One of the things I love and hate about the English language is that words can have so many different meanings based on how they are used. For instance, Jesus gave us the Great Commission when He said, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19
Or I can say “there is a great commission on the sale of certain items in our store.” Or I can say, “because of her injury, she will be out of commission for a while.”
Commission can mean mandate, it can mean money, or it can refer to the ability to operate of perform.
As has been proven through the centuries it is very easy for a religious organization to gravitate from the Great Commission toward the great commissions that can be generated in the name of the Great Commission.
For some, in spite of all of their statements and symbolism about the Great Commission, it really is about the great commissions: the money.
In the business world, organizations like banks, discount retail marts and restaurants have figured out that if you want to reach more people, then create more and more places where the people are. Go to where there is a need and fill it.
However some churches want to see how big they can build their buildings. It seems that the greatness of the modern church is measured by how big its parking lots are and how many the sanctuary will seat rather than how many people it is sending out as a part of the Great Commission.
For some it is about power, prestige and profits. It’s about comfort and convenience and consumerism. It’s about the commissions. Power-broker pastors, dizzy with their own charisma, begin to believe that the world deserves to hear them speak and therefore millions should be spent in order to grant them their wish, once a week.
One day I can see the pastors of the twentieth century standing before God and hearing Him ask, “you raised how many millions to build a building so that the majority of your congregation could sit comfortably for one hour a week and listen to you speak?”
Does it seem likely that Jesus Christ, who never owned a place to lay his head, will be pleased that America spent hundreds of millions of dollars so that we could sit segregated and self-righteous for one hour a week while the third world starved to death and went to hell?
Is it possible that the church is out of commission because it has forsaken the Great Commission for the great commissions? Somebody is speaking porky-jesus if they believe that when Jesus said “upon this rock I will build my church” that He was referring to the buildings instead of the body!
Could it be that we have become far too much like our Roman Catholic fore-fathers who in the name of Jesus created a denomination of people who were ignorant of the gospel, held captive by fear and deception in order to maintain power, prestige and profits. Are we guilty of building cathedrals that function like corrals rather than calling our flocks to fulfill the great commission and go therefore into all the world?
Maybe its time we took a good look at which commission we are really after.
