The All Important Verb
Welcome to the UPCSA Month of Mission Devotions! We hope it will be a meaningful journey. As convener of the the Mission and Discipleship committee, it's my privilege to "set the stage" for my brothers and sisters who will inspire us as we explore the theme of being a Missional Church. Our decade-long "Going for Growth - Sowing, Growing and Reaping" campaign was officially launched at the Executive Commission and we will spend the next four weeks exploring four aspects of this initiative.
- Week 1: What it means to be Missional
- Week 2: Sowing: Planting new work
- Week 3: Growing: Strengthening existing work
- Week 4: Reaping: A renewed focus on one-to-one outreach.
We start off with a passage we know very very well...
| Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew28:19-20) |
We have heard and preached so many sermons on this gripping, memorable and important texts.
I remember preaching on this text at Trinity Grahamstown's evening service which was packed with students, and it was all about the first verb in the passage: "Go".
Sadly, many of us have made the same mistake, making this passage all about "Going" and thinking that we have to "Go" before we can make disciples. What is fascinating about this text is that there are actually four verbs: "Go", "Make Disciples", "Baptise" and "Teach" and these four verbs are not equal in weight...
Three of these verbs are Greek Passive Participles (Verbs that have become more like Nouns) and they serve the task of sketching the background. So, for example, the verb "walk" in a Passive Participle becomes "one who is walking". "Go", "Baptise" and "Teach" are all Passive Participles: "As you are going", "ones who are baptising" and "ones who are teaching"
The remaining verb is a Greek Imperative - a command, an instruction, and the central thrust of the sentence.
So, if one pays attention to the forms of these verbs, then maybe we need to translate the as follows:
"So, as you are going about life, make disciples and as you're doing that you'll be baptising and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you..."
That really puts a different perspective on it doesn't it? The key verb isn't "Go", "Baptise" or "Teach" but "Make Disciples" and we can execute that key verb while we are "Doing Life" (Going). While we commute with others on a bus, train or taxi. While we work alongside others. When we serve with others on a Parent's Association or a Neighbourhood Watch. Whenever and wherever we are, we can be helping others to be disciples.
And a Disciple is a follower - not in the Facebook sense, but the "Tracker"/"Student" sense. This is best "caught" and not "taught" - we have to model it more than we preach it. The turning point is Baptism which is a symbol of a public stand, indicative of the work of God in us and a sign of cleansing, renewal and new beginning. The nature of our disciple-making is Teaching people to be more like Jesus.
And the good news is that we are not alone, He is with us and will unleash His grace and power in us.
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Theo Groeneveld serves at Emmanuel Presby in Pretoria. He loves God, his family, and the church. He's passionate about cycling, tech stuff, missional church and as a family they've fostered and homed over a hundred abandoned kittens.
