His Kingdom, His Way
"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mk 16:15).
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations..." (Mt 28:19).
These words of Jesus have been resounding for more than 2,000 years in the hearts of believers worldwide from generation to generation. Every single believer has received this call from God and has the burden in his/her heart to reach the lost with the good news of salvation through the cross of Jesus Christ.
When God gives such a great call, He also gives us a vision and a plan to accomplish it.
God has been inspiring ministers and churches with his Word throughout centuries.
"So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." (Is 55:11)
It is an amazing thing to see such diversity in methods and strategies being used by God throughout the world. He makes the impossible happen through his Word because nothing is impossible for Him (Lk 1:37).
The Bible tells us a remarkable story: How one man spread the Gospel throughout Asia, and it only took him two years to do it (Acts 19:10). After preaching to the masses and after being tossed from dungeon to dungeon, the Apostle Paul used this method of making disciples and teaching the Word without cease for two years until all of Asia heard the Good News.
It was as if God was watering the "fields" of the hearts of these disciples as the Apostle Paul was sowing seeds in them for two years.
The Apostle Paul reminds the Thessalonians of the way God's Word came to them and how they received it and how the Word spread throughout the area through them because the Word of God was received not as mere words of men but as God's Word which allowed the Holy Spirit to work in a powerful way among them (1 Thess 1:5-10, 2:13).
In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus speaks about this phenomenon, by saying: "he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." (Mt 13:23)
I strongly believe that relying solely on the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit that accompanies it, is the best biblical way to evangelize the lost and make disciples of new believers.
Converting people or introducing them to Jesus is not what the Great Commission is all about. According to the Parable of the Sower, many receive the seed of the Word of God but only a few persevere and bear fruit for the Kingdom.
Making disciples involves a one-on-one relationship. Many are concerned with winning converts while preparing hearts and minds in ministry is the only way to ensure "good ground" for the seed of the Word of God.
The apostle Paul talks about holding on to the tradition that was passed on by word or epistle, in his second letter to the Thessalonians (2 Thess 2:15). Although teachings and instructions can be passed on by many means, I believe that a personal one-on-one relationship between a leader and a disciple plays a great role in a person's spiritual formation.
Paul elaborates on this by explaining what he means by "tradition" or "doctrine" in his second epistle to Timothy.
"But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra - what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me." (2 Tim 3:10-11)
In this ever-evolving world that we live in, everything is headed towards the most marketable, the easiest and the fastest. When it comes to the everlasting Kingdom of God, principles are different, standards are higher and the power comes from the Word of the King. Let us utilize our culture to advance His Kingdom by His means, because "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:6).
