PASTOR’S CORNER, David Hoffman, First Church of the Nazarene, Liberal
On May 8, 1886, Dr. John Pemberton sold the first glass of Coca-Cola for $0.05 at a pharmacy in Atlanta. The Coca-Cola company is now valued at an estimated $90 billion after 139 years, and its logo is known in more than 120 countries or territories, even in the Philippine jungles.
When Jesus ascended back to heaven 40 days after His resurrection, oral tradition says the angels inquired about the future success of His mission to save mankind. Jesus assured them the mission would continue by His chosen disciples despite angelic hesitancy. He had sent the Holy Spirit to guide, instruct, encourage, empower and help them to “go and make disciples” and to witness to humanity. (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8) We have had more than 2000 years to do so.
The Barna Group, who researches the connection between faith and culture, shared a 2018 report that out of 1000 U.S. churchgoers (who have attended within the past six months), 51% said they did not know about the term “the Great Commission.” Furthermore, 82% said they did not know the exact meaning.
At the age of 12, my life was impacted by the inspirational biography of David Livingstone. It shaped my perspective for life to help people. My ambition was to serve as a medical doctor. However, God called me at the age of 14 into Christian ministry. When He asked me to preach for Him, I ran the other direction and I rejected His call for three years. At age 17, I surrendered to His will. He has led me through an incredible journey for 50 years since Oct. 30, 1975.
Livingstone accepted Christ as Savior at age 20. He pursued medicine in Glasgow, Scotland. Initially, he never considered missions work, but he resolved that the salvation of men should be the chief aim of every believer. In 1838, he applied to the London Missionary Society and was accepted. He originally wanted to travel to China, but the Opium War closed the country to England. Then, he met Robert Moffat, who had already served 23 years as a missionary in South Africa. Moffat said, “From where I stand I can see the smoke of 10,000 villages of African tribes who have never heard of Christ.” On Nov. 20, 1840, Livingstone was ordained a missionary and set sail Dec. 8. In correspondence, he wrote, “Cannot the love of Christ carry the missionary where the slave trade carries the trader?” He called Africa the “dark continent” spiritually.
Livingstone traveled 29,000 miles on foot. He added about a million square miles to the map of the continent by charting jungles, lakes, and Victoria Falls. He put down the slave trade and evangelized Africa for 33 years. He suffered unbelievable dangers, since he was attacked by savage beasts and nearly killed. He suffered numerous diseases and fevers. He was menaced by warlike tribes. Yet, he marched on with his Bible, medicine, and maps until his body could go no farther. He was found dead on his knees in a prayer-like position in a crude hut within an obscure village. On April 18, 1874, the body of this traveler, missionary, doctor was committed to its resting place in Westminster Abbey. Nevertheless, his heart was buried in Africa. He wholeheartedly intended to accomplish the Great Commission.
As J. Herbert Kane wrote in “The Christian World Missions,” “To base the world mission of the Christian church solely on the Great Commission [Jesus to His disciples] is to miss the whole thrust of biblical revelation. From Genesis to Malachi Jehovah is portrayed as a missionary God. [and] The Jesus of the New Testament is the Jehovah of the Old Testament.” (p. 16) The missionary mandate is rooted in the very nature and heart of God. Otherwise, Jesus would never have come to Earth in the Incarnation for the purpose of dying on the cross to provide the basis for our salvation.
The church has five functions to fulfill its purpose – worship, teaching, fellowship, service and witness. The church will have all of eternity to worship, fellowship, serve and teach. Witness is the only activity restricted to the life of the church on earth. Acts 1:8 states the goal is to be His witnesses by extending to the ends of the earth as a universal witness.
Our mission is to continue Jesus’s mission! The church is the extension of Christ. Genesis 1:28 is the cultural mandate of humanity. God said, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.” Matthew 28:18-20 is the Gospel mandate. A second attempt is made to bring the entire world (all peoples, nations, ethnic groups) under God’s rule - not by physical/sexual procreation, but by spiritual birth. Salvation is by grace rather than by the human race!
Since more people know about Coca-Cola than about the person of Jesus Christ, our work is not finished. We must take the gospel past the end of the driveway, end of the schools, to our families, and to our community.
Witnessing, simply stated by Jesus, is found in Mark 5:19, “Go home to your family [also friends, coworkers, neighbors] and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” Just tell your story of how Jesus transformed your life. You will feel like you are walking on cloud nine. Leave the results to God. Plant the seed and live your faith.
I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior Feb. 12, 1975 in Hillsboro, Texas, after praying with my Pastor following the midweek service. He forgave my sins and justified me (just-as-if-I’d never sinned) by Jesus’s pardon. He filled my heart with peace and His joyous presence, so that I no longer feared death. Such a contrast since the previous year I spent six days in the hospital with severe infections and truly thought I was dying.
The gospel, or good news of Jesus Christ, is free! However, Jesus paid the costly price by His ultimate, once-for-all-time sacrifice on the cross to reconcile us to God. The Holy Spirit assists us in the Co-Mission, or Great Commission, to tell about Jesus’s life-changing love to the world.
