THE GREAT COMMISSION OF CHRIST

This post has been translated from the post on my Portuguese Blog: 

https://religiao-filosofia.blogspot.com/2020/04/a-grande-comissao-de-cristo-2.html?m=1

And if you want to give a look to all the Portuguese post about the Great Commission click in the site below:

A. The Prayer for the Great Commission.

 Ask the Lord of the harvest

Matthew 9:36-38

36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 

37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 

38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Prayer for believers who are willing to accept the call to go to the mission field, inside and outside their  country. 

We can pray for God to create a desire for many believers willing to take their vacations to visit certain places within their country and other countries where the Gospel goes to people not yet reached. 

Pray also for others to go as missionaries in the short term. 

All this will contribute to the work of national and international evangelism to grow.

Matthew 9: 35-38 

The harvest is indeed great, but few reapers: pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he may send harvesters to His harvest.

We can pray to God to overturn the obstacles set by the devil and the enemies of the Gospel. In addition, we can also pray for God to work in the lives of those in authority inside and outside our country, according to the exhortation we find in 1 Timothy 2:1-3:

1 Timothy 2

1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 

2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 

3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior.

Not all believers will go to the mission field, but all believers can pray and contribute financially or through other days to the mission field, and all believers should also be involved at the very least in the local and regional evangelism of their churches. Let us pray for this.

1 Corinthians 16:1-3

1 Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatians churches to do. 

2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.

3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem.

Let us pray for God to give a vision of the world not yet reached, whether inside or outside our country and continent. 

Let us pray for the missions and existing organisations and for those missions and organisations that are in the stage of been forming and others that may still be formed, in order to reach the lost world inside and outside our country and all the world.

B. Creating interest in Churches for the Great Commission.

John 4

35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.

36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.

37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 

38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labour.

Church leaders should motivate believers to pray for local, national, and cross-cultural evangelism and contribute financially to the progress of it. 

They should also motivate believers to engage in local and regional evangelism and be willing to respond to a call to engage in national and cross-cultural evangelism.

But beyond motivation, leaders must create structures, programs, and activities to facilitate the involvement of believers in Christ's Great Commission, so believers become willing to pray, contribute, and evangelise more effectively.

All churches should have at least an evangelism department and also a mission department. 

They should also make connections with other churches, organisations and missionary agencies with which the local church or denomination can collaborate to equip the church to be involved in local, regional, national, and cross-cultural evangelism.

C. Equipping the Church for Evangelism

Acts 1 

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

1. Differentiating different types of Evangelism

Mark 16

15 He said to them: Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

Evangelism must reach whole world and every creature.

Reaching whole world and
every creature.

We must know how to differentiate the different types of Evangelism.

The act of evangelism includes all the evangelistic work done in "Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth". 

It also includes the integral evangelism of the whole world and every man by the Gospel of the word, the Gospel of the good works (social action), and the Gospel of the signs (prayer and supernatural touch of the Spirit of God on the people we are evangelising).

Evangelism includes everything that is connected with the Great Commission of Christ whether local or cross-cultural.

Evangelism speaks of the means and ways we use to contact people personally and groups of people during our evangelism. 

Believers and churches should be equipped for personal evangelism and collective evangelism. The same can be said of organisations and agencies that aim to evangelise people. 

Their agents should be trained in evangelism and know how to integrate evangelism into their group strategies.

Evangelism must be at the heart of any group strategy. A group strategy that did not include evangelism, or didn't put evangelism in the centre, is a weak strategy.

For example, a strategy where the central aim is social action, hoping that when people are touched by our social support, they will turn to Christ, it is a poor strategy. Christ and the Gospel must be the centre of any evangelism strategy.

I am not saying that we should not do social action, of course we should, or we should not expect supernatural touches of God in people's lives, of course we should pray a lot and hope that God reveals himself supernaturally to people. 

What I am saying is nothing must take the central place of the Gospel. I mean the Gospel of the word or the Word of God.

The Gospel of the word must come first and be the centre of evangelism.

The Gospel of the Word, the Gospel of the good works (social action), and the Gospel of the signs (prayer and supernatural touch of the Spirit of God on the people we are evangelising) are inseparable and must work together, but as there is always a centre in everything, the Gospel of the word is the centre of ALL. 

The Gospel of the word is the centre of the Integral Evangelism of the whole world and every man.

