8 Non-Negotiables for Mobilizing the Local Church for Accomplishing the Great Commission

Below is Justin Taylor's excellent distillation of an address given by Pastor David Platt this week at the VERGE 2012 conference. In the last "non-negotiable" Platt asserts that fulfilling Jesus' Great Commission is costly and that he (Jesus) "is worth it." Although we all know what you might call the "Sunday School answers" to those two questions ("Yes!" and "Yes!"). I wonder if we have really counted the cost of discipling the nations, and whether or not we truly believe in the supreme worth of Jesus Christ . Enjoy.

Two assumptions:

1. The Great Commission can be accomplished and will be completed.
2. Pastors and church leaders are moblizers and equippers for people in the local church.




Eight non-negotiables:
1. A God-centered God. We must give the people we lead a glimpse of the God-centered God who exalts himself.


2. A word-saturated ministry. We give them a glimpse of the glory of God by giving them the Word of God. It’s the only thing that will drive them into mission and then sustain them. Biblical theology drives urgent missiology.


3. A life-changing gospel. Maybe one of the reasons so many in the church aren’t making disciples of all the nations is that they aren’t really disciples in the first place. Should it not concern us that the Bible never offers a “sinner’s prayer” and never talks about “accepting Jesus into our heart.” We have modern evangelism built on sinking sand that runs the risk of ruining souls. We must be very careful about assuring people they are Christians when they have not responded to the gospel. It’s damning to drain the lifeblood of Christianity and replace it with Kool-Aid. They need to see the greatness of God—he is a loving father who may save us, but he is also a wrathful God who may damn us. In the original Greek, “dead in your trespasses and sins” means “dead.” We have developed many methods of ministry that require little or no help from the Spirit of God. One of the greatest hindrances to the advancement of the gospel is the attempt of the church of God to do the work of God apart from the power of the Spirit of God.


4. A Spirit-empowered church. We have created a church culture that does not depend on the Spirit. We need to be desperate for the Spirit of God.


5. A Christ-driven strategy. Go and make disciples of all the nations.


6. A peoples-focused goal. Panta ta ethne (ethno-linguistic people groups, not socio-political nation-states). The Great Commission is not a general command to make disciples among as many people as possible, but to make disciples among all the people groups. “Unreached” people is not the same as “lost” people. The difference is access. If we are not mobilizing our people to go to unreached peoples, we are not being obedient to the Great Commission. Our obedience is incomplete. Ladd: Christ has not yet returned, therefore the task is not yet done. We are not completely missional if we are not engaged in reaching unreached peoples.


7. A multifaceted approach. Let’s not take both-and’s and turn them into either-or’s. Local and global. Spiritual and physical. Pray and go. Short-term and long-term.
Why don’t we just let the locals do it? That’s the point! With the unreached there are no locals!


8. A death-defying commitment. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake” (Matt. 24:9). It will be costly. Satan is—in a sense—fine with us spending all our time with people around us while ignoring the unreached. When we engage the unreached, we will be met with the full force of hell. Are we willing to pay the price? Are we willing to redesign church budget and family budgets? Are we willing to let go of programs and preferences? Are we willing to lead and shepherd people, telling them, “This may cost you everything.” At the same time, we must not forget the reward. There is coming a day when the trumpet will sound, Christ will return to receive the reward he is due. And all the peoples of the earth will be represented around the throne, crying out, “Salvation belongs to our God!” Those people will not seeing letting go of the things of this world as “sacrifice.” He is worth it.

The Mandate for Mission

The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines "mandate" as "an official order or commission to do something." What we now call "The Great Commission" at the end of Matthew's Gospel is a mandate, not merely a friendly suggestion. While it is true that worship is our central duty, it is impossible to worship God as He deserves without a wholehearted commitment to outreach ministry. Here are a few quotes to help you understand the necessity of including evangelism in the Church's mission to glorify God in everything:

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't.”  (John Piper)

"Before he left them, he gave them that great commission which is still binding upon all his followers, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”  (Charles Spurgeon)

"The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed" (Hudson Taylor)

"Any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfill the Great Commission has forfeited its biblical right to exist." (Oswald J. Smith)

How to Speak Truth to Power

In his address at the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast, Eric Metaxas has given us a near-perfect example of how to speak truth to power. To take full advantage of his winsome example I would highly recommend the following: 1) Listen to Metaxas' address here (fast-forward to 34:00 minutes). 2) Listen to President Obama's comments following Metaxas' talk (starting at about 1:05:00). 3) Then read The National Review's commentary on both speeches here. Enjoy.

