A History of Christian Social Action, Social Justice, and Political Power

The Great Commission Was Never Limited to Evangelism

The command to make disciples reaches beyond conversion to the personal, communal, economic, and public life of those who follow Jesus.

Many Christians can quote the Great Commission from memory. Churches print it on mission statements, missionaries preach from it, and evangelistic movements build their identities around it. Yet the familiar words are often shortened in practice. The command to make disciples becomes a command to secure decisions, increase church attendance, or expand Christianity’s geographic reach.

The question is not whether evangelism belongs to the Great Commission. It plainly does. The question is whether Jesus commissioned the church merely to gain converts. Matthew 28:18–20 says considerably more. Evangelism announces the gospel; discipleship teaches people to live the gospel; and social justice is one necessary dimension of that obedient life. Justice must not replace proclamation, but proclamation cannot be separated from justice without reducing the mission Jesus gave the church.

By social justice, I mean the public and institutional expression of neighbor-love: the effort to correct relationships, practices, laws, and systems that consistently injure people, deny their dignity, or distribute power and opportunity unjustly. Social justice is not a substitute for personal morality. It asks how our shared institutions treat the neighbors whom Christ commands us to love.

In Matthew 28:18–20, Jesus does not simply command the apostles to preach, secure professions of faith, or increase the number of believers. The central command is “make disciples of all nations.” Jesus then explains how disciples are made: baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything he commanded.¹

The phrase “teaching them to obey” is decisive. The commission does not end when someone believes a message or joins a congregation. It continues as that person is formed into a follower whose life reflects the teachings of Jesus.

What did Jesus command? He commanded his disciples to love God and neighbor, love enemies, practice mercy, forgive, reconcile, reject domination, give generously, welcome strangers, care for people who are hungry, sick, imprisoned, and poorly clothed, seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness, become servants, make peace, confront hypocrisy, and practice justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

Teaching obedience to everything Jesus commanded therefore includes how Christians use money, treat workers, exercise power, respond to poverty, welcome outsiders, pursue reconciliation, and confront injustice. A version of the Great Commission that produces church members but not people committed to love, justice, mercy, and truth has not fulfilled the commission.

The Great Commission cannot be separated from the Great........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)