{"id":2256,"date":"2025-01-15T17:01:03","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T17:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256"},"modified":"2025-01-19T19:53:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-19T19:53:50","slug":"youre-already-going-so-make-disciples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256","title":{"rendered":"You\u2019re already going, so make disciples"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do the words, \u201cthe Great Commission,\u201d inspire visions of boldness, or do they inspire a guilty shudder down your spine?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Great Commission is not the only commission given by Jesus, but it is deeply important. And it has dominated the attention of many strands of his followers today. Usually because we struggle with it. Usually to point out how inadequate we are doing with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence the guilty shudder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God is not above making us feel guilty; but sometimes we feel guilty for our own reasons, rather than his.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I\u2019m getting ahead of myself. What is the Great Commission:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I have commanded and, behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.<\/p>\nMatthew 28:19-20<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Before feeling guilty about failing to make disciples, consider with me the first part of this command: \u201cGo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 of the mechanics of this passage in Greek, especially how the command \u201cgo\u201d and \u201cmake disciples\u201d relate, see here<\/a>.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Why does Jesus command \u201cgo\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why Jesus commands his people to \u201cgo\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s 2 good reasons Jesus commands his followers to GO:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. He\u2019s the king on the mountain, and his Kingdom should spread<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. To check the disciples\u2019 impulse of veneration on a mountaintop<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Jesus is King on the Mountain\u2026and beyond<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    Matthew does not record Jesus\u2019 ascension into heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    He ends the narrative with Jesus as King on the mountain giving a royal command. So, at the end of Matthew, we see Jesus\u2019 kingdom =<\/em> the mountain they are on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    His territory + his people = his kingdom<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That is good, but Jesus intends more. He is interested in God\u2019s Kingdom come into the whole world.<\/em> That\u2019s a lot more than the little mountaintop they are gathered on. So, the logical next thing to do is for the disciples to go somewhere else and make disciples.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Where Jesus is worshipped as king, there his kingdom is. Thus, \u201cgo!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Jesus wants his kingdom to spread. To do that, he needs to address the \u201cstay where we are and venerate\u201d impulse his disciples have already shown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Go and take the Kingdom elsewhere, don\u2019t build a shrine<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    The disciples already have an ambiguous track record when it comes to mountains, a glorified Christ, and what to do there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    At the transfiguration, Peter says to Jesus:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah<\/p>\nMatthew 17:4 ESV<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
    In other words, let\u2019s build a new tabernacle here because this is the place to be to worship!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Granted, it was a crazy experience and the response is entirely understandable. But here, now, at the end, Jesus is really clear that the point is not to turn this mountain into new shrine for his followers to tend. His kingdom is like a seed, compressed down into that tiny little space on the mountain, and it needs to \u2018blow up.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That \u2018blowing up\u2019 happens when they \u201cgo\u201d and make disciples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Need I point out that churches today tend to show a strong impulse to stay where we are and worship. We are better at building shrines than going where Jesus isn\u2019t already worshipped as king.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What Jesus commands in the Great Commission<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cGo\u201d is an important part of carrying out Jesus\u2019 vision for the Kingdom of God spreading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Phrased more interpretively, here\u2019s my stab at capturing the gist of Jesus\u2019 Great Commission:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    \u201cGo out to where I am not honored as King, and wherever you find that place, whoever you find there, make disciples so that I am honored as King there, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
    Wherever you happen to be in life, there is certainly room for \u201cgoing.\u201d And you probably won\u2019t have to go far to find places where Jesus isn\u2019t honored as king.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    Do the words, \u201cthe Great Commission,\u201d inspire visions of boldness, or do they inspire a guilty shudder down your spine? The Great Commission is not the only commission given by Jesus, but it is deeply important. And it has dominated the attention of many strands of his followers today. Usually because we struggle with it. … <\/p>\n
