Formidable Task

This week commemorates the D-Day landings from 80 years ago. There have been ceremonies, special events, documentaries and extensive news coverage - reminding us of the formidable and colossal task of invading occupied territory such that the overall war could eventually be won.

There are many a story of huge sacrifice, with a scale of loss of life that we simply cannot begin to properly comprehend - for example as landing craft lowered their ramps friends and colleagues would have been cut down immediately as soldiers attempted to run forward. Yet listening to first hand accounts of surviving soldiers, they went into this mayhem with an incredible sense of purpose and mission. The controlling thought was not "What can I do?", but more of "What needs to be done?". With all the many months of planning, logistics, coordinated actions of land, sea & air, and individual unit objectives ... the many & diverse allied participants seemed to go in each personally owning the task at hand.

Jesus left his disciples with a commission stemming from the 'all authority' that was given to him. That commission was to 'make disciples' of all peoples - a formidable task in its own way. Elsewhere Jesus had made it very clear that it would be costly too, involving forms of sacrifice (including death for some).

This commission still stands today, and remains a formidable task. Jesus is Risen Lord, and yet we do not see all things subject to Him. Various church organisations as well as mission agencies continue to pray, plan and commission at scale to continue implementing the commission to make disciples of all peoples - praise God! But I wonder if at ground level whether many western Christians have an equivalent sense of personal ownership of the task, or do they leave it to the 'institution' (e.g. the church or denomination) that they belong to?

In contemplating the task, a reasonable question asked by an individual believer would be "What can I do?", especially if they are not naturally gifted as an evangelist. They may also consider that their indirect auxiliary contribution is useful and sufficient (the D-Day landings of course included a mass multitude of auxiliary contribution apart from the frontline soldiers). This is valid.

Yet a better question is 'What needs to be done?'. To complete this Commission, to see it played out to all peoples as Jesus commanded, let each of us look to Him for that Big Picture Command, that over-arching sense of what we - as His operatives - should be about. With that as our starting point, we can pray & consider strategically the approach we and our fellow believers are taking - linked with our church, churches, and other Christian organisations in our own sector. With all that in mind we can then pray and individually discern our particular action, or near term unit objectives.

The Great Commission is about an invasion - re-entering occupied territory with the Good News of the Kingdom of God. It requires thousands of individual believers owning the task regardless of whatever rank or station they perceive themselves to be. It will involve loss and sacrifice, perhaps in ways we cannot comprehend, but it stems from 'all authority', which means we can confident of eventual victory.