P.S. Here is an edifying epilogue from the man God used to lead Metaxas to Christ.

Making the Most With the "Least of These"

I was privileged to attend the 2012 Desiring God conference last week with my good friend and fellow minister David Hatcher. The plenary speakers were John Piper, Douglas Wilson, Darrin Patrick, Crawford Loritts and Ramez Atallah. I knew and was therefore very excited to hear from all of the speakers except for Ramez Attalah (of whom I knew nothing.) Mr. Atallah was slotted as the very last plenary speaker, and I have to admit when this smallish man with big glasses, a neatly trimmed mustache and wearing a black suit took the podium I was less than hopeful regarding how riveting/useful his presentation would be. And boy-oh-boy was I wrong. The Desiring God folk had indeed "saved the best for last." His assigned topic was "courage and creativity in ministry" but the power of his message really has more to do with God's ability to accomplish amazing things with extremely humble means. You can watch the video here, but you might have to download it in order to view it. I'd love to hear your comments. Enjoy.

The Reality of the Resurrection

I came down the birth-canal and landed in church. In my entire 54 years on the planet I cannot remember a time when I was not being taught the Bible, enjoying the friendship of other believers, encouraged to "walk my talk", being prayed for and being prayed with. Although I have heard the message given in the poem (below) too many times to reckon, I am still not anywhere near tired of hearing the "I owed a debt I could not pay. Jesus paid a debt he did not owe" message of the Gospel. Can I get a witness? Enjoy.

Click here for full screen version.

Embrace the Chaos

Last Sunday, Trinity Church (Wenatchee) formally commissioned me (pastor Gene Helsel), three deacons and a handful of households from Trinity Church to plant a new CREC church here in Wenatchee. David Hatcher and Brett Baker are serving King's Cross Church as elders pro-tem and were present at the service. Pastor David Hatcher presented a powerful homily/charge to the saints of both congregations entitled, "The Hand of the Lord in Church Planting" which you can read here (and I strongly recommend that you do.) Straight talk, straight from the Lord, for any sending or being-sent church. Enjoy.

Practicing Affirmation

In Paul's second letter to the first century church in Corinth he reminds us that we are to wage war against every system of thought that disparages true knowledge of God. But the apostle quickly adds that we are not to do battle using the weapons that the world employs. But rather to wield weapons with divine power. Few would consider affirmation a suitable weapon in the warfare that God calls us to. But given that accusation is a favorite weapon of our Adversary, and that affirmation is a near opposite of accusation, it sort of makes sanctified sense to regard affirmation as a weapon of spiritual warfare.

If you doubt this, then read this wonderful excerpt from the book, Practicing Affirmation, by Sam Crabtree. And if you're convinced, then get out there and start "thrusting and parrying" with the sword of affirmation until every thought is taken captive and made obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Imitating Christ

What does it mean to imitate Christ? Volumes could, and have been, written on this bottomless subject. But B. B. Warfield's observations (below) are a very good place to start. We tend to think of holiness in terms of isolation from the world and all the things that we're not going to do. But true, Christ-like holiness engages the world and is really more about "holy additions" than "holy subtractions." Lord, teach us to begin every attempt to imitate Your Son by first taking "no account of self." Enjoy.


"He did not cultivate self, even His divine self: He took no account of self.

He was not led by His divine impulse out of the world, driven back into the recesses of His own soul to brood morbidly over His own needs, until to gain His own seemed worth all sacrifice to Him.

He was led by His love for others into the world, to forget Himself in the needs of others, to sacrifice self once for all upon the altar of sympathy.

Self-sacrifice brought Christ into the world. And self-sacrifice will lead us, His followers, not away from but into the midst of men.

Wherever men suffer, there will we be to comfort.

Wherever men strive, there will we be to help.

Wherever men fail, there will be we to uplift. Wherever men succeed, there will we be to rejoice.

Self-sacrifice means not indifference to our times and our fellows: it means absorption in them.

It means forgetfulness of self in others.

