What is the commission Jesus Christ gave to His church?

The church's commission is stated concisely by Jesus Christ Himself: "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 lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20).

       The disciples of Jesus, as eyewitnesses of His resurrection, were to make new disciples by proclaiming the good news of the coming Kingdom of God to all nations. "Go into all the world and preach the gospel [good news] to every creature" (Mark 16:15). The life-changing message they were to proclaim centers on the resurrection of Jesus, and calls for a radical change of behavior on the part of its hearers. "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the 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 to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:46,47). Christ said He would be with His true followers "to the end of the age." The work of the church goes on; the commission is the same.

       Christ gave the church only one commission, though the one commission involves ministries, or services, that vary. To accomplish the commission, God "gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers" (Ephesians 4:11). The primary job of apostles and evangelists is proclaiming the gospel to the world as a witness; pastors and teachers provide instruction and guidance for the assemblies that are formed as a result of the work of the apostles and evangelists. These all differ somewhat in function, but share the common mission of makingstart to finishdisciples for the Kingdom of God.

       Notice that the commission includes "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you." This is an ongoing job; it doesn't end with baptism and the laying-on-of-hands. "Making disciples" includes the preaching that initially brings individuals to conversion, as well as the ongoing instruction in sound biblical doctrine and godly living.

       Christ's three-fold command, "Feed My lambs.Tend My sheep.Feed My sheep," was given to Peter, but applied to all the apostles and overseers (John 21:15-17; cf. 1 Peter 5:14). "Feed My sheep" is synonymous with "Go therefore and make disciples." These commands of Jesus are not two distinct commissions, but different ways of speaking of the one commission.

       Jesus used the shepherd-sheep analogy in describing His ongoing work of making disciples for the Kingdom of God. He said, "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd" (John 10:14-16).

       The church, with its diversity of gifts, is the agency through which the Good Shepherd calls to, and feeds, His sheep.

       "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

       "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work" (Ephesians 4:11-16, New International Version).

Since you are not watching world events, are you going to fail to notice when the pope sets up his new headquarters in Jerusalem, and when Germany begins to flex its muscles in Europe?

No, we certainly will not fail to notice when events such as the ones you describe take place. If the pope announces to the world that the "new Vatican" is in Jerusalemor even if he says that he's thinking about moving the Catholic Church's headquarters to Jerusalemyou can rest assured that we will be paying attention.

       Probably, your reference to "watching world events" alludes to comments we have made about "headline theology," or the practice of trying to read prophetic fulfillments into daily news events, in relation to Jesus's command to "Watch therefore" (Luke 21:36). It's good to watch world events, and all of us should, but that's not the meaning of this passage; nor is it the primary function of the church and its leadership, as some seem to think.

       There are dozens of magazines and newsletters, most published by Protestant evangelicals, centering on the "watch world events" theme. Some of them connect every new natural disaster with biblical prophecy, and either imply or state outright that certain news itemsthe pope's visit to Cuba, El Niño, flesh-eating bacteria, and so onare part of a chain of events leading directly to the tribulation of the end of this age. The problem is that decade after decade of connecting current events with end-time prophecy tends to create a "boy who cried wolf" syndrome.

       Don't misunderstand! Some of the items we read of in the daily headlines may have prophetic significancebut then, maybe they don't. The truth is, we don't know for sure whether El Niño or the pope's latest visit are prophetically significantso to state dogmatically that these things definitely are prophetically significant would be nothing less than irresponsibility on our part!

       Supposedly, the aim of the publications carrying the "watch world events" theme is to help people realize that time is short and they need to repent. That's fine. But, unfortunately, a long history of failed speculations tends to drive people in the other direction. If bringing people to repentance is the aim, why not cut to the chase and tell them they need to repent? After all, no matter who you are, you could die at any moment! Even if you don't, your days are numbered, so to speak, because you are mortal. And once you die, your next moment of consciousness will quickly bring you to the realization that Judgment Day has arrived (Hebrews 9:27)! El Niño won't be quite so important then!

       We are going to continue teaching that turbulent times are predicted for the end of the age, and that we need to always be spiritually prepared for the times ahead, but we firmly believe that issuing warnings about coming calamities is not the only way to help people see the necessity of repentance.

       The risen Christ said, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the 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 to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:46,47).

       To repent of their sins, people have to know what sin is. They have to be taught that sin is the transgression of God's holy and righteous law (1 John 3:4). Therefore, we must provide television programs, sermons, articles, and booklets on the Ten Commandments, on the ongoing validity of God's law, on the Sabbath and holy days, and on false doctrines concerning the so-called "Old Testament law."

       To have their sins forgiven, people have to know who Jesus Christ is and what He accomplished in His earthly ministry. Therefore, we must provide material on the divinity and humanity of Christ, on His sacrificial and redemptive work, on the prophecies concerning Him, and on His example and teachings.

       Jesus said, "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 lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20).

       The "all things" Jesus commanded includes far more than the things He commanded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. In fact, Jesus had much to say about ethics, morality, godliness, and the like, but relatively little to say about famines and earthquakes and other such disasters. A word study with your concordance will quickly prove this.

       Based on these words of Jesus, we firmly believe that the commission He gives us involves much teaching on a wide range of subjectsprophecy included.

       We occasionally speak of prophetic possibilities where certain world events are concerned, but we believe it is vitally important to let our readers and listeners know that we may have far less time than world events might seem to indicate. On the other hand, we believe it is important to let our readers and listeners know that we may have more time than we think. In other words:

       "WATCH therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming" (Matthew 24:42).