Three Great Commissions 

God on Monday
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'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations'. (Matthew 28.18-19a).

Reflection

A few days ago, a business leader told me that, when he began his career working for an international mission organization, he was often prayed for at church. But when he later decided to go into business, those prayers stopped. While his decision was faith-filled, his career change meant his fellow churchgoers lost the motivation to pray for him.

My friend’s story had a familiar ring, from the many similar stories I had heard. The implicit message they carry is that seeking to live out your faith in the contemporary workplace, in a familiar culture, is of less interest to God than you becoming a mission professional in an unfamiliar culture, preferably overseas. Explicit grounds for this notion are often found in Jesus’ words cited above: the so-called Great Commission.

This commission deserves the epithet ‘great’. Its weight is signalled by it coming from the mouth of the resurrected Son of God, as his final words at the climactic end of Matthew’s gospel. It is also signalled by it having inspired Christian mission from the days recounted in the Book of Acts until today.

Yet this final commission echoes the first commission – the charge God gives to human beings at the start of Genesis to use their creative abilities as God’s image-bearers to exercise responsibility and stewardship over the world and its resources (Gen 1.26-28; 2.15; 9.1). Just as the final commission has inspired centuries of global evangelism, the first commission (sometimes called the Cultural Mandate) has inspired centuries of global cultural engagement and transformation.

This evangelism and engagement have, moreover, been most effective when carried out in observance of a third great commission. This is the so-called Great Commandment: to love God with our whole selves, and to love our neighbour as ourselves (Mk 12.30-31).

Through his business career, my friend has had significant spiritual and social impact. This serves as a warning to avoid the trap his fellow churchgoers had fallen into, of allowing our love for the Great Commission to be more evident than our love for the Cultural Mandate and the Great Commandment. We need to love all three.

Response

The spheres that constitute human culture include science, the arts, education, politics, healthcare and business. If these spheres have been radically impacted by individuals and groups responding to the first and final great commissions, in keeping with the great commandment, how will this be reflected in our life decisions, and in our work and leisure this week? 

Prayer

Here I am, Lord, send me. Send me to witness, to engage, and to love. Let me do so amongst my neighbours, both far and near.

This Week's Author

God on Monday is produced in partnership with the Church of England. The reflections are based on the scriptural readings designated for the coming Sunday in the Church's lectionary. You can sign up to Faith in Business here to receive each God on Monday instalment.    

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