2. There are several forms and methods of evangelism:

Personal, group and mass evangelism. 

That can be done through personal contact one by one, or through preaching inside and outside of the Church to different groups groups of people to an audience using any other methods, like radio, internet, door to door, Bible stands or any other means and also preaching to big audiences what we could call mass evangelism.

Evangelism always includes at the Centre the Gospel of the word, no matter the method or the format we use. 

The foundations of the Gospel that comes from the word of God, must be always presented to people who are listening or meeting us.

Usually all evangelism follows the scheme below composed of 4 stages:

1. Introduction 

Environment preparation.

2. Gospel

Presentation of the Gospel.

3. Decision 

Challenging the person to take a decision

4. Immediate follow up 

Seeking to follow up people who have made a decision or have expressed interest.

If evangelism is personal, this scheme is followed by a personal conversation that includes these 4 steps.

if it is an evangelistic meeting we can use music, acting and testimonies to accompany the preaching and do an appeal for people to take a decision for Christ and then follow up people who had take a decision or had showed interest, by contacting and visiting them and challenging them to start a Bible Study in their home or where ever.

There are also several methods that adapted to the group that we want to achieve. 

You have to look on the Internet for all these methods like for instance:

Explosive Evangelism: 

The Way of the Master: 

The Four Spiritual Laws:

And many other methods.

3. Local, regional, national and cross-cultural evangelism

It is clear that local evangelism is the simplest, since it does not involve the knowledge that one should have of other cultures, customs and languages.

The local Church must have
a strategy of evangelism

Typically speaking, for a church to be effective in local evangelism, it must equip members with a personal evangelism method, so that people can evangelise their families, friends, colleagues, and people living within their communities.

In addition, the local Church must have a strategy of evangelism, where it can include group strategies, and for this to have a program of activities of evangelism. It may include outreach groups that go out into the streets and evangelise houses to neighbouring communities and further afield. Door-to-door literature distribution campaigns. Outdoor meetings. 

Evangelistic meetings within the Church, which may include a film, a music band, a preacher from outside. 

Evangelistic campaigns with teams coming from outside to assist in the local evangelism of the Church. Evenings, lunches and evangelistic breakfasts, meetings of couples and evangelism of adults, young people and children through evangelistic retreats and various events.

The local Church should be as much as possible cooperating with its denomination, convention, and the body of Christ in general during their evangelism, for these larger corporations can help the local Church in many ways.

But Cross-cultural evangelism is more complex!

When we think about cross-cultural evangelism, the local Church will have to associate and cooperate even more with the body of Christ in general in order to be effective in this type of evangelism.

The whole Body of Christ needs the local cells to spread their influence throughout the world. In the same way, local cells need the whole body to be influential. A local Church doesn't need necessarily to be big, but rather to be efficient.

For a local Church to be efficient has to learn to work in cooperation with the whole body. A small local Church that works in cooperation with the body of Christ contributes more to the growth of the world body of Christ than a larger local Church that is working disassociated with the body of Christ's body.

It is for this reason that we should not have much illusions about the mega Churches. They are not helping the Body of Christ to grow as a Whole. They are simply growing up on their own and most often at the expense of other churches. For a church to become "mega" it has to kill many cells in the same way.

Therefore, the local Church can only be effective in prayer and financial contribution for the sending of missionaries and be efficient in sending missionaries if they have a good cooperation with the Universal Body of Christ.

There are many means or strategies that the local Church does not have access to or at its disposal, when speaking of a more distant, more national or cross-cultural evangelism, it needs the help of the body if the local Church wants to get involved in this type of evangelism more distant.

And even in local evangelism, the local Church needs the means and strategies that the Body of Christ possesses and can make available to the local Church.

D. Equipping the Church for Follow-Up and Discipleship

When speaking of immediate follow-up and discipleship, churches have to consider some categories of people and other aspects to consider in the work of accompanying people.

1. Immediate follow-up of interested people.

Following interested people

We have argued that normally all types of evangelism are personal, either group or mass, there is a four-step scheme that we put down again:

1. The Introduction 

Preparing the way for evangelism to take place.

2. The Gospel 

Presentation of the Gospel.

3. The Decision 

Challenging the person for the decision.

4. Immediate follow-up 

Seeking to follow up people who have made a decision or have shown interest.

