The precise and unambiguous commission!

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matt 28: 17-20

“Go into the entire world, and preach the Gospel to every creature” Mark 16:15

“Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things”. Luke 24:47

When anything is added to Christianity, whether politics, race, ethnicity or culture, it minimizes, dilutes, trivializes or corrupts the clear commission to make disciples of all nations…and the resulting disciples are discipled to two masters at once i.e. to the Lord and the kingdom, as well as to men and their culture.

Preaching the gospel means preaching just that…the gospel; not democracy, not socialism nor any other of the additions to it that we observe around us!

The great commission was not to go spread Roman or Hellenic culture into the entire world; there would be conquerors, colonizers, slavers and marauders enough to do that. No matter how they spun it, these types spread their hegemony and culture, not Christianity. Christians may have joined the boat, caught up in the potential profit of the expeditions, but the conquests absolutely were not in the name of Christ. Oh, the empire builders and conquerors claimed all kinds of divine prerogative but like political types throughout history, they were lying!

The commission did not state “go into the whole world and spread Jewish culture”; that would be putting new wine into old bottles. Besides, Israel was never commissioned to spread Judaism into the whole world, instead the world would flow up to Jerusalem, like Makeda the queen of Sheba, to learn the ways of the Lord. Historically more converts were made in Europe and Christianity flourished, but that did not result in Christianity being “baptized” into becoming part of European culture, except in the arrogance of men. The claim is patently naked because Europe today is practically post-Christian and their culture is intact and flourishing without Christianity.

The modern phenomenon, particularly in the US, is the claim of “Judeo-Christian” culture. It is promoted by some who self-identify as Christians as well as secular men like Donald Rumsfeld etc. As a Christian I would be embarrassed to identify myself morally with such grandees, because in doing so I would be linking them with that humble man who went about Judea and Galilee doing good and preaching the gospel, the blessed Lord Jesus. Judeo-Christian! What’s that? Can you really can mix the two, I mean can you amalgamate Judaism and Christianity? Well I guess if you are merely talking culture you can sort of mix any kind of sangria. However, if Christianity itself is amalgamated with anything, the “anity” will be pulled away from the “Christ”! The great commission was not, and still is not, to go into the world and make Judeo-Christian cultural disciples.

The Lord was very precise: make disciples of people in the entire world. This was to be done by baptizing them and teaching them. They were to be taught “to observe all things that I have commanded you” and he most certainly did not teach them anything about Judeo-Christian culture! He also promised them that the Holy Spirit would come down after he left and bring his words to their remembrance. The Spirit has also expounded the “heavenly things” that the Lord spoke of “we speak what we know and bear witness what we have seen” John 3:11. The Spirit and the Son gave evidence of what was in heaven, because they came down from heaven. The Son came down first, born a man; the Spirit came down after the Son ascended back to where he had come from. “He who comes from above is above all. He who has his origin in the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes out of heaven is above all, what he has seen and has heard, this he testifies” John 3: 31.

Men’s culture, politics, racial theories and ethnic issues are not the heavenly things of Christianity. They are earthly things, like Judaism with its temple, nation, dress, rituals and dietary laws. But “then he said, Lo, I come to do thy will. He takes away the first that he may establish the second” Hebrews 10:8. “Therefore let us go forth to him without the camp, bearing his reproach: for we have not here an abiding city, but we seek the coming one” Hebrews 13:13

The earthly things have failed in Judaism: Ethnicity, politics, culture and patriotism failed miserably in the theocracy of ancient Israel and the in history of the rest of mankind it is more embarrassingly evident! But the Lord has replaced the old with the new! Instead of Jerusalem on earth, he has substituted “the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God” Rev 21:2… a better hope, a better city “for we have not here an abiding city, but we seek the coming one”! “Christian city” is not Rome or Salt Lake City, or Mecca; not Benares or Canterbury or a mystical Shangri- la, and certainly not Washington DC. The Lord Jesus substituted a better citizenship for his disciples, a “politeuma” which is in heaven! Legally the Christian is citizen of whatever country he belongs to down here and ought to obey the laws, pay the taxes and respect the authorities, but morally his real citizenship is above. The Christian is instructed “have your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth” Col 3:2 and “seek the things which are above, where the Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God” Col 3:1.

There is a lot passing for Christianity and a lot of Christians who unfortunately do not know the difference. They are like the prodigal son who “longed to fill his belly with the husks which the swine were eating; and no one gave to him”. Earth cannot satisfy the heavenly citizen! If the belly is truly satisfied with earthly scraps then I must wonder...am I a really a Christian?

Makiliwè Colin Younge

October 9, 2018