Contrary to popular opinion, the Great Commission does not begin with “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel.” The Great Commission begins with “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and in earth.” Before Jesus gives the Great Commission, He reminds us the Apostles [that] ultimately the Great Commission is His. He is the One with the ability to build the church, and He is the One who must do it through us. I love the words of Michael Horton here: The Great Commission begins with the Great Announcement."(1) Only by believing in the sufficiency of the God of the Great Announcement will we ever have the confidence to attempt bold things for the Great Commission. Jesus did not tell us to build His church, and to let Him know when we needed some help. He told us that He would build His church, and He will tell us how He wants to use us in that mission. That’s a big difference.

We often talk as if God has asked us to take over His job as it relates the salvation and healing of the world. Saying we will “eradicate world poverty,” “build the Kingdom of God,” and “finish the Great Commission” is to speak as if we were deity. “Faithfulness” is language more befitting of creatures and servants. Certainly, God commissions us to work faithfully for His kingdom and to do our part. But this is not the same as taking upon ourselves the weight of what God has said that He alone can do. At one point the Psalms, God even tells David to “be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations.”(2) The completion of His purposes on earth is a responsibility He takes upon Himself, and there is a time to be still and reflect on that.

In other words, responding to the needs of the poor and giving to the Great Commission are secondary matters for us. Our first response is to God. What has God given to us, and what is a faithful response? In light of how generous God has been to us, and the needs of the poor and the lost in our world, what should we do with the time and money He has given to us?  Faithfulness and response are the responsibilities of servants.

So, meditate on the humbling but liberating truth that “God doesn’t need you.” But then, think about how generous God has been with you and how great the needs in the world are. Do you not eagerly desire to be used by God in His rescue operation? Do you not yearn, like David did, for the grace that has been given to you to come to others? Do you not want the resources that God has placed in your hands to be used to bring help, healing and salvation to others? If so, you will find yourself saying naturally, with Isaiah and the earliest Apostles, “Here am I, Lord, send me!”

Have you ever offered yourself to God in grateful response for His grace and asked Him to use you to bring healing and salvation to the millions dying body and soul apart from God?

What are you doing in response to Jesus and what He’s done for you? When you stand before Jesus on that final day, what will you point to and say, “That, King Jesus… that is what I sacrificed as a response to what you gave up for me.” Will you feel good, on that day, with what you have to offer?

(1) http://www.modernreformation.org/default.php?page=articledisplay&var1=ArtRead&var2=1201&var3=main

(2) Psalm 46:10"