The room was very quiet when the guest speaker, Dr. Chris Mitchell from Wheaton College, started to unpack what the Great Commission is about.  Matthew, in verse 20, wrote that Jesus told his disciples to teach the nations to “observe all that I have commanded you.”

It is ironic that Dr. Mitchell was “preaching to the choir.”  Namely, a group of church-going evangelicals, me included, who have listened to countless sermons, read the Bible through, and studied it for years, and were in a class about missions. Yet, I think we all got the obvious point.  Do we know what Jesus has commanded us to do?  Can we name some?

I interpreted my own blank slate and lack of response to his question as a challenge.  I need these words of Jesus to be “right there,” right on top of my mind.  “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63b)  I listen to a lot of things each day, and some days what Jesus has commanded gets a very low priority among newsfeeds, emails, twitter posts, phone calls, facebook posts, and all the other noisy attention-getters in our immediate world.

If we pay more attention and look closer at what He actually said, Jesus’ words will cause an emotional reaction.  Jesus speaks authoritatively and imperatively, he gets attention.  In a world of grey areas, room for debate, and relativism, His style can come across as confrontational.  I think we need to be confronted head-on with the truth.  To look at a statement and wrestle with it – did He really meant that? The answer might be a surprise.  Some of Jesus’ words delight.  Some of them hurt.  Jesus’ words catch people off guard and cause them to make choices, similar to the rich young ruler who left Jesus, very sad at what Jesus had said.

I’m doing these posts because I recognize how casual and familiar I can get with what Jesus said.  I can gloss over His words and not really think about them.  So, expect to see more blog posts that parse into some of these life-giving and spirit-giving words.   When Jesus uses an imperative verb, what does He say?  What does He mean?  What does it mean today, and how do I follow His words?

Comments and blog discussions would be great as these start rolling!