) Other institutions are studying this New Testament educational methodology and are currently evaluating how to implement its highly practical vision.
Invitation to Prayer –
In view of this encouraging progress and the realistic future potential of a sweeping lay movement that can produce spiritual awakening, I would like to invite each reader to become a teammate in earnestly praying for:
• A spirit of true spiritual hunger and revival in the church.
• A new generation of highly motivated multiplying disciples to be raised up for global ministry.
• God’s funds to be abundantly provided and wisely used in the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
• A new awareness of the importance of lay ministry on the part of global Christian leadership.
• Seminaries that comprehend the strategic difference between teaching and training and diligently pursue both with excellence.
We are invited by God to boldly pray, so isn’t it time for God’s Great Commission army to join together and faithfully act? He invited us to pray adding this promise.
“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3)
Section Three
A Growing international Challenge –
In spite of the progress in theological education enumerated in this letter, there is another need for earnest prayer. The Christian church at large is currently in a serious danger zone internationally. This rapidly growing challenge is formidable and it comes to us as the result of the training the church unintentionally failed to provide in years past. The Biblical resources for that training were readily available, but our local church’s delivery system failed to function properly. This took place because of the lack of equipped lay leaders. As a result, with few exceptions today’s church members are currently unprepared to evangelize the aggressive well funded cults and militant non-Christian world religions that are now facing us on two fronts at the same time. Both of these highly organized adversaries of Christianity understand the importance of personal training and are using it as the core of their global mission strategy. These groups teach tragic non-Christian theology but they never-the-less employ excellent New Testament training methodology. In addition, they are unapologetically outspoken about being in “hot pursuit” of this generation’s young hearts and minds. They are focusing on their preparation to out distance Christianity in the future!
Without the important asset of relational training, both our dedicated missionaries and our many churches are now operating well behind the curve. As an example, in Spain alone, Jehovah’s Witnesses are reportedly growing three times faster than Baptists! The time of global spiritual challenge has unexpectedly arrived and our members who are willing to serve are still unprepared. In response to this global challenge, important educational changes in methodology urgently need to be made in our schools, publishing houses, and churches. If we fail to do this and ignore or underestimate the growing diverse threat of Islam, New Age, Secular Humanism, and non-Trinitarian cults like Mormonism, our children or grandchildren could live in a strange and unfamiliar world of post-Christian values and militant anti-Christian extremism. Equally important, we will have missed our one chance for bringing the gospel to our generation. For both of these reasons, the hour to assist our churches in understanding and implementing spiritual multiplication must be now! The Lord’s spiritual objective for His church’s evangelism could not be more beautifully illustrated. Jesus said,
“Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.” (Mark 4:8)
Understanding Spiritual Multiplication –
Today’s church currently stands at a critical crossroads; however, many of its members still do not comprehend its vulnerability. Its mission organizations and outstanding theological institutions can no longer afford to operate with a “business as usual” mindset which teaches models and is satisfied with evangelistic addition. Our global mission is far too important to place any church’s dependence on such a limiting principle. Ultimately, we know that the Great Commission will be fulfilled; however, we cannot expect that victory to take place until indigenous church leaders in every country learn how to equip their laity – to make disciples and multiply naturally. When this becomes normative, the churches themselves will begin to multiply.
Spiritual Giving –
The stewardship of the Lord’s resources required to carry out His massive Great Commission initiative calls upon all of us to pray for increased faith. Trusting God to complete His work and accomplish His giving through us is a privilege that belongs to everyone who knows and loves Him. As the Lord explained, some of His children will be enabled to give more than others, but I am Biblically convinced and personally convicted that we can all do far more than we dare to believe – if we are sincerely willing to pray, practice self-discipline, and personally exercise our faith! (1 John 5:14-15) The secret behind faith-giving is experienced in asking God for His provision, not for our own gain or use, but for the express purpose of carrying out His will. His potential supply is limitless, but carefully notice the tenses describing what He has promised,
“Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them and they shall be granted you.” (Mark 11:24)
New Perspective –
The last several decades of moral decline in Western society have made it apparent that future Christian church members will need to be stronger, more sacrificial, and better equipped for personal ministry than we have ever experienced in the past. Their mission will be to live in the world and successfully carry out their ministries without becoming like it (Romans 12:2). To accomplish this, they will need to see themselves and minister daily as the Lord’s empowered ambassadors. This means continually being available for service wherever they live, work, or travel. To prepare future pastors, missionaries, and church staff members to equip the laity to think and live like this, Christian seminaries and universities will need to sharpen and redefine their focus. The revised educational goal will in essence be to produce a new generation of vocational Christian leaders who genuinely enjoy developing lay leaders. In turn, those discipled will be equipped to personally invest their lives in others! (2 Timothy 2:2) It is every Christian’s calling to individually take up his or her cross and follow Jesus Christ, but to successfully do this in the World’s emerging highly permissive secular culture will require increased commitment and self-discipline.