    Continue reading “You\u2019re already going, so make disciples”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[147,57],"yoast_head":"\nYou\u2019re already going, so make disciples - First Baptist Church of Manistique<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Great Commission: Go where I'm not honored as King, and make disciples so that I am honored there as king too.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"You\u2019re already going, so make disciples - First Baptist Church of Manistique\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Great Commission: Go where I'm not honored as King, and make disciples so that I am honored there as king too.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"First Baptist Church of Manistique\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/248467813772\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-15T17:01:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-19T19:53:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Great-Commission.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"902\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1158\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nathaniel Erickson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nathaniel Erickson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nathaniel Erickson\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5d499ff1e51066490af4e35bfcbe077b\"},\"headline\":\"You\u2019re already going, so make disciples\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-15T17:01:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-19T19:53:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256\"},\"wordCount\":656,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Great-Commission.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"evangelism\",\"Gospels\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Pastor's Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256\",\"name\":\"You\u2019re already going, so make disciples - First Baptist Church of Manistique\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Great-Commission.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-15T17:01:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-19T19:53:50+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Great Commission: Go where I'm not honored as King, and make disciples so that I am honored there as king too.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Great-Commission.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Great-Commission.jpg\",\"width\":902,\"height\":1158,\"caption\":\"Jesus gives the disciples the great commission done in Byzantine art style\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"You\u2019re already going, so make disciples\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/\",\"name\":\"First Baptist Church of Manistique\",\"description\":\"Friends pointing the way to a safe harbor through the light of faith in Jesus Christ.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"First Baptist Church of Manistique, MI\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/FBC-Logov4-Color-Small-transparent.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/FBC-Logov4-Color-Small-transparent.png\",\"width\":259,\"height\":317,\"caption\":\"First Baptist Church of Manistique, MI\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/248467813772\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCNAoycWBk0stSprUBng8Uhw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5d499ff1e51066490af4e35bfcbe077b\",\"name\":\"Nathaniel Erickson\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/ntgreeketal.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?author=3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"You\u2019re already going, so make disciples - First Baptist Church of Manistique","description":"The Great Commission: Go where I'm not honored as King, and make disciples so that I am honored there as king too.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"You\u2019re already going, so make disciples - First Baptist Church of Manistique","og_description":"The Great Commission: Go where I'm not honored as King, and make disciples so that I am honored there as king too.","og_url":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256","og_site_name":"First Baptist Church of Manistique","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/248467813772","article_published_time":"2025-01-15T17:01:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-01-19T19:53:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":902,"height":1158,"url":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Great-Commission.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nathaniel Erickson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nathaniel Erickson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256"},"author":{"name":"Nathaniel Erickson","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5d499ff1e51066490af4e35bfcbe077b"},"headline":"You\u2019re already going, so make disciples","datePublished":"2025-01-15T17:01:03+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-19T19:53:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256"},"wordCount":656,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Great-Commission.jpg","keywords":["evangelism","Gospels"],"articleSection":["Pastor's Blog"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256","url":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256","name":"You\u2019re already going, so make disciples - First Baptist Church of Manistique","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Great-Commission.jpg","datePublished":"2025-01-15T17:01:03+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-19T19:53:50+00:00","description":"The Great Commission: Go where I'm not honored as King, and make disciples so that I am honored there as king too.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Great-Commission.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Great-Commission.jpg","width":902,"height":1158,"caption":"Jesus gives the disciples the great commission done in Byzantine art style"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=2256#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"You\u2019re already going, so make disciples"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/","name":"First Baptist Church of Manistique","description":"Friends pointing the way to a safe harbor through the light of faith in Jesus Christ.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#organization","name":"First Baptist Church of Manistique, MI","url":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/FBC-Logov4-Color-Small-transparent.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/FBC-Logov4-Color-Small-transparent.png","width":259,"height":317,"caption":"First Baptist Church of Manistique, MI"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/248467813772","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCNAoycWBk0stSprUBng8Uhw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5d499ff1e51066490af4e35bfcbe077b","name":"Nathaniel Erickson","sameAs":["https:\/\/ntgreeketal.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?author=3"}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2256"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2256"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2257,"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2256\/revisions\/2257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}