The Minister’s God-given Goal – Part 1
Matthew 28:16:20
To find favor in God’s eyes, it is essential that a minister understand the goal that God
has sent before him. Most ministers have some specific goal that they often refer to as their “vision.” It is what they strive to accomplish. However, the goal or vision a minister strives to accomplish may not be the God-given goal that applies to every minister. The minister’s goal or vision must agree with the God-given goal, but too often, it does not.
The first question we need to answer is, “What is the goal God has given to every minister? The answer to the question is Matthew 28:18-20.
Verse 18 – And Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
Jesus wanted His disciples to understand His authority over heaven and earth is not a limited authority. He is Lord. This being so, when modern day evangelists and pastors invite the unsaved to “accept Jesus as Savior, a concept never found in the Bible, they reveal a flaw in their understanding of the gospel. When the Philippian jailer asked Paul what he must do to be saved, did Paul tell him to accept Jesus as his Savior or did he tell him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus” (Acts 16:31). People are not saved because they believe in a doctrine about salvation or Jesus, but when they believe in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. People are not saved from the consequences of sin because they believe that Jesus’ death was a sufficient sacrifice for their sins, or salvation is by faith, or some other doctrine about Jesus or salvation. Demons believe the doctrines about Jesus and salvation. Saving faith consists of faith in a person, Lord Jesus.
When sinners believe that Jesus is Lord, they will act as if He is Lord and submit to Him from the depth of their heart. If they do not submit to Him, they do not believe in Him. When people say they believe in Jesus but have not repented of their sins and submitted to Him in their hearts they do not really believe in Jesus. They do not really believe He has all authority in heaven and on earth.
If a minister does not understand or believe the Father has given Jesus all authority in heaven and on earth, he is in big trouble and so is his congregation. There is no way he will find favor in the eyes of God if he misrepresents the most foundational message God wants the world to hear, Jesus is Lord.
What is the goal or vision God has given to every minister?
Verses 18-19 – Jesus told the disciples “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Note if you will, Jesus used the word “therefore.” That is to say, because of what I just said, because I have all authority in heaven and on earth, because I am Lord and I command you to “make disciples of all the nations, teaching those disciples to obey My commandments, go as I have commanded you.
God’s given goal or vision to all ministers and our responsibility to make disciples and teach them to “observe all” that Jesus commanded is why the Apostle Paul said, the grace of God had been given to him as an apostle to “bring about the obedience of faith among the Gentiles” (Romans 1:5). This is why the Apostle Peter said on the Day of Pentecost, “Therefore let the all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36). Peter wanted those who turned Jesus over to the Romans to be crucified, those who rejected Him as their King to know God made Him Lord and Christ.
When a minister reads the attendance report on Monday morning he should ask the question, “Am I making disciples; am I teaching them the commandments of the Lord?” If we are merely asking sinners to accept Jesus as their Savior without telling them to repent and turn from disobedience to obedience our ministry is flawed. If we are trying to build a big congregation by keeping everyone happy, feeling good about themselves and organizing social activities our goal and vision is not in harmony with God’s goal and vision. If our church is overflowing with people who claim they believe in Jesus but do not obey Him we our in big trouble. If we are preaching ear-tickling message our people are in big trouble.
In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus told the disciples of the day when He would come in all His glory and all the angels with Him and He will sit on His glorious throne, all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then He will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Then He will say to those on His left, “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.”
The entire point of what Jesus said in Matthew 25:31-46 was to warn the goats. He does not want them to think they are going to heaven.
Who are the sheep and goats? The sheep are the disciples of Jesus. The goats are those who claim to be disciples of Jesus. Jesus said that all men would know we are His disciples by our love for one another (John 13:35), a love that exceeds the love that non-Christians show each other. The kind of love of which Jesus spoke is a self-sacrificing love, when we love each other as He loved us, laying down our lives for each other (John 13:34; 1 John 3:16-20). John also wrote that we know we have passed out of death to life, that is, been born again, when we love each other (1 John 3:14). Do people who grumble, speak against, and hate ministers who teach Christ’s commandments display the love that marks them as being born again; they are goats, on the road to hell.
If every professing Christian truly believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, before long everyone in the world would hear the gospel. They would stop wasting all their time and money on temporal and worldly things, and use them to accomplish what their Lord commanded them to do.
What happens when pastors announce that a missionary is going to be speaking at an upcoming church service, he can often expect that attendance will drop. Many of the goats will stay home or go elsewhere. They are not interested in obeying the last commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sheep, on the other hand, always become excited at the prospect of being involved in making disciples of all the nations.
One last point regarding what Jesus said to the disciples, He told them to baptize their disciples, and the apostles faithfully obeyed this commandment. They immediately baptized those who repented and believed in the Lord Jesus. Baptism, of course, represents a believers’ identification with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. New believers have died and been raised as new creations in Christ. This truth Jesus wanted imprinted upon the mind of those who repented and turned from disobedience to obedience that he is now a new person with a new nature. He is one spirit with Christ, and is now empowered to obey God by Christ who lives within him. He was dead in his sins, but now has been washed clean and made alive by the Holy Spirit, not just forgiven but radically transformed.
