18. The Army of God
18
THE ARMY OF GOD
The Great Commission sums up the mission of every individual Christian and every church and every Christian organization. It is the standing orders for the army of God. It is the Lord Jesus Christ’s last and final charge to us before He ascended to the Father.
Jesus, when listing the signs of His second coming in Mark 13, said, “And the gospel must first be published among all nations.” Through the centuries, many have believed this to mean that Christ will not return until the Gospel is preached to every tribe and tongue, and at this moment, there are still 10,000 people groups without a Gospel witness!
Could it be that the only reason why Christ has not returned for His Bride, the Church, is our failure to fulfill the job description He left behind for us?
The actual words of the Great Commission are repeated five times in the New Testament, once in each of the four Gospels and once in the book of Acts. In each version, there is a slightly different emphasis. If you’ve not already done so, commit it to memory in each of the five records. Here is how they are translated in the King James Version:
All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (Matthew 28:18–20).
Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover (Mark 16:15–18).
Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high (Luke 24:46–49).
Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained (John 20:21–23).
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8).
The Lord Jesus never intended us to go out in our own strength. He promised miraculous power and authority to those who would wait on Him. These verses hint at nothing of defeat, self-effort or human weakness.
The Great Commission passages leave us no option. They present an unmistakable mission statement to every believer and to the Church. The first task of every Christian is to extend the Gospel to every people group on earth. Anything and everything else must be subordinated to this great work.
That means every activity, every building, every effort, every program, every organization and every project are to be evaluated in terms of how they contribute to the ultimate mission of the Church—world evangelization in our generation.
Understanding the Kingdom Principle
The supreme importance of the Great Commission in Scripture raises troubling questions from sincere believers who are really seeking the will of God. Many come to me with troubled questions about how to prioritize the Great Commission and integrate it into the rest of their lives.
Does it mean that every believer should be a full-time foreign missionary? How do we relate the Great Commission to the other commands of Scripture? What about church programs to feed the hungry, heal the sick and house the homeless? How do we relate the crying demands of the unfinished missionary task to family and our everyday life and work?
I am so grateful to God for the loving counsel and direction that my dear friend David Mains, of Mainstay Ministries, gave me years ago in this matter. Through David, my eyes were opened to see the divine balance that Christ taught in these matters.
That’s why we need to ask the second test question of every decision we make about time and money: Is this really helping to build up the kingdom of God?
As we fully understand the Great Commission and the principles of the kingdom together, we will find that they are one unbroken piece of cloth, a single weaving.
I believe that 2 Corinthians 5:14–21 teaches us that we are all Christ’s ambassadors, sent to represent Him to the lost and dying world around us. Verse 18 says He has given us the ministry of reconciliation to bring our neighbors back to God. And in this work of reconciliation, we all are assigned different places in the harvest field. But there is only one harvest and one Master of the harvest. We need to work together and support one another in the common task.
Love Should Rule
It’s as if we’re building a house. One person builds doors, another builds windows and another works on the roof—but we’re all building the same house. It doesn’t really matter who is doing what task so long as the house gets built.
Love should rule among the workers, but one of the saddest things I find today is that many don’t understand this principle. Satan has deceived some into thinking that only they are building the kingdom. So they end up fighting mad, convinced that they can’t work with others who don’t look exactly like them, act exactly like them and believe exactly the same way.
Of course, I’m not talking about compromising basic Christian doctrine. We can never work with those who are not united with us on the essentials, but those seldom divide Christians today. We are mostly divided around pet doctrines, methods, personalities and structures. Too often, we’re building our kingdoms instead of His kingdom—and that is just plain sin.
Once we understand that we have only one King and we’re building only one kingdom, we should be able to start praying and working with everyone. There’s no other way we can reach a world that has a population of 7 billion souls.
So, although every Christian is required to be a witness in his or her locality and sphere of influence—one must also become a “sender” of missionaries simultaneously. Not many will actually have the privilege of going with the Gospel to an unreached people group. But we all can help while we attend to whatever the Lord has called us to do in the kingdom.
We need to see this principle, and when we have, it is the most liberating revelation. No longer do we have to protect our association, denomination, ministry, race or vocational calling from other Christians. In my native tongue we have a little proverb that goes, “It doesn’t matter who pounds the rice so long as it gets milled.” That’s how we should view others in the kingdom, supporting them as much as we can as each does his or her part to finish the task before night falls.
Unity in Christ
It’s when we realize this fact of the unity we have in Christ that the great growth really begins in our spiritual lives. When we stop fighting one another, we are free to act on the really important questions:
How do we extend the rule of Christ in our chosen career—to our boss, co-workers, competitors and peers?
How do we extend the rule of Christ in the lives of our spouse and children and parents?
How do we help extend the rule of Christ into the realms controlled by principalities, powers and authorities—some of which might even be governing our lives and ministries?
This is why the New Testament so often describes our pilgrimage on this earth as warfare or an athletic contest. The Christian life is to be a gentle life of loving our enemies, but we can never for a minute forget it is not a life without terrible enemies. We are called to a life of conflict and confrontation. But it must be with the real enemies, not with fellow believers.
Can you see why “self” must be on the cross for us to have victory in this spiritual warfare? If ever we try to build a personal kingdom rather than His kingdom, He cannot support us in the battle. If ever we want our way instead of His way, then the game is lost.
This is one of the biggest reasons why so many Christians find themselves defeated—even in church work and ministries that outwardly appear to be good and righteous in themselves. It is why we find backbiting, envy, jealousy and lust surfacing even in the best churches, Christian organizations and families.
Plainly, however, this is not necessary. How? In the next chapter I have some suggestions.