As an avid sports fan, I’m not one to object when pulled into a friendly debate discussing the merits of this or that player of this or that professional sport. I also enjoy trying to answer the question that these discussions often lead to: who is the “greatest of all time” (the G.O.A.T.)?
In basketball, inevitably the names of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James will come up. In baseball you hear names like Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Barry Bonds (get ready for some controversy), and Willie Mays. In football it’s Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Barry Sanders, and Emmitt Smith. There are other sports and other players that could easily be brought into a conversation like this, but I think you get the point.
While I enjoy this conversation, I often struggle to identify just one athlete in each sport who, by my best estimation, truly holds the distinction of best of all time. Each of these men left a mark on the sporting world in their own unique way. How can one possibly choose between Jordan and James, or Brady and Montana? But many do. And many are willing to argue the absolute correctness of their choice, even when others hold strong opinions to the contrary.
In the sporting world, engaging this argument is just plain fun. The stakes aren’t all that high, and after all, what’s a good-natured disagreement between friends? You can hold your opinion, and I can hold mine, and professional sports will go on with little, if any notice.
Sometimes we bring in this G.O.A.T. way of thinking when it comes to what’s right and what’s wrong. And sometimes this is appropriate. It’s good to choose a kind and loving attitude over a mean-spirited one. It’s right to choose justice over injustice. But not all choices in life are so simple, so straightforward. When faced with a more complex scenario, it is helpful to note that a this or that approach is not the only way forward. While it is often more complicated, there are times in which we must learn to choose this and that.
“While it is often more complicated, there are times in which we must learn to choose this and that.”
This is particularly true in the case of the Greatest Commands and the Great Commission. The Greatest Commands—love God with all of your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40)—and the Great Commission—go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the authority of the triune God, and teaching them to obey Jesus’ commands (Matthew 28:18-20)—ought to live in harmony with each other.
To be a disciple of Jesus is to love Him so deeply you choose to become like Him. As the old saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In following Jesus, we discover for ourselves—or better said, God reveals to us—what life is really about. We find real purpose, meaning, and value in contrast to the illusions of purpose, meaning, and value we might imagine exist elsewhere. If all this is true, then to love others, and I mean truly love them, means that we will share this treasure with them as well. The Greatest Commands and the Great Commission should be deeply, spiritually, connected to each other.
The truth, however, is that many churches and many followers of Jesus seem to live as though they feel the need to choose one over the other. It is almost as if there exists a belief that these two G.O.A.T.s somehow stand in opposition to each other. Or if not opposition, they are sometimes viewed as competitors. You can either be a Great Commission Church, or you can be a Great Commands Church, but you can’t be both. Plainly said, I don’t buy that, and neither should you. After all, Jesus is the source of both the Greatest Commands and the Great Commission.
“Jesus is the source of both the Greatest Commands and the Great Commission.”
What follows are some thoughts explaining why I think this has at times happened, as well as some of the consequences of allowing the Great Commands and the Great Commission to live in isolation of each other.
When We Become Driven by Numbers
Many of us have seen churches that frequently talk about just how big they have grown, how many attended Easter services, and how many baptisms they had on one Sunday. I want to be careful not to be overly critical and I don’t want you to hear me talking about numbers in only the pejorative. Numbers matter. As some have pointed out, every number is a person, every person has a soul, and every soul matters to God. At face value, I would go so far as to confidently say that counting numbers is absolutely not a bad thing. In the first few chapters of the book of Acts, we see two times where numbers were counted. Big numbers. In the thousands. So counting is not bad. But things tend to go off the rails quickly when numbers become the primary driver behind all we do.
It’s a familiar story. A church begins with a deep passion to reach the community in which they live, work, and play. They reach their neighbors in love. They are propelled forward and inspired to live out the Great Commission because they know and hold to the truth of the Greatest Commands. But something happens as time goes by. A church that once grew explosively, almost multiplicatively, begins to stagnate. The leaders meet and discuss solutions. It is at this point one of two mistakes is often made.
“A church that once grew explosively, almost multiplicatively, begins to stagnate.”
Here’s how we might describe these scenarios:
Church “A” determines that they are no longer reaching the community because they have become irrelevant. The community around them is just changing too much and too quickly, and the words of Scripture are just too difficult for anyone, in actuality, to follow. The gap between church and culture is too wide. It can no longer be bridged, so in love, we need to narrow it some. After all, the message of the Bible was written to a different people, at a different time, who were working through different issues. (I will acknowledge that there is a definite measure of truth in this argument—but even true statements, when not viewed through the proper lens, can lead us to a distorted vision for the future.)
So, Church “A” decides to push aside that bit in the Great Commission about “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded.” It simply feels too legalistic and maybe even unloving to ask that of the people they come in contact with daily. Church “A,” as a result, chooses the Greatest Commands over the Great Commission. They have their G.O.A.T.
“Church ‘A,’ as a result, chooses the Greatest Commands over the Great Commission.”
Church “B” has a similar story to that of Church “A.” But as the leaders of Church “B” meet, they determine the issue lies in a loss of conviction about the state of the world around them. They realize they have forgotten just how truly lost people are without Jesus (again there is a definite measure of truth at play). What Church “B” needs, the leaders decide, is to radically reembrace the mission of Jesus. They develop systems and maybe even a curriculum to ensure this happens. Christians who reach people with the gospel are celebrated and even elevated. Those who don’t become the subject of quiet whisperings. Pressure is applied and inflexible numerical targets are set. Sharing Jesus is just that important. Church “B” is ready to be “mean about it” if that’s what it takes. As a result, Church “B” chooses the Great Commission over the Greatest Commands. They have their G.O.A.T.
