The Great Commission: Build to Send
The “famous last words” of Jesus to His followers point us to one of the two highest priorities for every true believer, The Great Commission*:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20
Hi there, my name is Ed Underwood. I was a fire-fighter and army officer for years until I joined the ministry as a pastor. Today, I lead Recentered Group, a ministry that helps churches recenter around The Great Commission and The Great Commandment.
Over more than four decades in the trenches of church leadership, I've learned that The Great Commission boils down into three simple priorities:
- Save the lost
- Build the saved
- Send your best (experienced and successful disciple-makers) to do the same.
*(the other being The Great Commandment: love one another)
“Build to Send”
Those three words perfectly describe Jesus’ vision for His bride. As pastors, we should embrace this powerful phrase as our distinct assignment from God. We all cognitively understand that the church is not about buildings, and the Great Commission is about making our lives count for all eternity. Jesus calls us to “Build to Send!”
The Great Commission's Mandate: Make Disciples Of All Nations
(Matthew 28:18-20)
The Context: These are the Lord Jesus’ final words to His doubting disciples assuring them of His authority from the Father (Matthew 28:16-17, Acts 1:8).
The Command: Based on His absolute authority, His followers are to make disciples of all nations, from every people group, by baptizing new believers and teaching them to observe, fully grasp, and incorporate all that God commanded (Matthew 28:18-20a).
The Close: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b). The Lord Jesus assures disciple-makers that He will be with them to the end. This is not a solo mission. How reassuring!
Ultimately, it’s GOD who…
- helps us see our need to build a healthy and mature community where His children can begin to grow in His grace as they love one another.
- grows our passion to equip strategic, world-changing Christians to send into our neighborhoods and around the earth.
- gave us a new nature desiring to transform our lives so that we could better express our Build to Send hearts.
- will move powerfully in our lives to accomplish all that He desires.
Save the lost.
Ed underwood
Build the saved.
Send your best to do the same.
The Bedrock of Discipleship: Who You Are and What You Need
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me”.
Galatians 2:20
Who You Are: Your New Identity in Christ
When we trust Christ to deliver us from sin, He changes us into something we weren’t before.
We become the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19), a new order of mercy-receiving people that have been called out of darkness (1 Peter 2:9-10) and reborn to a living hope (1 Peter 1:3) having received “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).
Romans 6-8 emphatically states that once we have believed the gospel, we’re not who we used to be, and we don’t have to live the way we used to live. Therefore, the essence of our new life in Christ isn’t in the change of our lives on the outside, but in the change of who we are on the inside.
It’s not in the change of our behavior; it’s in the change of our nature.
Making disciples and fulfilling The Great Commission is hard. The greatest challenge, though, is NOT to turn believers from their sinful past. Rather, it's in helping them learn how to truly trust God.
Paul devotes eleven chapters in Romans to detailing how the righteousness of God is demonstrated in those who truly trust Him:
- The Gospel delivers believers from the penalty of sin. Justification by faith—every believer is declared righteous the moment they believe (Chapters 1-4).
- The Gospel delivers believers from the power of sin. Sanctified by faith—every believer who relies on God’s Spirit will live righteously (Chapters 5-8).
- The Gospel’s promises are the promises of a covenant-keeping God (Chapters 9-11).
Knowing who God is and what He has done for us will transform you and those who listen and believe.
The Great Commission Happens in a Grace-Trusting, Disciple-Making Community
You need more grace.
Paul introduced most of his letters to churches with a greeting, “Grace to you.” Peter begged God for “ever-increasing measures of grace” for the suffering churches on the frontier of faith (1 Peter 1:2).
Paul reminded Titus that “the grace of God that brings salvation to all men” teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, look for the glorious hope of Christ’s soon return, and makes us “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14).
If you’re going to follow Christ as His devoted disciple, you’re going to need more grace, not less. If you're going to fulfill Jesus' mandate to make more disciples (if you're going to follow The Great Commission), you need more grace.
You need disciple-makers.
Mark used the verb, genesthai, to translate Jesus’ promise to His first four disciples, “I will make you fishers of men.” Genesthai means, “I will make you become something you are not now.”
The difference between you and Jesus’ disciples is that you have a resource they didn’t have: the church. If you’re going to follow Christ as His devoted disciple, you need to be involved in disciple-making.
You need community.
Disciple-making isn’t only hierarchical (Paul-Timothy-faithful men), it’s also communal. Disciple-making isn’t only vertical; it’s also horizontal. If you’re going to follow Christ as His devoted disciple, you need a healthy community of faith.
That community of faith is the fertile soil where The Great Commission grows and is fulfilled.
Begin With What You Have And Ask For What You Need
You have a lot:
- New life in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17)
- The Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9)
- The Word of God (Hebrews 4:12)
- The irrevocable promises of God (Romans 8:29)
- Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).
But ask for what you need!
Jesus promised that His Father would provide what you need to follow Him. In John 14:13-14, Jesus says, “Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in My name, I will do it.”
Again, in John 16:23, He also says, “Whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He will give it to you.” (John 16:23, NET Bible)
The context of these promises has nothing to do with a BMW or a Rolex but has everything to do with what you need to follow Jesus. These are promises you can claim when you ask God to give you what you need to follow His Son—a grace-trusting and disciple-making community.
So, ask, and keep on asking, “Father, please give me a safe, grace-trusting, disciple-making community.”
And watch Him fulfill His promise so that you can build to send.
More Practical Advice Worth Checking Out
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- how to handle criticism as a church leader (and defuse the critics)
- how to choose church management software you (and your team) will love
- how to start a church (story of New Life Fellowship)
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