When we reach the 3rd stage, because we can go through the first stage that is the Introduction and we move on to the 2nd stage in which we present the Gospel, we arrive at the 3rd stage that is the decision, where challenge people to take a decision or we challenge a group of people who are listening to us on the street or at an evangelistic meeting, or reading a post on a website or blog or an article in an evangelical leaflet or newspaper, or are following through a video, movie or even on television.

At this point, after the appeal for a decision, we have to keep in touch with people who have prayed with us or who have shown interest. If the environment is not enough to have personal contact with people, we have to give people the opportunity to respond by filling something that can be sent to us by mail or even by email etc

We must keep in touch with those interested people and seek to follow them using the various means at our disposal.

In the the Explosion Evangelism, after the person prays with us or shows interest, we book a visit a week later. It's what Explosion Evangelism calls "the 7-day visit."

This meeting with people 7 days later is very important. Even if the person has not prayed with us when we challenge him to accept Christ. If people have showed interest, we have to follow them up immediately.

What can we do with the person on the "7-day visit" or immediate follow-up?

We can do a number of things, such as: recapitulate the 4 stages of evangelism and see if the person understands and is willing to make the decision for Christ. 

Or we can propose a Bible study once a week or every 15 days and study 4 to 8 lessons based on Evangelism. The Gospel of John is very good for this or we can study the 4 spiritual laws as well.

These are just a few ideas, but there are many other options, like Alpha Course, Christianity Explored etc  

2. The immediate follow-up of converts

If a person prayed with us or in an evangelistic activity any one filled out a decision form and sent us, or he contacted us referring to the decision he made for Christ, this person has to be followed immediately.

What can we do with the new converts?

Making Disciples

We must begin a basic discipleship course in which we will begin to prepare the person to start living the Christian principles in their daily life, to abandon sin, to read the Bible and to pray every day and to go to a Church, becoming a member of the Church and beginning to learn how to witness for Christ.

If the person follows the first stage of discipleship well, we can begin a deeper discipleship, where we can begin to speak about sanctification, emphasising the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 6) and to teach about the Living Body of Christ (I Corinthians 12 and 14, Romans 12, Ephesians 4: 1-16) so that the person begins to understand what his function in the local Church and the body of Christ and we can begin to teach how the new disciple can be a witness for Christ.

Multiplication of Churches and Multiplication of disciples:

Discipleship does not stop there, but it continues until the person is reproducing fruit, bringing people to Christ, discipleship and preparing them in turn, for the work of the ministry and so we will see Churches born, grow and multiply all over the world.

The multiplication of disciples always leads to the multiplication of churches throughout the world. 

We can never forget that Christ began this work with 12 disciples, and today the Work of Christ has been spread all over the world and gradually penetrate into areas where there is still people who haven't been reached.

This post has been translated from the post on my Portuguese Blog:

https://religiao-filosofia.blogspot.com/2020/04/a-grande-comissao-de-cristo-2.html?m=1

Can women be pastors?

Translated from my Portuguese post:

http://religiao-filosofia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/por-que-mulheres-nao-podem-ser-pastoras.html

This short post in which I expose my position on the ministry of women in the Church was elaborated with the help of this website below:

http://www.cpadnews.com.br/blog/cirozibordi/apologetica-crista/134/why-women-can-be-pastoras.html

Why did not the Lord first formed the woman, and then took one of her ribs to formed the man?

The answer to this question is as follows:

Because God is Sovereign and decided to prioritize man Genesis 2:7,22.

Genesis 2:7,22

7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

22 And of the rib that the Lord God took of the man, he formed a woman, and brought it to Adam.

In Christianity there is no room for machismo and feminism, but Man and Woman must know what the divine principle of priority means.

Machismo adopts the principle of superiority and considers the woman inferior to the man, while feminism diminish the authority of the man.

In the Body of Christ, there is room for both sexes as long as they recognize, in the light of the Scriptures, their position.

Many Christian men need to reconsider their views on women, who, over the centuries have been discriminated.

Authoritarian husbands, who consider themselves superior to their wives, should know that according to the Bible, the relationship between man and woman must be one of mutual respect.

And many sisters in Christ were to accept the doctrine of God about the submission to the husband and fall under the authority of Man in the Church, instead of falling into the doctrine of feminist egalitarianism.

The Bible states in Ephesians 5:24-25:

Ephesians 5:24-25:

24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so also let women be subject to their husbands in everything

25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for her.

