The Great Commission - Why Evangelicals Do What They Do

Easter is a good time to examine the Great Commission in the context of the world we live in and to ask ourselves why, as Evangelicals, we do what we do.

In Mark 16:15 - 16, Jesus instructs the eleven:

"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

If we assume that Jesus says what he means and means what he says, then it is clear that what he means for us to do is to teach people that Christ, and only Christ, is the way to salvation. The text does not leave any room for interpretation. The problem is that there are many people who should know better who think that it does.

This morning, I read a story headlined:

Leaders grapple over who enters heaven

You might wonder, "What leaders? Hare Krishnas? Atheists? Snake handlers?" Wrong, wrong and wrong.

The story is about an intra-Christian debate over whether Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. It is being distributed by the Religion News Service to local newspapers all over the country. An excerpt:

The belief that Christians are saved by Jesus' resurrection -- which is celebrated on Easter -- is a cornerstone of the faith. The verse John 14:6 in which Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" is most often recited as biblical evidence of the traditional belief that one must commit one's life to Christ to go to heaven.

But in today's increasingly diverse country, more Christians are asking how they can maintain this belief without seeming intolerant. Some argue it is but one interpretation of the Bible. This is just one factor reinvigorating the centuries-old debate.

"It has become only more and more intense," says Paul Knitter, professor emeritus at Xavier University, a school in the Catholic Jesuit tradition in Cincinnati. He is also the author of "No Other Name?", a survey of Christian attitudes toward other faiths.

"If we really understand Jesus, then we realize that we have to open ourselves with love and trust and dialogue with persons who follow other ways," he says. "I think we're starting to understand that more and more."

To begin with, the idea that Jesus saves is not a cornerstone of Christian faith. It is the foundation of the faith. And, if we "really understand Jesus," then we accept His word as Truth. As Christians, we anchor ourselves with His word. Without it, we are adrift.

But, wait! There's more.

At the 1,500-member Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis, so many members asked about salvation that last summer Dr. Stephen Montgomery, the church's pastor, preached a sermon on it. The sermon was part of a series based on questions from the congregation.

In it, Montgomery described the verse from John as "a club with which we beat others over the head." The sermon was so popular that the church printed copies for parishioners to hand out. Montgomery got an outpouring of thanks, especially from interreligious families.

"What I encourage people to do is look at the broader themes of the Bible, and what we see is a God who loved the world, a God whose intention is that all creation be made whole and healed," he says. "A lot of people kind of had a gut feeling that their God was a more loving God and a bigger God than they had imagined ... and were yearning to have their large and loving view of God validated. And I think that's what happened."

Let's take this section point by point.

First of all, it is shocking to think that there is a 1,500-member protestant congregation anywhere whose members do not know that Jesus, and only Jesus, saves. The pastor says he received so many questions about salvation that he decided to preach a sermon about it. What on earth is he preaching about every other weekend of the year?

This pastor describes John 14:6 as "a club with which we beat others over the head." Well, pastor, whatever it takes. But, why use the imagery of violence? I prefer to think of John 14:6, along with every other revelation of Christ, as a lantern with which we show the lost the way to eternal life.

The pastor says he encourages people to believe in a God whose intention is that all creation be made whole and healed. We can certainly agree on that. But, does he not understand that Jesus is the sole instrument for making that happen? It is the whole reason that He died on that cross. Why does Pastor Montgomery think Jesus came in the first place? Because He was bored? No, He had to come so that all creation could be made whole and healed. Absent His sacrifice and subsequent victory through resurrection, we are all lost.

As for sparing people's feelings, validating their "large and loving view of God" and allowing them to think that everybody gets into heaven no matter what, I would point Pastor Montgomery to Proverbs 25:26.

"A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain and a corrupt spring."

In the end, this is why Evangelicals preach Christ to unbelievers.

We do not have the luxury of assuming that others will fulfill the Great Commission if we do not. We live in a world in which pastors and the teachers of pastors are not convinced that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. What chance do the lost have?