Revisiting the Mission Mandate: Making Better People or Making Disciples

This is an article I wrote for the Mar Thoma Theological Seminary annual magazine, chalanam.  It's a bit on the rambling side, not much cohesion, etc., but I think the point is put across.  The theme of the magazine was "Christian Witness: Revisiting the Mission Mandate of the Church." Since that magazine isn't available to the public, but only theological institutions, clergy and sponsors, I thought I'd publish my article here.  Forgive the low standards of writing.

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I once heard that Christian missions is about making better Hindus, better Muslims, and better Buddhists.  In other words, missions is about making better people with no motivation for those people to come to the saving knowledge of Christ.  While this view may not be the majority view of missionaries in India, I do believe it does exist in both missionaries and scholars who just like to talk about missions. But I simply cannot agree with this notion of mission.  I believe that if you are a Christian, believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then you should not be content with simply making better people.  If you did hold to the “better people” notion, I suggest that you are contradicting the Christian faith in which you profess.  What I would like to do here is take a look at Matthew 28:19 and 20, with emphasis on 19a, and show how this “better people” notion simply cannot be what Christian missions is about.  We need to revisit this mission mandate of the Church.


Disciples
Looking at Matthew 28:19 & 20, we see that Jesus commands that we make disciples of all nations by baptizing them and teaching them all that he had commanded.  Grammatically, this text’s main verb is the imperative “make disciples.”  The other two verbs of “baptizing” and “teaching” explain the means by which one is to make disciples.  So if to “make disciples” is the main verb, Jesus makes it quite clear that he desires all people to follow him alone.  This could very well be the end of the argument.  How could you possibly dispute that mission mandate of Christ by saying Christians are to only make better people?  However, I think more can be said to on this.

We must ask: what does it mean to be disciple? Discipleship is a prevalent theme in the Gospel of Matthew.  All throughout this Gospel, what Jesus expects from his disciples is given, and it reaches its climax in this text.  Understanding that, I would like to give a very brief summary of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus according to Matthew.

To be a disciple, one must first and foremost be called by Jesus, and they should respond by following him.  When following Jesus, they are called to suffer.  That does not mean they should go looking for ways to suffer.  Rather, they should be ready to suffer, denying themselves for the mission of Christ, even to the point of death.  In addition, they are to engage with the communities they come in contact with, preaching the Kingdom of Heaven, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, giving fellowship to the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the prisoners.  This requires both the proclamation of the Gospel and the acting out of the Gospel.  Also, disciples are to strive to live a life of moral perfection, to be above reproach, because God our Father is perfect.  Finally, and this is most important for our discussion here, and it is the climax of this Gospel: disciples are required to make disciples of all nations.

To make a disciple is thus not to make a better person absent of any allegiance to Jesus Christ.  Rather, they are to become followers of Christ in every way: self-denial, proclaiming the Gospel, healing the sick, giving justice to those facing injustice, and striving to live a life as morally perfect as Jesus did. When one converts to Christianity, they are confessing Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and becoming obedient in every way to him.  They are becoming a disciple.

Love motivation
All of what a disciple does, as mentioned above, is done because they love God with all their heart, soul and mind, and love their neighbor as themselves.  Someone can do all the things a disciple does, but if he does not love, his actions are futile.  This love motivation is the most important part of Christian missions.  Conversion is a desire. However, it is not to make Christians in number.  Rather, it is because you love them, as this is a life or death issue.   

Let us digress from Matthew for a moment and go to the Gospel of John, and look at one of the most quoted Scripture in regards to the Gospel message, John 3:16.  God gave his only begotten son so that whoever believes in him shall not perish.  The call to missions is not about bringing in as many converts as possible.  It is because out of love, you do not wish for them to perish.  Therefore, you share the Gospel of Christ to them in hopes that they come to believe and have life in Christ.

