Jesus’ words at the end of Matthew’s gospel are often quoted. But sadly, also misunderstood. It’s easy to do. Especially when the verses in question are very familiar.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “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. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (NIV)
To be fair, some Bible translations haven’t helped. Particularly those which use the phrase ‘make disciples’. I hear some of you say, ‘What’s wrong with that? Isn’t that what Jesus commissioned us to go and do? To make disciples?’
Well, actually no! The word ‘make’ is not even in the original Greek text but has been added. This has had a significant impact on how we interpret what Jesus said.
The 1599 Geneva Bible and the King James Version translates verse 19 as, “teach all nations”. Young’s Literal translation reads, “disciple all the nations.” Another word which could be used instead of ‘teach’ or ‘disciple’ would be ‘educate’.
To Make or To Disciple?
The issue with including the word ‘make’ is that it becomes an important verb. It suggests we are to make (verb) disciples (noun). The fact is, none of us can actually make a disciple. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life.
Secondly, inserting the word ‘make’ causes the word ‘disciple’ to become a noun instead of a verb. But when we note carefully the original text we see that the word DISCIPLE is not the outcome or end product of the process. It is the key process element itself.
Simply put, we are to DISCIPLE! It is the single command (imperative verb) in the passage. It is the action that we are to carry out.
Mindset Shift
The next important thing to understand is who or what are we called to disciple?
The answer is: NATIONS.
Now of course, discipling nations will always involve discipling people. But a mindset shift is required to move us beyond solely thinking about discipling at this level.
Whereas many Christians view this passage of scripture as referring to the discipling of individuals in all nations, Jesus is actually commanding us to disciple entire nations (a nation being a people, in a territory, with a language)! Jesus has given us his authority and the responsibility to disciple, teach and educate the nations for him. No nation, people, society or culture is to be excluded.
In order to disciple a nation we therefore need to disciple everything that makes up a nation (aka: the building blocks of society). This means we are to disciple individuals, households and families. Villages, towns and cities. Businesses, companies and organisations. Governments, the media, the arts, and every other sector of society.
As my friend, pastor Dr Michael Maiden, has stated,
‘After two millennia, the Church has made disciples in nations but not of nations. Could we have traded jobs with Jesus and expected him to disciple nations while we build churches? We have mistakenly made the gospel we preach exclusively about adding people to the Church and have ignored discipling our cities, states, and nations.’
Consequences
We have done this to our peril. While much of the Church still seems to be asleep to the present reality, or powerless as to what can be done about it, the good news is that God is stirring some of his people to wake up and recognise the results of our folly.
In the past, Western society looked to the Church for moral guidance and direction for their nations. Now it hardly gives it the time of day. As people’s dependency has shifted away from God to government, like boats, nations have drifted away from their moorings.
Here in Europe we are witnessing cultural suicide as nations continue to walk away from the very source that made them strong – the Word of God. We are abandoning our spiritual heritage and amputating the heart and soul of what made Western civilisation great.
Although far from perfect, many nations have benefited from being shaped by a biblical worldview in accordance with the principle that “righteousness exalts a nation” (Prov. 14:34).
So what can be done to reverse the present trend?
Is the Church just to remain faithful to winning people to Jesus while waiting for his return to deliver us from the growing darkness?
Can Anything Be Done?
Can and should the Church do anything to try and ‘stop the rot’?
Yes!
We are to disciple whole nations and see them transformed for the glory of God.
Jesus is Waiting for Us
Whereas many believers are waiting for Jesus to return, the Bible makes clear that Jesus is waiting for his enemies to be made his footstool (Heb. 10:13). We are called to be a light to the nations; a city on a hill. After his return the nations will walk by the light of Christ, and their glory and honour will be expressed within the fulness of God’s restoration and new creation. Bartholomew and Goheen see this as referring to each nation’s cultural achievements of history being purified and reappearing on the new Earth.
“And the nations shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour of the nations to Him.” (Rev. 21:24)
“All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name.” (Ps. 86:9)
Note: For Jesus’ 3 “how-to’s” of nation discipling – ‘going’, ‘immersing’ and ‘teaching to obey’ (the three participles in the original text), please see my blog post, What Is the Great Commission Really About? (catalystmin.org).