The Hole in the Great Commission Resurgence

On its face, I support the Great Commission Resurgence movement by the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Before I discuss the shortcoming or the “hole” in the GCR I must give proper credit and accolades to the Christian leaders who have authored the GCR and had the leadership courage to bring it to the forefront at the annual meeting in Louisville, KY. Dr. Daniel Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary may be the original author of the GCR and is among its primary spokesmen. He did a wonderful job of casting the vision for it at the SBC annual meeting, and he has sought to define the GCR in print (Axioms for a Great Commission Resurgence, Wake Forest: SBTS, 2009). In the cited booklet, Dr. Akin presents twelve axioms for the GCR listed below:

GREAT COMMISSION AXIOMS

1. We must commit ourselves to the total and absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives. (Col. 3:16-17; 23-24)
   
2. We must be gospel centered in all our endeavors for the glory of God. (Rom. 1:16)
   
3. We must take our stand on the firm foundation of the inerrant and infallible Word of God affirming it’s sufficiency in all matters. (Matt. 5:17-18; John 10:35; 17:17; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
   
4. We must devote ourselves to a radical pursuit of the Great Commission in the context of obeying the Great Commandments. (Matt. 28:16-20; 22:37-40)
   
5. We must affirm the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 as a healthy and sufficient guide for building a theological consensus for partnership in the gospel, refusing to be sidetracked by theological agendas that distract us from our Lord’s Commission. (1 Tim. 6:3-4)
   
6. We must dedicate ourselves to a passionate pursuit of the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus across our nation and to all nations answering the call to go, disciple, baptize, and teach all that the Lord commanded. (Matt. 28:16-20; Acts 1:8; Rom. 1:5; 15:20)
   
7. We must covenant to build gospel saturated homes that see children as a gift from God and as our first and primary mission field. (Deut. 6:1-9; Psalm 127; 128; Eph. 6:4)
   
8. We must recognize the need to rethink our Convention structure and identity so that we maximize our energy and resources for the fulfilling of the Great Commission. (1 Cor. 10:31)
   
9. We must see the necessity for pastors to be faithful Bible preachers who teach us both the content of the Scriptures and the theology embedded in the Scriptures. (2 Tim. 4:1-5)
   
10. We must encourage pastors to see themselves as the head of a gospel missions agency who will lead the way in calling out the called for international assignments but also equip and train all their people to see themselves as missionaries for Jesus regardless of where they live. (Eph. 4:11-16)
    
11. We must pledge ourselves to a renewed cooperation that is gospel centered and built around a biblical and theological core and not methodological consensus or agreement. (Phil. 2:1-5; 4:2-9)
    
12. We must accept our constant need to humble ourselves and repent of pride, arrogance, jealousy, hatred, contentions, lying, selfish ambitions, laziness, complacency, idolatries, and other sins of the flesh; pleading with our Lord to do what only He can do in us and through us and all for His glory. (Gal. 5:22-26; James 4:1-10)
    

EVANGELISM IS A PRIORITY

To his credit, Dr. Akin has crafted a masterpiece call to arms for Southern Baptist Christians to get busy with the work of the Great Commission and the Great Commandments. You will notice that evangelism saturates all twelve axioms which cover one side of the Great Commission. I will also concede that the other side of the Great Commission equation of teaching or discipleship is suggested in several axioms such as 1, 4, 5, 6, 10, and especially 7. However, I believe there is a hole in the Great Commission Resurgence. The hole is the very reason our churches and convention are in the present decline. MOST OF OUR CHURCHES LACK AN INTENTIONAL PROCESS FOR MAKING DISCIPLES. My experience is that most of our pastors were trained to be good preachers, are reasonably well trained in pastoral care, and know more than ever about church administration, but many if not most do not understand church ministry organizational development well enough to transform their churches into disciple-making stations. Many do not understand how to apply the principles outlined in Simple Church by Dr. Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger much less my own book released in November 2009, Simple Discipleship.

THE NEGLECT OF FULL DISCIPLESHIP

In Southern Baptist Identity (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2009), Dr. Akin presented a concluding chapter that includes ten mandates for the SBC. His second mandate states: The recovery of the lost jewels of Church discipline and genuine disciple-making as essential marks of the church.” (p.285) Following the mandate, he expounds upon the need for church discipline but he never discusses genuine disciple-making as the second part of his statement. I agree with his explanation as far as it went regarding recovering church discipline, but we cannot—we must not continue to assume that disciple-making just happens, that all pastors know how to make disciples and lead their churches to do so, and that our army of spiritually immature Christians are going to be effective evangelists. Baptist Press reported a study by George Barna released in May 2009 that suggested that only 2% of pastors could identify the stages of spiritual growth with Bible references:http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/264-many-churchgoers-and-faith-leaders-struggle-to-define-spiritual-maturityHow can we make disciples if we do not understand the end product? My point is that we assume too much when it comes to disciple-making and that it cannot continue to be a value-added ministry because according to the Great Commission it is our ministry and purpose. Jesus said, “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 observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 (HCSB) Jesus made it clear that discipleship includes evangelism and teaching. He modeled the best methods of teaching and they did not include a buffet style of disconnected programs that were optional.

Please understand that I seek to elevate Dr. Akin’s call for a Great Commission Resurgence, but I also humbly propose a thirteenth axiom though I am certain he would word it better:

PROPOSED AXIOM #13: WE WILL FULLY DISCIPLE ALL CHRISTIANS

We must commit to lead and support our churches as they disciple like Jesus, which includes intentional disciple-making, one-to-one, one-to-a-few, and one-to-many opportunities and also involves hands-on experiences for mentored ministry and missional opportunities. We must lead our churches to move from the secular-inspired silo/program approach to discipleship to a process-driven approach to making disciple-making churches and disciples. Discipled warriors make better evangelists! We must lead our churches to saturate every program and ministry of the church with discipleship, connecting each with the aim to grow Christians toward having the mind of Christ.

It is my prayer and hope that this article is received by readers in the spirit intended—one of humility, concern, and passion and not one of criticism.

Postscript: Since this article was first posted, the Southern Baptist Convention adopted the Great Commission Resurgence. More attention is being placed on discipleship with the publication of Transformational Church by Dr. Thom Rainer and Ed Stetzer. These are good developments that could bring about a lasting resurgence.

Simple Discipleship blessings!

Dr. Tom Cocklereece

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