Putting First Things First
 | Worship Articles
by Ron Man
Pastor of Music and Worship, EXW Contributor
February 09, 2007
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The Great Commission which Jesus gave to His disciples (Matthew 28:19-20) has rightly been a
motivating force and rallying cry for churches and other Christian organizations. In it we find
expressed God's heart for the world and His desire for us to be His faithful instruments in carrying
the message of the gospel to all peoples. The Commission also instructs us in the full-orbed ministry
of disciplemaking, which involves not only evangelism but also the teaching and mentoring of
converts into lives of obedience, maturity, and finally disciplemaking themselves.
As such, the Great Commission is a tremendous exhortation to followers of Jesus Christ and one
which is well worth our attention and humble submission. However, many churches, missions
organizations, and parachurch groups write the Great Commission into their philosophies and
purpose statements as if it were a statement of the ultimate goal for Christians. (One fine and
effective parachurch group has expressed its mission as "to restore to the heart of the local church a
Great Commission passion;" its materials also indicate that it views the purpose of the local church
as being to see the Great Commission fulfilled.) That is unfortunate because, as important as the
Commission's focus is, it is not the ultimate expression of why God has made us and saved us and
called us to serve Him.
The Great Commission is not the cornerstone of our Christian walk and service; it is not the bottom
line. The Great Commandment is. Jesus explained in Matthew 22:37 that the "great commandment
in the law" is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
mind." Through a life and lifestyle of worship we are to be filled with adoration of and love for God
and to give it expression from the heart. The New Testament, as well as the Old Testament is clear
that true worship begins on the inside (Romans 12:1; Hebrews 13:15; Philippians 3:3; I Samuel
15:22) and that outward expressions are only acceptable as they reflect an inner reality. A scribe
whom Jesus said was "not far from the kingdom of God" recognized that observing the Great
Commandment is "much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices" (Mark 12:32-33).
While the Great Commission seeks to promote the glory of God through the believer by enlisting
him in the task of bringing others to faith and lives of obedience; yet the primary way a Christian
glorifies God is in the response of his own heart and life and walk, not in what he does for others.
Actually, spiritual service to others is the essence of the second greatest commandment, which
Jesus identifies in Matthew 22:39 as "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." In fact, the Great
Commission is a natural outgrowth and expression of both of these greatest commandments - if we
truly love God and our neighbors, we will seek to win and equip those neighbors for the glory of
God.
Even the context of the Great Commission suggests the secondary nature of the Commission: when
the disciples saw Jesus, "they worshipped Him" (Matthew 28:17); and Jesus bases His
Commission on the fact that "all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (28:18)
The utter God-centeredness of these statements reflect that of the Great Commandment, and is
consistent with the observation that the more man-focused nature of the Great Commission is
dependent on and subordinate to the doxological focus of the Great Commandment. As John Piper
has written, "Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because
worship doesn't." (Let the Nations Be Glad p. 11)
Let us first and foremost seek to love God with our entire being (heart, soul, mind, strength) and to
be "filled with all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:19), that our lives of worship might then overflow
with a grateful aspiration to "make disciples of all the nations" -- that they too might worship Him
and love Him and serve Him -- that in all things God might be glorified.
User Opinions:
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Semi-Agree
I would agree that we are all called to be worshippers, but out of a heart of worship, we like Jesus and the disciples are to go out be a conduit for the Holy Spirit to work through us to "seek and save that which is lost."The fear in going to eit...more
Submitted by: Eric Jaffe
Location: Jacksonville, FL
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This is the debut album by EXW friend Paul Langford. Paul is a Chicago based singer, arranger, keyboardist, producer and conductor. Paul has a career that spans 14 years. Paul's work includes arranging for groups like GLAD, Voices of Liberty, VoiceTrek, The Chicago based "Caroling Party" and Day of Discovery Singers. His arranging has appeared on recordings side by side with greats like Gene Puerling and David Maddux, and he has sung with Don Shelton, Bonnie Herman and Bob Bowker, among others.