Go, Therefore, and Increase Market Share
Matthew 28:16-20
Genesis 1:1-2:4a
It often happens that when an outdoor event is being planned that depends on the weather, such as tomorrow’s youth fundraiser at the farmers market or the wedding that I officiated at yesterday or graduation parties that will go on today, pastors are called upon to use their “inside” connection with God to arrange for good weather.
In such cases, we are taught to respond: “I’m in sales, not management.”
The sales aspect of Christianity comes from today’s reading in Matthew, often called the Great Commission. “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” This verse is often taken to mean that the number one goal of the church is to increase market share. Get out there and sell so that the corporation grows—gets more members, more money, more resources, more assets, more influence.
Let’s go back and put Matthew 28 into some perspective. First, this is not the only great commission in the Bible. There are several. The first comes from chapter one of Genesis.
At the end of the first creation story, God gave this commission to humankind:
“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
This has to be the easiest assignment ever given. It’s a little like sitting me down at a table and saying, “You are to eat that entire piece of rhubarb custard pie, and when you are done with that, you must watch a video, and then read a book, and then spend some time playing with your kids, and then go out and create something that you think might be fun to create. I know it’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.”
“Be fruitful and multiply and have dominion over the earth and everything in it.” What kind of commissioning is that? Why would God even feel the need to say such a thing? Isn’t that exactly what we would be trying to do whether God was there or not?
It turns out this was a “commission of permission.” The earth, the universe, and all that is in it belong to God. We didn’t create any of it; we did nothing to deserve it. It’s a gift to us; an open invitation. It’s ours to use.
“I made this world for your benefit,” God says. “Because it gives me pleasure to see you enjoy it.”
Of course, there’s responsibility that goes with that. When someone goes to all that work to give such a generous gift, with the invitation to use it and pass it on, we have some obligations. We have a responsibility to acknowledge the gift, to give thanks for it, and to respect it. Since creation is not ours, we have a responsibility to share it with others, to care for it, and to make sure we pass it along in as good a condition or better than we found it.
It would have been nice if that had been the only commission that God ever had to give. We enjoy the earth, give thanks for it, share it; we pass it along in as good or better condition than we got it. According to Genesis, that’s all God really had in mind for this world.
Unfortunately, things didn’t work out as planned. Selfishness got in the way. Too often, we act like we own the world; like we don’t have share it, like we don’t have to care for it and pass it along in good condition. We’ll just take care of ourselves now and let future generations figure out how to deal with whatever mess results, just like we had to deal with mess we got handed.
We don’t feel a great inclination even to give thanks for it. How many people even say grace at meals anymore? Saying grace is not meant to be a great expression of piety, or a miniworship service. It’s not an old-fashioned, outdated ritual, meant to embarrass people, especially kids.
A table prayer is just a reminder that I didn’t create this world; that I did nothing to deserve being a part of it. That life is a gift that God shares with us. Saying grace at mealtime is such a simple thing, but it may be the most important thing we do to center our lives.
By failing to carry out the simple and easy commission of Genesis, humanity dug itself a hole of sin and violence and injustice that was difficult to escape. So God came up with a new commission to help us get out of it. That commission is in the Gospel of John, chapter 13. Jesus says to his disciples, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” That’s how you get out of this mess.
This commission isn’t quite as easy as the first one. We have to work at this a bit. Love in the Biblical sense of the word means conscious giving of self for other people. That’s what it is going to take to clean up the mess that humans have made of the first commission. Nothing else is going to work.
Obviously, this loving business is not something that comes easily. We need training in how to do this. We need constant reminders. It is a concept that has to be in front of us at all times, so that it becomes a habit.
Above all, we need a clear vision of what this giving of self is all about. Jesus provided us with all that. From sacrificing the right of power and privilege to live among us, to living a life of healing and pouring out his power for other people; from a willingness to constantly forgive and to give new life, to a willingness to sacrifice everything and endure the worst that humankind can give for the sake of those he loves, Jesus provided the vision of what love is and how it works.
So the second commission: love one another, as God has loved us.
How well do we follow this commission? The track record is spotty. There are lots of influences in our lives that divert even the best of intentions. A great many temptations to put ourselves first.
Jesus understood how difficult it was and said, “Don’t try to carry out this love commission on your own.” In order to accomplish this mission, we need to do this together; we need each other’s help.
And so we come to the third major commission: In Matthew 28, Jesus says, “Go and make disciples of all nations.”
The key word here is disciples. Matthew’s Great Commission is about building a church in which the message of God’s love can be constantly proclaimed and held before the world. How do you build a church? By making disciples.
We warp the sense of this commission when we substitute other words for disciples, which we almost always do.
