BY EDMUND CHAN
"Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.”
— Matthew 28:18-20
Someone has said, “We have taken the basics for granted for so long that we don’t remember the basics any more.”
I am indebted to the late David Mays for his write-up on the domestication of the Great Commission. Here’s a succinct, adapted version of it.
We are fully aware that the main verb in Matthew 28:18-20 is “make disciples” (Gk. matheteuo).
Now, ‘matheteuo’ can be either an intransitive verb, (meaning to become a disciple); or a transitive verb (meaning to produce a disciple).
In this text, ‘matheteuo’ is a transitive verb (i.e. to “make disciples”).
Now, grammatically, a transitive verb requires an object to complete the thought. You can’t just say to someone, “Go call…”. It doesn’t make a complete thought until you say, “Go call your father,” or “Go call the doctor,” etc.
Similarly, you can’t just say “make” without an object. Make what? The thought is incomplete. So, we complete the thought with “make disciples”. And thus, we remind one another, “We are not to just make converts; we are to make disciples”.
That’s good. Except that it misses to a large extent what Jesus really meant!
In this case, we assume that the object of the verb is “disciples” - so, the main imperative is to “make disciples”.
Here’s where the minor grammatical glitch has a huge unintended impact that distracts us from the true meaning of Jesus’ words.
*You see, the word “make” is NOT in the original Greek.*
The word in the Greek text is ‘matheteuo’ (a verb meaning “to disciple”).
But to the early translators, “disciple” is not a proper verb. It’s a noun. So, it’s translated in the verbal form, by adding the word “make”.
Now, the unintended result is this—“go (a participle), make (a perceived transitive verb), and disciples (the object that completes the transitive verb)”.
In other words, here’s the error and unintended consequence.
Through this unintended grammatical glitch in the English translation (“make” being the transitive verb and “disciples” becoming the object that competes the verb) the phrase “all nations” is inadvertently downgraded to being just a prepositional phrase. A prepositional phrase is a qualifier or modifier. It is subordinate to the main thought (and quite easily overlooked!).
BUT in fact, “DISCIPLE” is the transitive verb (not a noun), and “ALL NATIONS” is the object that completes the verb!
As such, the true missiological imperative in the Great Commission (i.e.“DISCIPLE ALL NATIONS!”) is regrettably marginalised.
And without this missiological impetus, then the call to “make disciples” is often merely relegated to a Bible Study or a knowledge transfer in a classroom! And also, in many of our churches today, “the NATIONS” is given a low priority, and relegated at best to “a missions week” or “a missions month” in the church.
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"Disciple the nations!" — Matthew 28:18-20 |
But the original Great Commission to “DISCIPLE THE NATIONS” is what made it so radical!
Disciple All Nations? Really?
For the early Jewish disciples it is mind blowing. They were responsible to take the whole Gospel to the whole world (including the Gentiles, the ones they didn’t like!)
The Great Commission does not command us to make disciples of people in our own culture. Its primary thrust is to go and disciple all the other peoples, of diverse tribes and tongues.
There is a big difference between “making disciples” and “DISCIPLE the NATIONS”. And the clear responsibility to go across language and cultural boundaries to disciple the nations has been neglected.
The Great Commission has been Domesticated
We have micro-managed Discipleship by our diminished understanding of “Make Disciples” in Matthew 28:18-20—and thus, unfortunately, the Great Commission has been domesticated!
May the Lord help us to bring back MISSIONS in our DISCIPLESHIP!
Let’s get missional!
It is imperative that we re-engage in a biblical Missions Discipleship with clarity, courage and compassion!
Have a blessed pilgrimage ahead.
Rev. Edmund Chan
A3 Faculty Member
"I believe that the test of leadership is found in the third generation. It involves mentoring leaders who would reproduce leaders. This is why I thank God for A3! It is an outstanding movement that's strategically committed to sustainable leadership development! Mentoring leaders. Multiplying disciples. YES!!!”
Rev. Edmund Chan
Leadership Mentor, Covenant Evangelical Free Church, Singapore
Founder, Global Alliance of Intentional Disciple-Making Churches
Reverend Edmund Chan is a seasoned disciple-making pastor. The Leadership Mentor in Covenant Evangelical Free Church, Edmund is widely regarded as an insightful Bible expositor and a wise mentor of Christian leaders. In 1995, he launched the annual Intentional Disciple-Making Church (IDMC) Conferences, which have drawn over 1000 pastors and disciple-making leaders from more than 150 churches from over 18 countries. He also serves on the advisory councils of several Christian organizations. Edmund has authored Built To Last: Towards A Disciple-making Church, Growing Deep in God, Mentoring Paradigms and Growing Deep in Faith. He graduated summa cum laude from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School with an MA (Missions). He is married to Ann Chan, who serves as an Associate Pastor, and they have two adult daughters, Amanda and Belicia.
More Information
- A3 Faculty
- Photo credits:
- Cover photo by Worshae on Unsplash
- Inset photo by Orlando Allo on Pexels