If you do not have a desire to share the Gospel to people of other faiths, then I suggest one of two things is true: 1) you do not love them enough, or 2) you do not believe that Christ is necessary for salvation (i.e. without him, you will not perish).  If it is the latter, then I humbly question the faith you say you profess – because you are rejecting what Christ said.  Or perhaps the reality of what Jesus saved you from has been forgotten or not  realized.  If the reason you do not share the Gospel is because you do not love them enough, then as a disciple, we should ask God to help us love our neighbor.  If you were about to die because of something you were doing, but you did not know you were doing this to yourself, would you not want someone to tell you?  In the same way, if we know the Gospel, and thereby having faith that Jesus has saved us from death through his own death and resurrection, would you not want to give that same hope to our neighbor?  Therefore, we should learn to love them that much to share this gospel of hope and salvation that we find in Jesus Christ.

Letting our light shine
Another thing Jesus says in Matthew is that disciples are the light of the world.  Disciples are to let their light shine such that when other people see their good deeds, they will glorify God.  This would be a result of doing what a disciple does out of love.  The love-motivated action is a proclamation of the Gospel itself. 

Our call to missions is to let our light shine in our works in this world.  Otherwise, the Church will be just another humanitarian organization that helps in the time of need; but in the end, what good does it do if no one comes to know Christ?  If we love them, if we love God, we will let our light shine by doing what a disciple should do out of love.  Our light, I believe, is most clearly shone when our deeds follow the very Gospel we believe and proclaim, and done out of love for God and neighbor.

The Christian worldview
As a disciple, we need to develop a worldview.  In today’s age, many would argue that you cannot have a universal worldview.  The worldview changes from context to context, even within the Christian faith.  I beg to differ.  There is one worldview that transcends contexts:  We are all sinners in need of a Savior, Jesus Christ.  This worldview acknowledges why we will perish: for our sin.  It also acknowledges the need for Jesus Christ.

This worldview is necessary to be a disciple who engages in Gospel proclamation and social action.  As I had noted earlier, a disciple is not just proclaiming. He is also helping those who are facing injustices.  Why?  Because of the sin of humanity, systems have been put in place that are oppressive and can marginalize.  With this Christian worldview, we acknowledge the sin that has created that system, and we help those who suffer as a result of it.  Not only that, we strive to transform these sinful systems by the Gospel.  Those that create and continue the oppressive systems, and those who suffer by them, are all equally loved.  They are all equally in need of the Gospel.  But those who suffer also need help in their suffering as well.   It is out of our love for them, both the oppressor and the sufferer are to be helped in our mission to all nations.   

This worldview must be objectively true to the disciple.  In other words, we cannot say “this is my worldview, but it is not true outside of my own domain.”  While others may not agree with the statement that we are all sinners in need of a savior, it does not change the fact that you believe this to be true universally.  For if it was not universal, we do not believe in anything.  Therefore, we must make disciples of all nations, because all people are sinners in need of Jesus as their Savior.

N.T. Wright, in his book The New Testament and the People of God, has us look back to A.D. 25.  At that time, we can see that Christianity did not even exist.  100 years later, the Roman emperor had already made policy in regards to the punishment of Christians.  Christianity was seen as distinct from Judaism. How did Christianity grow so fast despite being a religion that was persecuted (even to the death) by other communities and the Roman Empire?  Wright says it was because early Christians believed that the truth they had found was true for the whole world.  Missions sprang from the very heart of this early Christian conviction.   In other words, they had a worldview that all are sinners in need of a Savior, Jesus Christ.

Conclusion: Are we to make better people?
If we are disciples of Jesus, if we are followers of him, we must be obedient to our Lord who has authority over heaven and earth.  Jesus says we are to make disciples of all nations.  Therefore, we should proclaim Christ to all nations in hopes that they also will choose to follow Jesus.  If it was to make better Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists, then there is no need for obedience and allegiance to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, which contradicts the very nature of being a disciple.
   
That is the mission mandate: to make disciples of all nations.  It is done out of love for God and neighbor.  It is done with the worldview that all people are sinners and in need of a Savior, Jesus Christ.  It is done to transform this world as we aim to end the social injustices in it.  It is not to make better people, but to help make the lives of people better, both physically and eternally.

Let us revisit this mission mandate and ask ourselves: Do we truly believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that by believing in him, we will not perish?  Do we love God and our neighbor to the point that we will proclaim the Gospel to all nations, even if it means we will be persecuted for it?  It is out of love for God and neighbor that we are to be obedient to our Lord’s commission: make disciples of all nations.  Therefore, this is not about making better people, but having a conviction that all people are sinners in need of a savior, Jesus Christ.