Global Missions –
For Christians to effectively live their faith and evangelize Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, North America, Africa, Asia, and South America, a long-term commitment to missions accompanied by uncommon courage and love will be essential. Such personal identification with Jesus Christ can have no thought of political correctness or fear of acting based on strong spiritual convictions. The Bible reminds us that, “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7) For our church members to be adequately equipped for service as 21st century ambassadors of Christ, they must become proficient in New Testament doctrine and be practically prepared to bear their witness in today’s spiritually pluralistic arena. In that pursuit, they must be encouraged and challenged to benefit from Paul’s remarkable example. He boldly said, “do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord” (2 Timothy 1:8a)
Lessons from History –
Awakening came to Great Britain in such an hour of challenge and God rolled back the nation’s growing spiritual darkness. In the days of John Wesley, it was young Christian leaders who launched the “Holy Clubs” and called for life-changing commitment to Jesus Christ. In our day, in country after country, the darkness can be rolled back again and I believe it will be if we want it badly enough. Historically, the price tag attached to national spiritual awakening and successful world missions has always been earnest persistent prayer, confession, repentance, spontaneous obedience, plus the rewarding challenge of living by faith. Charles Finney reminded us that, it is God who is patiently waiting on us to respond, and not the other way around! John made this obvious when he was inspired to write:
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him.” (1 John 5:14-15)
Costly Commitment –
Spiritual progress never comes easily and to my knowledge, it has never come without the evidence of increased dedication. We must therefore ask ourselves some searching questions. In this pursuit, it is spiritually motivational to remember that Moody, Finney, and the host of men and women whom God has powerfully used in past generations all lived out of step with the “easy going” Christianity of their day. How transparent, plainspoken, and committed are you willing to be? Clearly, we should remind ourselves that our Lord said, “a student is not above his teacher.” (Matthew 10:24)
The Lord ministered in the first century world, but He definitely was not part of it or – like it! We must therefore dare to ask, “How bright and pure is our light to be?” Whatever that answer is – that’s what the future church must seek to become. In that spirit of anticipation, can we not start praying that our current generation of educators, pastors, missionaries, evangelists, church staff, and lay leaders will adopt the responsibility of modeling Christian character and disciple-making so the next generation of future leaders can see authentic spiritual multiplication in progress? For emphasis, I am again restating the vital but neglected Biblical principle that empowers relational ministry. Why? Because no matter where we live, there are newer younger Christians waiting to be discipled either by us or by those whom we have equipped in our churches. Are we not the generation that God desires to use at this time, and is disciple-making not the life-changing ministry currently waiting to be applied in our churches? If your answer is “yes,” then the educational principal is amazingly simple. Paul expressed it saying:
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1)
Personal Commitment –
With the remaining years we each have left to live, may our journey be indelibly marked by a quality of surrender, empowered witness, and an impassioned brand of faith that will transform the future church. History has revealed that no force or form of darkness can prevail against the “light of the world!” Acknowledging this reality, it is now our generation’s “watch.” So, may the New Testament mandate to “make disciples” be owned by us and become synonymous with our highest understanding of Christian ministry. Our world is hurting while waiting to experience what God can do through His people when they are equipped and specifically focused on investing their lives in others. The next step, as I best understand it, calls on us to personally participate in a united “kingdom” effort. In the interest of the Great Commission we must each be willing to do our part and earnestly – pray, work, and give as God’s agents of change – in direct obedience to His leading.
Appreciation –
In closing, I want to thank each Christian reader for investing the time to consider these concerns and observations. Thanks also for being a teammate in faith, ministry, and stewardship. Looking back, I for one feel greatly honored to have started my personal spiritual journey during Billy Graham’s era. It is my prayer that we may each be blessed to live and serve with his passionate spirit of commitment to evangelism. He and BGEA’s anointed ministry team have exhibited vision, dedication, and personal integrity for over six decades. Together, they have won the trust and respect of both Christians and non-Christians around the world, so let’s pray that we may continue our individual ministries in that same spirit of faith and Christian love.
God’s Coming Work –
As we do our part, I believe the next great work of God will principally take place in and through the membership of countless local Christian churches. In large part, the new spiritual vitality and effectiveness which we can prayerfully anticipate, will come in response to what God has already taught us through the para-church movement’s global influence. It has positively shaped our generation’s openness to change. The Holy Spirit has wonderfully instructed and challenged us through the last century’s forward thinking leaders like Bill Bright, Bill McCartney, Howard Butt, and Dawson Trotman. They have faithfully demonstrated the great value of lay ministry and set the pace for the future.
If my expectations prove correct – during the coming decades, lay ministry will greatly flourish due to Christian education’s growing understanding of personal leadership instruction and strategic Great Commission thinking. Lifestyle evangelism will begin taking place naturally as tomorrow’s churches rediscover and implement the New Testament principle of spiritual multiplication. This long needed transition will occur as churches begin utilizing the first century’s ministry model of relational disciple-making. A dynamic new era of positive global outreach can be just ahead. In spite of the challenges I have enumerated in this letter, the future is literally ours for the taking, but as always, we, the church, must be willing to – claim it by faith!
In that expectation,
Billie Hanks Jr.
Matthew 24:14
P.S. Most of us will probably not live to see the Great Commission fulfilled, but when God’s people are equipped, anointed, and earnestly praying daily for the privilege of witnessing, there will be no doubt that our generation made the right decision and awakening will be on the way! Our Lord Jesus said –
“Until now, you have asked nothing in My name.
Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full.” (John 16:24)
If your personal commitment resonates with the call to pray, work, and encourage dedicated Christian friends to participate in the Great Commission, you are invited to share this “Open Letter” with them. You are also invited to visit International Evangelism’s website at www.ieaom.org. May God greatly bless and use you and your church as you serve on the Lord’s international disciple-making team!
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