When We Become Driven by Personal Ambition
As I sit here at my keyboard, I’m cringing inwardly as I mull over what I’m going to write next. You are likely familiar with the podcast that became such a sensation in 2021, “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.” If you are not, it’s probably worth a listen. During one of the early episodes, a clip is played in which pastor Mark Driscoll compares his church to a bus rolling down the road. Here’s the cringeworthy piece. As he talks about the history of the church—again the bus comparison—he laughs and says that behind the Mars Hill bus is a pile of bodies. A pile of bodies made up of people who got in the way of the church’s vision, Mark’s vision. As the podcast narrates it, to disagree with Mark, to challenge him in any way, was to stand in the way of what God wanted to do at Mars Hill. And if you did that, there was a place for you, behind the bus, on the pile of bodies.
“He laughs and says that behind the Mars Hill bus is a pile of bodies.”
Leaving behind a pile of bodies is a helpful description of churches in which the pastor is the G.O.A.T. The way the church embraces the Greatest Commands and the Great Commission is leveraged in an effort to grow his platform and influence. Both are compromised, because they are seen as a means to an end, a tool to achieve an ambitious vision. As the vision marches forward and the pastor’s platform grows, the deep dysfunction inevitably begins to reveal itself. Ethical boundaries are crossed. People, especially employees of the church, are no longer valued as those who bear the image of God but are seen mainly as winners or losers in relation to the goals of the church’s leader. The culture created is not one of love—for God or for people. Nor is such a church truly focused on the Great Commission, no matter what the pastor claims. This kind of church has its G.O.A.T as well.
When We Become Driven by Process
A final reason we sometimes see a parting of the Greatest Commands and the Great Commission is not so obvious as the previous ones. This one sneaks in more subtly, and at least on the surface doesn’t cause destruction the way an ambitious church leader can. Instead of a catastrophic implosion, churches who are driven by process can simply lose their way over time. There is a strong draw to process, especially here in the Western world, and North America specifically. Head over to Amazon or your local bookstore and you will find volumes written about leadership principles, successful business blueprints, and organizational strategy. Just to be clear, I find value in all of these types of books. But many of us have made idols of human cleverness and worldly wisdom in a way that truly minimizes the power of God at work among us.
When churches become driven by process, they often become mechanical, placing faith in the way things are done, instead of in the One who called Himself the Way. It may not look mechanical on the surface, but behind the scenes, the evidence is hard to miss. Prayer is for opening a service, kicking off a meeting, or what we do when people are sick. Radical reliance upon the Holy Spirit and the presence of God seems strange, unnecessary, or even awkward. We have meetings to discuss vision and strategy (yes, these are both important), and instead of seeking what God would have us do, we determine to implement whatever model is in vogue and promises success. It is as if we have forgotten that Jesus closed the Great Commission with the promise, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20, NIV).
“Instead of seeking what God would have us do, we determine to implement whatever model is in vogue and promises success.”
When we become driven by process, we lack the power created by the fusion of the Great Commission and the Greatest Commands because both have become watered down, and lightly emphasized. Don’t misread me. I’m not saying that process churches don’t talk about the Great Commission or the Greatest Commands. They often do. But process churches tend to believe that the power to reach people in love with the gospel is found in structures, systems, and programs. Think of the great line from the classic baseball movie, Field of Dreams: “If you build it, they will come.” Process churches have largely neglected the call to go, in favor of building a place they believe people will want to come. They specialize in the art of convincing mostly Christianized people that they are the best show in town. (That sounds cynical, but it is also largely true.) In this way, the church itself has become the G.O.A.T. The Greatest Commands and the Great Commission have been replaced by the greatest innovations and the greatest attractions.
Bottom Line
Here’s the bottom line. The Church needs to radically re-embrace both the Great Commission and the Greatest Commands. We cannot separate true love for God and love for others from the mission Jesus has given us. In fact, these only truly make sense in a hand-in-glove fashion.
Let me restate the case I made at the beginning of this article. You and I are called to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:36-40). When Jesus called people to follow Him, He wasn’t asking that they would simply walk with Him from town to town. He was asking them to follow His way, embrace His teaching, and eventually become just like Him (Luke 6:40). If we flesh out the implications of the call of Jesus, we will see that one of the ways we most fully express our love for God is by following and becoming like Jesus. As a side note, as we walk this journey, we will also see that this is one of the ways God shows His love for us, as He restores His image in us (Romans 8:29).
And as we become more like Jesus, the choice to love others becomes a more natural part of who we are. We want the best for others. We want to meet the needs of others. We want them to experience the life-changing love of God for themselves. This, then, is why we make disciples. It is why we teach others to obey everything Jesus commanded, because in our own walk with God we have learned there is nothing better.
“The Church needs to radically re-embrace both the Great Commission and the Greatest Commands.”
So we share Jesus freely. We share what Jesus has shared with us freely. We love like He loved—and not just by meeting physical needs, but by looking for opportunities to meet the one true great need shared by all humanity. And we trust, long for, and celebrate the presence of Jesus among us as we live out His mission. This won’t be easy, but He is with us!
Only the fusion of the Greatest Commands and the Great Commission will allow us to move forward in the great power of God, who as the apostle Paul reminds us, is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20, NIV). We in the Church stand in need of that power again. The world around us needs to see that power at work as well.
So, here’s the challenge. Take stock of your own life. Are you a Greatest Commands and a Great Commission Christian? Have you elevated one of these over the other? How about your church? If so, what can you do to embrace both fully? As you seek out the answer to these questions, I will be in prayer for you, and covet your prayers as I continue to wrestle out just what this looks like in my life as well.
Go love God. Go love the people He created. And go teach them to obey everything He’s commanded. As you do, He—His power as well—will be with you always!