The most common substitute is: “Go and make members of all nations.” A top goal of most churches is to increase membership. But that’s not what this commission says to do. It doesn’t say make members of all nations. It says make disciples.
Members are people who agree to take part in an organization. They may be active or inactive. They agree to certain provisions, duties or dues. They are willing to be involved in some capacity for the good of the group, as long as it isn’t too great a burden. They expect some benefits in exchange, and some say in how to run things.
That’s a workable structure for an organization, and we use it here at Salem; but that’s not how you build a church. You build a church with disciples.
The Great Commission does not say, “Go and make adherents of all nations.” Social science surveys of religion almost always use the term adherents. People who, when asked in a survey, say they identify with a group or belief. It’s good to be on the same page with a group of people. But you can’t build a church with people who say they identify with the same beliefs, opinions, and values.
You build a church with disciples.
The Great Commission does not say, “Go and make satisfied customers of all nations.” Of course, we want to proclaim a message to a wide range of people as possible, to offer the best we can to make the gospel relevant to all kinds of people and to fulfill spiritual needs. But you can’t build a church on trying to attract and satisfy customers.
You build a church with disciples.
What is a disciple? The passage says first of all, a disciple is a person who has been baptized. At its core, baptism is not a rite of initiation, or a rite of membership. It’s not a contract signed with a prospective customer. It’s not an agreement in principle between an organization and a person.
Baptism is a claim that you are God’s child.
Baptism is a public declaration of the truth that lies at the heart of the Great Commission in Genesis. That your life is a gift from God.
Baptism is a public declaration of the truth at the basis of the Great Commission in John. That the way to honor and enjoy this gift of life is to love one another as God has loved us, as shown in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus.
Baptism is a public declaration of the truth at the basis of the Great Commission in Matthew. That the Spirit of God works in us and through us not just for our own personal benefit, or for a select group of people, but in combination with all of God’s creation.
And so we baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Secondly, the passage says that a disciple is someone who can be taught—who learns, who is eager to learn more. Disciples are not people who know enough about God to get by. They are eager to learn about this God who loved them enough to give them the gift of life, and the gift of new life.
Third, disciples are people who obey, who follow the lead of the one who knows the way. Jesus shines a bright light that reveals the way to life. Matthew 28 tells us to go and form a church of people who will follow that light.
Lastly, disciples are people who know that God is always with them, even to the end of the age. God is not a neat compartment of my life. A handy and useful theology I use to justify my lifestyle, or ease my conscience, or an emergency backup I call on in crisis situations. Disciples understand that God is always with them, so that everything in their life is lived in relation to that ever present God.
When we probe the definition of a disciple, we realize an ironic truth to the old saying that mission begins at home. In the ELCA as in many American churches, we don’t even hear the word “disciple” in that Great Commission. We skip over that and just take it as our painful duty to go out and recruit new members.
The fact is, you can’t fulfill this commission if you are not, yourself, a disciple. Can’t make one if you aren’t one.
Do we fit the description of disciple?
If we do not, then the first challenge of that commission is to make disciples of ourselves. To recognize that new life is a gift from God, that love is a gift from God and the way to new life is to follow, to learn about, to obey the giver of life.
I would suggest that congregations obsessed with going out and winning converts, or in increasing membership, have taken their eye off the ball. Our more urgent task is internal, it is within each of us. Our churches have for too long been built on the premise that our assignment is to recruit so that our group grows larger. In recent years, the trend has been to build the church by increasing market share, by appealing to the peoples’ likes and dislikes and providing options and conveniences, so that we attract and satisfy customers who will keep the church afloat.
So the membership requirements are easy.
Worship is optional, give if moved to pity by our pathetic begging, involvement can be minimal, no commitment required.
Our first task is to make disciples of ourselves. When that happens, growth happens. The Holy Spirit sees to that. Jesus didn’t have a lot of disciples; he did not recruit a lot of adherents or members to his cause. He didn’t spend time trying to figure out how to appeal to new customers.
But he made twelve disciples. Twelve disciples can change the world.
When I first came to Salem, I promised I would never badger or plead with you to go out sell the church, to bring in new members. I purposely downplayed the evangelism committee. In spite of this, we have reversed the SW Iowa trend and we are growing. That’s what happens when you take seriously the words of the Great Commission, when you put the horse before the cart, and focus on the discipleship part.
Yes, evangelism is important. But a church that is filled with disciples, who center their entire lives on living in God’s grace, who live in thanksgiving for the gifts God has provided, who are eager to learn more about God, who follow the light of Jesus Christ, and who do it together, will be a place that cannot help but reach out and proclaim good news, that cannot help but heal and change lives.
The church that makes disciples of itself is the church that will make disciples of all nations.