What is the commission Jesus Christ gave to His church?
The church’s commission is stated concisely by Jesus Christ Himself: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19,20).
The disciples of Jesus, as eyewitnesses of His resurrection, were to make new disciples by proclaiming the good news of the coming Kingdom of God to all nations. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel [good news] to every creature” (Mark 16:15). The life-changing message they were to proclaim centers on the resurrection of Jesus, and calls for a radical change of behavior on the part of its hearers. “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46,47). Christ said He would be with His true followers “to the end of the age.” The work of the church goes on; the commission is the same.
Christ gave the church only one commission, though the one commission involves ministries, or services, that vary. To accomplish the commission, God “gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers” (Ephesians 4:11). The primary job of apostles and evangelists is proclaiming the gospel to the world as a witness; pastors and teachers provide instruction and guidance for the assemblies that are formed as a result of the work of the apostles and evangelists. These all differ somewhat in function, but share the common mission of making—start to finish—disciples for the Kingdom of God.
Notice that the commission includes “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” This is an ongoing job; it doesn’t end with baptism and the laying-on-of-hands. “Making disciples” includes the preaching that initially brings individuals to conversion, as well as the ongoing instruction in sound biblical doctrine and godly living.
Christ’s three-fold command, “Feed My lambs...Tend My sheep…Feed My sheep,” was given to Peter, but applied to all the apostles and overseers (John 21:15–17; cf. 1 Peter 5:1–4). “Feed My sheep” is synonymous with “Go therefore and make disciples.” These commands of Jesus are not two distinct commissions, but different ways of speaking of the one commission.
Jesus used the shepherd-sheep analogy in describing His ongoing work of making disciples for the Kingdom of God. He said, “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:14–16).
The church, with its diversity of gifts, is the agency through which the Good Shepherd calls to, and feeds, His sheep.
“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:11–16, New International Version).