The Great Commission
Mark 16:14-20; Matthew 28:16-20
By David Woods
Write: I would like you to write down the names of all your relatives, friends, and neighbors who do not know Christ as Saviour and Lord.
Write: When was the last time you spoke to each of these individuals concerning their need of salvation?
In the book The Unchurched Next Door, Thom S. Rainer suggests ten reasons why we have not reached the unchurched.
- Spiritual Lethargy. “One of the main reasons many Christians do not share their faith is simply explained by the word disobedience.”
- Growing Inclusivism. “Many years ago there was a growing belief in the false doctrine of universalism, which holds that all are saved; everyone will go to heaven… One of the faster-growing beliefs is pluralism, which holds that all religions lead to God and heaven for those who are faithful to their religious beliefs… A variation of pluralism called inclusivism is a dangerous doctrine that is gaining momentum in many American seminaries, Christian colleges, and churches. This view affirms that Jesus is the only way of salvation but that he can be found in other ‘good’ religions.”
- The Growing Disbelief in Hell. “Again our congregational surveys show that more and more evangelical Christians are denying the existence of hell… An increasing number of Christians hold to a belief that those who do not place their faith in Christ will simply cease to exist at death - a view called annihilationism.”
- Busyness. “In our previous research on the formerly unchurched, we asked pastors of churches that were reaching the unchurched to keep a log of their time spent during a 168-hour week. In the span of one week, these pastors spent five hours sharing their faith with the unchurched. Another group of pastors, whose churches were not reaching the unchurched, spent zero hours sharing their faith.”
- Fear of Rejection.
- A Desire to Be Tolerant. “In the postmodern culture of twenty-first-century America, Christians may as well accept that the criticisms of intolerance will continue. The greater concern is that many Christians are unwilling to take a narrow view because they do not want to be regarded as intolerant. But Jesus never wavered in his insistence that he is the only way. We simply cannot cave in to the demands of culture.”
- Losing the Habit of Witnessing. “Witnessing, like prayer and Bible study, is a discipline.”
- Lack of Accountability. “If you have found yourself evangelistically apathetic lately, you may do well to find someone to whom you can be accountable each week. It will not be long before the evangelistic fires will be burning again.”
- Failure to Invite. “The reality we have found in our research is that very few Christians invite the unchurched to church. A few will invite Christians looking for a church home to their churches. But most will invite no one at all. And only a miniscule minority will actually invite the unchurched.”
- We Go to Churches That Do Not Reach the Unchurched. “We reach only one person for Christ each year for every eighty-five church members in the United States.”
(Outline and quotes are taken from pages 215-232 of The Unchurched Next Door by Thom S. Rainer, Zondervan, Grand Rapids: 2003.
Read Mark 16:16
Discussion: Do we really believe that those who do not accept Christ as Lord and Saviour will be damned to an eternity of unimaginable suffering and agony in Hell? Is this belief supported by our actions (of prayer for and witnessing to unsaved loved ones, friends, etc.)?
Discussion: Do we really believe that Jesus Christ is the only way that we may be saved? What excuses are we tempted to give - to give unsaved loved ones an out?
Discussion: Do we believe that Jesus truly died a most horrible death on a cross to save all men from sin?
The writer of the “Doctrinal Discussion” notes, “It is beyond imagination how Christians can see the love of God for sinners portrayed in the Bible and still be indifferent to the needs of the lost.”
Discussion: Do your actions portray an indifference toward the lost or a passion for the lost?