Our Mission

Jesus Christ 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 the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey all that I have commended and lo I am with you even to the end of the age". (Matthew 28)

A few things that I would like to point out here:

1. All authority in Heaven and on Earth belong to Jesus Christ, so when he commands us to do something we had better take note of it!

2. His authority goes with us as we obey this command to make disciples "I am with you", this is an amazing reality as we go and make disciples of Christ, we are not going it alone or outside of authority. We are under His perfect authority as we carry out this command!

3. The word "baptize" is a Greek word that literally means to "fully identify with" (e.g. if I were to take a white cloth and submerse it into a red die until it took on the full red color before taking it out I would have baptized it into the red)

4. The Greek word for name literally means "authority", this means that we are to be identifying disciples of Christ with the authority of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Spirit and in this way send them out to do the same to others! (See blog post titled "Baptism" for more info)

5. Christ said to teach them how to obey His commands not what those commands are! It is not part of our mission to teach the commands of Christ, we are however commanded to teach people how to obey them. This command taken at its true meaning would drastically change how most churches today would handle the word of God. Instead of teaching the commands why don't we focus on teaching people how to obey the ones they already know!

I hope this helps to unlock the "Great Commission" for you in a way that makes good practical sense for you . If we start to live this command in the way Christ meant it we would be rapidly making functioning disciples of Christ and functioning Churches!

Baptism

Water symbolic Christian baptism could be classified into two interrelated categories.

Making Disciples: Every believer is commanded to make disciples. Baptism is one of three commands given to each believer to be observed through the functioning church as part of making disciples (i.e. the command commonly known as the Great Commission). Thus, every obedient believer should strive to become a discipler and baptize a disciple of Christ. They are also commanded to go and teach Disciples of Christ to obey all the commands of the Bible. In order for someone to be recognized as a Disciple of Christ by the church, they must have received the gift of grace through faith (i.e. go), have been biblically baptized (i.e. baptize), and have a heart of submission to be taught to obey all the commands of the Bible (i.e. teach).

An Ordinance: An ordinance is a physical action that pictures a spiritual reality that is to be repeatedly performed. Water baptism is also an ordinance to be repeatedly performed by every disciple and discipler. Every believer can and should baptize Disciples of Christ in order to be obedient to God’s command given to each and every individual believer, but only under and through the God-ordained authority of the functioning church. The emphasis of baptism is on the one in which the command was given (i.e. the one who is to baptize) – not the recipient of baptism.

Because of these understandings it should be common for the Disciples of Christ in a functioning Church to baptize one another over and over. This gives the disciples the opportunity to be obedient to the command to baptize as a part of fulfilling the great commission whenever this ordinance is observed by the church.

Form and Function

One of the many aspects that holds the modern Church back in their honest efforts to make disciples of Jesus Christ is their dedication to "Form" over "Function".

The function of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Form should be what a local body of Christ does in order to facilitate that function.

Most Churches in this age spend more time in obedience to the form that there Church has implemented (i.e Sunday morning service attendance, Wednesday night youth services/fellowship dinners, 20 minutes of worship, 20 minute sermons etc.) that no one ever stops to ask, "is our form really accomplishing our function (making disciples)?

My challenge to you would be to ask that question and then literally throw out every practice that is not accomplishing your goals as a body of Christ! If it is not accomplishing the goal it is a waste of resources. Question everything that you do as a Christian so see if your resources are producing the fruit that you need to see in your life and the life of your Church.

Don't get caught up in obedience to your traditions as they have no intrinsic spiritual value! Stay focused on obedience to the commands of Christ to make disciples and love your neighbors as yourself!