Your Personal Great Commission Assignment

Jesus appeared to the eleven apostles while they were eating. He put them to shame for their unbelief and because they were too stubborn to believe those who had seen him alive. Then Jesus said to them, “So wherever you go in the world, tell everyone the Good News. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

─ Mark 16:14-16 GW

The why behind what we do is as important as what we do. It’s about the attitude behind our actions. The great commission is about reaching as many people as possible for Christ, and yet our personal biases and judgmental opinions about certain people or people groups can get messy.

God works in each one of us to adjust the attitudes and intentions of our hearts so that we may become more like Him. After Jesus rose from the grave, He appeared to the 11 disciples and gave them the great commission – to share the salvation message, His life-changing, eternal life opportunity to every person.

But sometimes, it’s difficult for us to see others as God sees them. Look at Jonah, the first missionary. God told him to go to Nineveh and was sent to warn the people that God was going to judge them because their wickedness was so great (Jonah 1:2). But Jonah ran from God and ended up in the belly of a whale trying to avoid his God-given assignment.

The people of Nineveh had a reputation for being sadistic and brutal. Jonah knew God was notorious for showing mercy and most likely believed if he went and told them of God’s plans, then they might repent, and God would show them mercy. Perhaps a little part of Jonah’s heart celebrated the idea of God destroying this violent and evil people group.

Sharing the Good News may mean showing love to your enemy. Jesus said, “What reward do you deserve if you only love the loveable? Don’t even the tax collectors do that? How are you any different from others if you limit your kindness only to your friends? Don’t even the ungodly do that? Since you are children of a perfect Father in heaven, you are to be perfect like him” (Matthew 4:45 -48 TPT).

After days in the belly of a whale, Jonah repented and went to Nineveh. God gave Jonah a new heart for the people of Nineveh and he completed his assignment. The people repented and God did indeed show them mercy.

The world we live in today is full of hate and malice, and it’s easy to become caught up in the turmoil of which side is right or left. Above all, our commitment to God and the call to love one another as Christ has loved us should come before everything else.

Today’s One Thing

Have you ever rejoiced when a person or even a people group “got what was coming to them,” because of your opinion of them? Have you ever felt like Jonah, thinking I’d rather run away than share Christ with that person? Ask God to shine the light of His love deep within your heart. Be willing to repent and take action toward whatever Great Commission assignment the Lord has for you.

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