All of the students profess to be Christians, and many have grown up in Christian homes, attending Christian churches and youth groups. More than 80 percent of these students have been on some sort of crosscultural service trip—either while in college or in a church youth group as a high school or middle school student.
Why is this significant? Because when I ask on the introductory quiz for them to reference or quote or summarize any of the five Great Commission statements of Jesus, less than 20 percent have an answer. In other words, they have attended mission conferences, they grew up involved in church life and they have served on crosscultural mission teams, but they have little knowledge of the specific biblical foundational “why?” of outreach and crosscultural mission.
I’m not singling out my Gordon College students; they are not alone. While many Christians have an intense desire to serve, they often have a weak understanding of the biblical “why we serve” or how this service corresponds to the commands and promises of Jesus.
All this is to introduce part one of this book, where we examine the biblical “why?” of our going into all the world in obedience to Jesus’ commission and our responding to a needy world with acts of compassion.
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HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE?
In the 1970s the Christian leader Francis Schaeffer gave lectures, wrote a book and eventually produced a film series simply titled How Should We Then Live?1 The title raises a question for the ages. Many Christians respond biblically by quoting the succinct summary that the prophet Micah gives. As the Lord reminds his people of his deliverance of them and calls them to repentance, Micah asks:
With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? (Micah 6:6-7)
In other words, how can I find forgiveness and show by my life that I have repented to the Lord? Micah’s conclusion summarizes his understanding of God’s ways: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
How shall we then live? With lives characterized by justice and mercy and built on a humble walk with God. Micah’s words echo words stated by Moses centuries earlier as he called the Israelites to a life that would be pleasing to God: “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13). Micah starts with a call to justice and mercy in human relationships but founds it on a humble walk or relationship with God. Moses begins with a strong emphasis on a whole-hearted vertical relationship with God (fear him, obey him, love him, serve him), but we know from reading the Old Testament that “observing the Lord’s commands and decrees” is carried out in horizontal human relationships.2 Obeying these will obviously be for everyone’s good.
Love of God and Others in the New Testament
In response to the “how shall we then live?” question asked by a religious man, Jesus illustrated vividly that a relationship with God is always demonstrated in a life of mercy.
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” (Luke 10:25-28)
The expert of the law specialized in living out the technicalities of the religious teachings, so he asked for clarification, apparently to show himself righteous to Jesus and to the listeners.
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” (Luke 10:29-37)
The religiously righteous “passed by on the other side.” Perhaps they were late for services at the temple, or they simply did not want to render themselves unclean by touching this beaten stranger. And besides, who knows? Maybe he had been beaten because he deserved it? Or perhaps he was faking so that when a merciful person came to his aid, his hidden accomplices would rob the helper.
We don’t know why they didn’t stop, but a merciful man did. He bandaged the victim and took him to an inn and basically left his credit card account open, telling the innkeeper, “charge his expenses to me.” Jesus said that this is what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. And, to the shock of the religious Jewish law expert, Jesus identified the merciful man as a Samaritan. The religious man couldn’t bring himself to say “the Samaritan.” Instead he simply said “the one who had mercy on him.” For a religious Jew of the first century, Samaritans were outcasts, religiously unacceptable and not part of the chosen race.3 Yet it was this man who demonstrated mercy.
“Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise’” (Luke 10:37). Jesus’ response—the two great commandments and the parable—illustrate that a life pleasing to God is built on a personal relationship with God that flows outward toward others. James expresses this concept as he articulates the balance of faith and deeds:
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:14-26)
The apostle John puts it another way:
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them. (1 John 2:9-11)
Mercy and justice, faith and works, love of God and love of others. The pairs are inseparable. And, as we’ll see in the chapters ahead, we are called to a life that shares Jesus Christ verbally and demonstrates the good news of the gospel with tangible action.
Justice, Peace, Truth, Freedom
On Christmas Eve 2014, Dr. David Epstein, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in New York City, spoke the Christmas story into the immense racial tensions dividing his city at the time. The city and the nation were in the midst of racial tensions caused by conflict related to black men killed by white policemen, followed by the assassination of two New York City policemen (Hispanic and Asian) just before Christmas. Dr. Epstein built his thoughts off of one of the slogans of protestors, “no peace without justice.” He agreed:
Indeed, there will be no peace without justice. But there will be no peace and justice without truth and grace, because the truth sets us free, and only free people can bring peace and justice, and only gracious people can bring reconciliation. And there is no truth and grace without worship of the One who is the source of all peace, justice, truth and grace.4
Standing for justice and peace and reconciliation flows from a living, vital relationship with God through Jesus. The follower of Jesus—the disciple—relates to the issues of the day in the world because he or she sees that world through the grace and truth found in Jesus Christ. Grace to care for those in need coincides with the desire to demonstrate Jesus as truth by deeds and share him by words. Practice and proclamation are the two hands of the gospel. Christians sometimes try to live a one-handed lifestyle, but a complete Christian lifestyle requires both hands.
In these next few chapters, we’ll find biblical responses to the question, How shall we then live? By evaluating the final imperatives that Jesus gave us and examining biblical teaching on living compassionately, we’ll have a scriptural foundation for the Great Commission, Great Compassion lifestyle.
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COMMISSION AND CONTEXT
Living Out Jesus’ Final Imperatives
Right around the turn of the new millennium, my Boston region and even the nation followed with morbid fascination the story of the disposal of the remains of deceased baseball legend Ted Williams. Surviving family members couldn’t agree whether to bury him or preserve his remains in a cryogenically frozen state in the event that future researchers discovered a way to conquer issues of aging and death and eventually resuscitate Mr. Williams.
The story illustrates a problem that should cause everyone age fifty and above to review his or her will. The conflict over the disposal of Williams’s body evidently occurred because he did not make his last wishes clear!
A “last will and testament” states as clearly as possible what the person wants done with resources, properties and even his or her body after departure. Why? So that survivors have no questions as to what their loved one desired. When my mother died, she had laid out everything for us: her will, her burial wishes and other details, right down to planning the hymns, speakers and soloists for her funeral. It made our actions easy because she had clearly outlined what we were to do. Unlike Ted Williams, my mom had made her last wishes clear.
The Last Wishes of Jesus
Jesus’ last wishes appear at the end of each of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) as well as just before Jesus’ ascension recorded in Acts 1. Jesus did indeed make his wishes, his commands and his promises clear to all of us before he ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit. We have these so that we, as his children, know exactly what we should be doing.
These words, especially as they appear in Matthew’s Gospel, are often called “The Great Commission.” Let’s review the five passages.
Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus came to them and 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 and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Given that this is the passage most likely to occur in your Bible under the words “The Great Commission,” it’s worth reading Matthew 28:18-20 again from another version—Eugene Peterson’s The Message. He paraphrases:
Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded yo...