It means entering into every man’s hopes and fears, longings and despairs: it means manysidedness of spirit, multiform activity, multiplicity of sympathies.

It means richness of development.

It means not that we should live one life, but a thousand lives,—binding ourselves to a thousand souls by the filaments of so loving a sympathy that their lives become ours.

It means that all the experiences of men shall smite our souls and shall beat and batter these stubborn hearts of ours into fitness for their heavenly home.

It is, after all, then, the path to the highest possible development, by which alone we can be made truly men. Not that we shall undertake it with this end in view. This were to dry up its springs at their source. We cannot be self-consciously self-forgetful, selfishly unselfish.

Only, when we humbly walk this path, seeking truly in it not our own things but those of others, we shall find the promise true, that he who loses his life shall find it.

Only, when, like Christ, and in loving obedience to His call and example, we take no account of ourselves, but freely give ourselves to others, we shall find, each in his measure, the saying true of himself also: “Wherefore also God hath highly exalted him.”

The path of self-sacrifice is the path to glory."

HT: Justin Taylor

Through New Eyes

I believe it was Plato who first said, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." But Paul surely was more helpful when he enjoined the Corinthians to be "controlled by the love of Christ" and to "regard no one according to the flesh" so that we "might no longer live for [ourselves.]"

One of our deacons has recently made it a point to simply talk and then listen to people that he meets in the park or at his children's sporting events. He has been amazed at how hungry people are the barest displays of kindness. It appears that Plato is right, everyone is "fighting a hard battle."

The production values of the video below could use a little help, but the message is spot on. C'mon, what are you waiting for?

Here is a link if you want to watch it at Youtube.

HT: Annette Johnson

The Real Christmas

Here is a helpful Christmas meditation. Joyeux Noel!

Jill Phillips' "Labor of Love"

We have what (who) they need...

A Heart for the Lost

"In Psalm 85, God has brought back the captivity of Jacob. Confession of sin in the Bible is often expressed in the first person plural. Forgive us, Lord. Restore us, we pray. When we confess our sins, the first thing we do is confess on behalf of our sinful nation—and we don’t pray, “Forgive them, Lord.” We ask for a spirit of repentance to be granted, as a gift of grace, to our people at large, to our people as a whole. God can do this, and there are many times in history when He has done it. If we have a heart for the lost—as opposed to being reconciled with the way things are—we will consistently be asking Him to do it again." (Douglas Wilson)

You can read the whole post here.

Is the Truth of Jesus "Ice Cream" or "Insulin"?

Columbo Tactics

It would do us a lot of good to remember that God gave us two ears and one mouth. Truthfully, we need to do a lot more listening than we currently do. Listening is a powerful expression of love and respect, but can also be employed to direct our conversations in edifying directions. Greg Koukl has some very helpful teaching on this topic. Enjoy.

To the Utter Ends of the Earth

It is breathtaking to consider how widely the Gospel has been preached and received in the two millennia since Jesus commanded his followers to disciple the nations. However, there remains much work to be done. I am encouraged by the modern church's renewed emphasis on "home missions." But I pray that we retain our focus on "foreign missions" as we recover the importance of sharing the Gospel with our neighbors. As Bruce Ashford notes below, our neighbors have relatively easy access to the Gospel compared to the billions in the world who "could leave their homes and search for days and months, and never find a church, a Bible, or a Christian."

(Bruce Ashford, regarding his new book, Theology and Practice of Mission: God, the Church and the Nations.)  "Revelation 5 is perhaps the most breathtaking and powerful vision in all of Scripture, and it serves as the climax of a major thread that runs throughout the Scriptures–God’s determination to make himself known to the nations so that they may worship him. In this vision that God gives to John, all of heaven bursts forth into praise of the Lamb who was slain. Among those represented are worshipers from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. This is the vision that drives us–that our Lord will be worshiped from all corners of the globe.

The Church is Mission

"The task given to the Church by Jesus before He ascended into Heaven was the task of discipling the nations, and this was to consist of inaugurating them into that discipleship by means of baptism, and then to teach them obedience to everything that Jesus taught us (Matt. 28:18-20). This means that the assigned mission of the Church consists of two components—birth and growth. The Church is not supposed to take mission on as a side operation; the Church is mission." (Douglas Wilson)

You can read the whole article here.