In Matthew, Jesus commanded us to “Go make disciples of all the world, baptizing them in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19)
If we truly want to follow God , we want to do what he wants us to do. But some of those words are overwhelming to us amateur evangelists.
” Go make disciples”. I thing we can understand that. We consider ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ and when we bring new people into the fellowship, then they eventually become disciples of Jesus Christ themselves.
“Of all the world”. Here is maybe a problem. I can see folks all around me in this area, but I really feel overwhelmed to think of witnessing to all the world. Of course , when Jesus said that, he was talking to his group of disciples who were nomadic and would go to other parts of the country , and other countries. I guess if we don’t want to give up because of the overwhelming task of making disciples of the whole world, we need to just look into our communities and neighborhoods.
“Baptizing them”. Yes of course , new people to the Christian community need the sacrament of baptism. But are we, as followers of Christ in a position to baptize someone? Shouldn’t we lead them to a pastor to do that? The answer us yes and no. I believe that someone who is coming into the community of believers should do it in front of that local community who are the ones that are going to nurture them. However there have been many times where a person has been baptized in a hospital or at home when they are very sick and may die soon, and have asked to be baptized.
As clergy I could accommodate them . But there is nothing in the bible that says, a baptized committed follower of Jesus Christ, cannot baptize someone. It is not about the person baptizing, it about the person being baptized.
” In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” People have said to me, and others, “Where in the bible are the words Holy Trinity?” They are right, Trinity is not a word mentioned in the bible. But what is the Trinity? It is the three persons in one. God the Father, the creator of all things. God the Son, Jesus Christ , the only Son of God who came to earth to teach, preach, heal and ultimately to die on a cross for our sins, and the Holy Spirit , whom Christ sent when he went back to the Father and was manifest to all believers at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit lives in us and guides our lives as we connect with God in prayer and devotion. God has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us through this world as we are not of this world but certainly are in this world, and it s the Spirit that keeps us focused on what is right and what is wrong.
So are we up to the challenge to go into the world and bring people to Christ? One church said it all in their outside signage:
“Seek, Find, Love, Train, Send” Now that is answering Jesus’ call! Amen
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