It’s cool to be a parent and to be able to say, “Because I said so.” Whether my kids do what I say is another story, but it’s a simple concept to grasp. There’s a benefit of being under that kind of authority as well. Whether you agree or not, you know immediately what you are expected to do. I know that it usually made my life easier simply to do what my parents told me to do.
Life within the church, would be easier if we would simply do what Jesus told us to do. The clearest example of this is the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
If there’s ever a question about what we should be doing as the church, this is the one place where Jesus comes right out and says, “This is what you need to do, because I said so.” So when we begin to wonder what we ought to be doing, we need to remember that Jesus gave us a simple program: make disciples, that is, make more followers of Jesus.
How? First, he tells us to go. The church must be active, and we simply cannot be tied to the building we call “the church.” Second, he tells us to baptize. This is part of the process of evangelism. In Mark 16:15, 16, Jesus tells us that preaching the Good News about God’s forgiveness through Jesus and baptism go hand-in-hand. Third, he tells us to teach everything that he commanded. Being a Christian is more than doing what Jesus would have us do, but we cannot do even that if we don’t know what Jesus said and did; so we must teach.
Just as a parent is careful to help their child as they grow up, Jesus promises: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” While the program is pretty simple, the job is pretty big, but Jesus promises to be with us. So let’s get to work!