(Click here for a video of John reading this Catch.)
We call it the Great Commission. It’s where Jesus gave his disciples (that would include us) their final assignment. It’s His parting word to them before He ascended into heaven. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20) No small thing, indeed.
Now have you ever wondered why He said to make disciples of all nations? How do you disciple, teach and baptize a nation? Surely it doesn’t mean that. It must mean to find people within every nation of which to make disciples. That’s what I’ve always thought. But if that’s what it means, why didn’t He say that? Why didn’t He say “make disciples from every nation,” instead of “make disciples of every nation”? Unless, of course, that’s exactly what He meant to say: that the disciples (including us after them) through our influence in the world, were to turn whole nations toward the Lord, that the prophecy of Revelation — “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ” (Revelation 11:15) — might be fulfilled through His disciples.
This at least deserves consideration and further study. That instead of running away from a world getting worse and worse, you and I are called to run into the world with a mindset of influencing people, institutions and culture itself toward the things of God that Jesus came to teach us like love, compassion, justice, mercy and care for the poor and oppressed.
We’ve been talking about being Christians in the marketplace all along. It seems that the stakes may be getting higher as we learn more about God’s will for these end times. Perhaps He wants us more involved instead of less involved in the world.
To delve more deeply into these ideas, I encourage you to get and read The Future Great Planet Earth by Dr. David E. Fischer (available on amazon.com). And be sure to listen to our podcast of the BlogTalkRadio show where I interviewed David about his book.
John Fischer The Catch 
When you wrote “…instead of running away from a world getting worse and worse, you and I are called to run into the world…” I couldn’t help thinking about the recent tributes to the terrible events of 9-1-1 (along with mass shootings, out-of-control wildfires, natural disasters, etc.) and the often mentioned statements about first responders running toward the danger rather than away.
If our planet is imploding and ablaze then we, as believers, need to be courageous and run into the flames as God’s fire brigade to help rescue – without prejudice – every soul we can.
We don’t do the ultimate saving but we do venture into the heat and darkness calling out and reaching toward any who will hear our voice, grab our hands, and let us help lead them toward safety and security.
We are First Responders faced with serious challenges and decisions.
it is what we signed up for when we committed ourselves to Jesus.
Any thoughts otherwise about our responsibilities to our Lord and our service to fellow human beings is something we would need to discuss openly and honestly with the Holy Spirit.
Shalom, Peace….
Yes, Bob. I can only say, “Right on!”