No! It is Not Right!
June 2023
There are many reasons why churches of today are not producing missionaries for foreign service. A few reasons often cited are: a lack of concern for the lost, over protection for their own children, or a misunderstanding of the demands of the Great Commission itself. It is because of these reasons and more, that we will begin to look at each of the Great Commission passages through the end of the year.
But before we do, let me reintroduce the idea behind the term itself. Some scholars attribute the phraseology itself to Baron Justinian Von Weltz who, in the 17th Century, was a member of the Lutheran church who then was converted and began devouring God’s Word daily. He quickly came to understand that the predominate church doctrine of his day believed wrongly about the evangelization of the lost. It believed that it was only obligated to reach the lost locally, and that going to other nations had been a command restricted to Christ’s closest followers during the 1st Century. However, he read differently in the Scriptures and in the biographies of early church martyrs. Von Welz, then, proposed a missionary organization called the Jesus-Loving Society to spread the Gospel. It is thought that the term “Great Commission,” or certainly the basic concept, was central to von Welz’s argument for establishing Gospel churches in foreign lands.
Von Weltz asked these stirring questions to spur many to trust Christ and move out of their comfort zoned Christianity:
“Is it right for Christians to keep the Gospel to themselves rather than sharing it with others? Is it right for so many theological students to sit around awaiting suitable appointments or perhaps becoming schoolmasters rather than venturing forth to preach to the heathen? Is it right for Christians to spend so much money on amusement, expensive habits of food and dress, give no thought or money for the dissemination of the Gospel?”
Let me answer these questions for myself as you should for yourself. The answer is “No, it is not right!” The question that follows, thus, is a much more probing one. One which gives insight into why so many churches of today are not producing missionaries for foreign service. That question is, “What are we commanded to do it about it?”
I trust that wrestling with these very questions will bring you to a wise and humble-filled answer which pleases the Lord and propagates His Word!
Praying & Pleading!
Rodney Myers
GFF General Director