The lesson taught in Matthew 28:18-20 is Jesus’ goal for us is that we make disciples. Disciples are people who have repented of their sins and who are learning and obeying His commandments.
Jesus later said, “By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (John 15:8), by Jesus’ definition, disciples are learning and obeying His commandments, and glorifying God by bearing fruit.
In Luke 14:25-27 Jesus identifies the true disciples.
“Now great multitudes were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, ‘If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.’”
Was Jesus satisfied because great multitudes were going along with Him? Had he attained His goal now that He had succeeded in gaining a large congregation? He was not satisfied that great multitudes were going along with Him, listening to His sermons, watching His miracles, and sometimes eating His food. Jesus is looking for people who love God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength. He wants people who obey His commandments. He wants disciples, not pew warmers.
There can be no mistake about it: Jesus laid down requirements for a person to be His disciple. However, must His disciples actually hate those people whom they would naturally love the most? That seems unlikely since, in the Bible we are told to honor our parents and love our spouses and children. When Jesus said the disciple is to hate those people he would naturally love the most he was using a form of speech that is used to emphasize what it means to be a disciple. If we are to be His disciples, we must love Him supremely, much more than the people we naturally love the most. Jesus’ expectation is certainly reasonable since He is God whom we should love with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.
Therefore, it is important ministers do not forget their goal is to make disciples, which means they are to produce the kind of people who love Jesus supremely, who love Him more than they love even their spouses, children and parents.
The second requirement. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27).
What did Jesus mean? When He said, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” He was using the same form of speech He used when He said a disciple must hate those he would naturally love. Jesus was speaking to people who had witnessed condemned criminals dying on crosses. The Romans crucified criminals along major thoroughfares outside the city gates to maximize crucifixion’s effect as a deterrent to crime. It is possible “Carry your cross” was a common expression back in Jesus’ day. Every person crucified carried his cross to the place of crucifixion and followed a Roman soldier. The condemned knew when the cross beam was placed on his shoulders it marked the beginning of hours and days of gruesome agony. Therefore, such a phrase could have easily become a common expression that meant, “Accept the inevitable hardship that is coming your way.”
Taking up one’s cross is synonymous with self-denial, and Jesus used it in that sense in Matthew 16:24: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Therefore, true disciples are willing to suffer for the sake of following Jesus. They have already counted the cost before they began, and knowing that hardship is inevitable is determined to finish the race.
Jesus used two illustrations to make His point:
“For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish.” Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks terms of peace.”
Jesus’ point could not be clearer: “If you want to be Jesus’ disciple, count the cost in advance, lest you quit when the going gets rough. True disciples accept the hardship that comes as a result of following Jesus.
The third requirement. “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all His own possessions” (Luke 14:33).
Again, it would seem logical to conclude that Jesus was using the same form of speech He used in verses 26 and 27. We do not need to give up all of our possessions in the sense that we leave ourselves without shelter, clothing and food. However, we must, give up all of our possessions in the sense of turning their ownership over to God, and to the degree that we are no longer serving mammon, but serving God with our mammon. The result could certainly mean giving up many unnecessary possessions and living a simple life of godly stewardship and sharing, as did the early Christians we read about in the book of Acts. Being Christ’s disciple means obeying His commandments and bearing fruit.
In summary, according to Jesus, if I am to be His disciple, I must bear fruit. I must love Him supremely, much more than even my own family members. I must be willing to face the inevitable hardships that will arise because of my decision to follow Him. In addition, I must do what He says with my income and possessions.
These are the kinds of committed followers of Jesus that we ministers are to be are and supposed to be making. That is our God-ordained goal. Now is the time to evaluate our ministries, before we stand before Jesus at the final evaluation. If we are falling short of His goal, it is better we discover it now than then.
Clearly, Jesus wants people to become His disciples, as revealed by His Words to the multitudes recorded in Luke 14:26-33. How important is it to become His disciple, what if one chooses not to become His disciple? Jesus answered these questions at the close of His discourse in Luke 14:
Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Luke 14:34-35)
What does this have to do with being a disciple? Just as salt is expected to be salty, so Jesus expects people to be His disciples. Since He is God, our only reasonable obligation is to supremely love Him, take up our crosses and give up all our possessions. If we do not become His disciples, we reject His reason for our existence.
At another time, Jesus said to His disciples, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men (Matt. 5:13).
These are sobering warnings indeed. First, only those who are salty, a metaphor for committed obedience, are of any use to God. The rest are “good for nothing…except to be thrown out and trampled.” Second, it must be possible for one who is “salty” to become “unsalted,” otherwise Jesus would not have seen any need to warn His disciples. How these truths contradict what so many teach today, saying that one can be a heaven-bound believer in Christ but not be a disciple of Christ, or that it is not possible to forfeit one’s salvation status. Being thrown out does not sound like exception into heaven.