The Bible does not support feminist egalitarianism, but neither does it endorse machismo. The term "weaker vessel" in 1 Peter 3: 7 was not used as a synonym for inferiority. It denotes that the woman is more fragile, more sensitive and, therefore, must be loved and honored by her husband Ephesians 5: 25-29.

1 Peter 3:7

7 Likewise, ye husbands, cohabit with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as the weaker vessel; as being your co-heirs of the grace of life; so that your prayers are not hindered.

Ephesians 5: 24-30.

24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so also let women be subject to their husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for her,

26 That he might sanctify her, and purify her with the washing of water by the word,

27 To present to himself a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and blameless.

28 So husbands ought to love their own wives, as to their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

29 For no man hated his own flesh; but nourishes and sustains it, as the Lord also does to the church;

30 For we are members of his body, his flesh, and his bones.

I repeat: the principle that God adopted was that of Priority, not that of Superiority.

And the principle of priority also applies to the exercise of the ministry.

Those who do not accept the biblical principle of priority will inevitably embrace "doctrines of men," such as feminist egalitarianism.

Some theologians, by not finding in the Scriptures clear passages in defensive of the feminine ministry as a Pastor or Elder of the Church, have affirmed that Paul was against to the women, by reason of its pharisaic formation.

If Paul was a sexist, what about Jesus, who chose twelve men to compose the ministry of the rising church?

Was Jesus wrong?

Did Jesus have any ties to Pharisees or Sadducees of his day?

The Bible clearly says that the Lord "called to himself those whom he desired" Mark 3: 13-19 Why did he not call some women to be among his apostles? Why did not you call six couples, for example?

Mark 3:13-19

13 And he went up into the mount, and called for himself those whom he desired; and came to him.

14 And he named twelve that they should be with him, and command them to preach,

15 And that they might have the power to heal sickness and cast out devils:

16 To Simon, whom he called the name of Peter,

17 And to James the son of Zebedee, and to John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges, which means: Children of thunder;

18 And to Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,

19 And to Judas Iscariot, who delivered him up.

In the choice of the first deacons the apostles said, "Choose then, brethren, from among you seven men." Acts 6: 1-3.

Acts 6:1-3

1 Now in those days, as the number of the disciples grew, there was a murmuring of the Greeks against the Hebrews, because their widows were despised in the daily ministry.

2 And the twelve called together the multitude of the disciples, and said, It is not reasonable for us to forsake the word of God, and serve the tables.

3 Choose, then, brethren, among you, seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we have appointed over this important business.

Certainly sisters in the Church can and should serve the tables and care for the needy within the Church. But these 7 men were chosen to have a leading position in this work done within the Church, which was particularly important in those times.

We also see that in the first council, 52 AD (52 years after Christ) the course of the church was traced by men Acts 15: 1-31.

Acts 15:1-2

1 Then some who had come down from Judea taught the brothers thus: If you are not circumcised according to the use of Moses, you can not be saved.

2 When Paul and Barnabas had no small quarrel and strife against them, it was decided that Paul and Barnabas and some of them would go up to Jerusalem, the apostles, and the elders, on that question.

In the Bible there is no reference to women exercising pastoral activities.

Some ask 'and the women who are on the mission field giving their lives for the work of God'?

Can they not exercise the pastorate? "

It is clear that rules always have their exceptions and these women in the first stage of missionary activity carry out top leadership functions.

But this is only until the Church is established, for when it is governed by men, missionary women in obedience to the Bible must withdraw from these leadership functions.

That is why we should not use these exceptional situations to adopt generalizations that compromise the teaching of the Holy Scriptures on this subject.

CONCLUSION OF THE SUBJECT:

My conclusion is this: I think the Bible is very clear in 4 points:

1. The Woman should not be a Pastor in a Church.

2. The Woman should not be an Elder in a Church.

3. The Woman should not be part of the group of preachers who have the responsibility of weekly preaching or teaching the congregation.

4. The Woman should be submissive to the husband who is the head of the couple.

I think these are the 4 main points that constitute the heart or center of the question of woman's position in the Church and in the family.

There is, of course, a broader context around this core (these four points), in which churches should be free to establish what women should and should not exercise as ministries or functions within the Church and in the family, in feminism.

However, always try to observe the principle of the priority that God gave to Man and the principle of mutual respect between Man and Woman established by God.

End