Don’t try to change the world

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore 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 that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Gospel of Matthew 28:16-20).

Christians know these five verses as “The Great Commission.”

In the Church of Christ, the branch of the Christian family tree on which my leaf grows, these five verses may be the most well-worn words in the Bible.

But even though I heard the elders, preachers, and Sunday school teachers recite the Great Commission week after week for many years, I don’t know if I ever thought about what it really means.

I took its meaning for granted.

But I woke up thinking about the Great Commission today. Well, not really the Great Commission. I woke up thinking about my failures and frustrations as a nonprofit leader.

Stay with me.

After I spent my first year after college in the corporate sector, I made the jump over to nonprofit work and never went back. Next year marks my 20th year in nonprofit leadership.

I’ve worked at big nonprofits and tiny nonprofits. I’ve worked with nonprofits that do career and professional development, community development, education, environmental justice, health care, housing, mental health, senior care, and more.

On days like these, I wake up and wonder: Why did I get into this work?

When other people ask me that, I tell them: “I felt that I was called to it.”

Commissioned to it.

If I were to get into a time machine and go back to Spring 2001, when I took my first nonprofit job, and ask my 25-year old self why, I know he would say: “Because I want to change the world.”

I want to change the world.

If I imposed a little more on my 25-year old self and asked him to explain why he wants to change the world, I know his Church of Christ upbringing would shine through. He would quote Matthew 28:16-20.

You see, listening to the Great Commission all those years impressed on me that it was my job–my commission–to go change the world.

How?

By changing it into a Christian world.

I want to say that, at age 25, I already saw the practice of the Great Commission a lot different than my elders in the Church of Christ. Whereas the generation ahead of me emphasized teaching (knowing certain things), I felt the emphasis should be on practice (doing things that Jesus Christ did). Whereas the generation ahead of me liked to use books and tracts to teach the “Plan of Salvation,” I wanted my life and work to be an open book that showed people what “salvation” looks like.

I wanted to imitate the life of Jesus Christ.

Since the Bible showed Jesus forgiving, healing, restoring, and reviving, I believed I should do the same.

So I went into nonprofit work. It seemed to be the kind of work I could do that would be most like the work Jesus did. I thought that by doing nonprofit work in the Spirit of Jesus, I would change as Jesus commissioned.

But looking back on it now, I saw the world as benighted, degenerate, ignorant, and lost.

And I saw myself coming to save it.

Waking up this morning, I thought about how 20 years in nonprofit work beat this out of me.

I can no more change (“save”) the world than I can change the battery in the TV remote.

And more than one person through the years asked me why I presume to change anyone or anything when I am such an ass myself.

That leads me back to the Great Commission.

It is there in Scripture and the Christ did say it. It is a commission to every person who believes enough in Jesus Christ to try to follow him.

But 20 years in nonprofit work chewed up the Great Commission and spit it back out. As I put the pieces back together, I find new meaning that I could not see before.

First of all, there is nothing in the Great Commission about changing or saving the world. Not one word.

When the Christ says “all authority on heaven and earth has been given to me,” he means that changing the world is none of our business. The power to change the world comes from above and is beyond our control or possession. If you want to change the world, entrust the world to One who can actually change it.

So what is the Great Commission if not to save the world?

Make disciples.

Discipleship is the theme in Matthew 28:16-20. The Christ calls his disciples together and tells them to go make more disciples “of all nations.”

By “all nations,” he does not mean the governments or political powers that control nations; he means “red and yellow black and white.” They are all precious in his sight. Anyone, anywhere can be a disciple of Jesus Christ. The Christ wants to love them all.

But here is the key to understanding the Great Commission: A disciple is not defined by what he or she knows, but by what he or she does not know.

A disciple, by definition, is not someone who has arrived at her destination; she is on a quest. Her journey is not done. She is a disciple precisely because she depends completely on her Teacher to show her the Way day by day.

A disciple knows that he has neither the ability, authority, power, or time to change anyone or anything else because he is a disciple. The only thing a disciple can do is try to be like his Teacher.

When others want to be disciples, too, a disciple can only point to his Teacher and say “be like him.”

So we go into the world humble. I like how the author pointed out that some of the disciples who were present at the Great Commission “doubted” (Matthew 28:17). And these doubters are the people the Christ sent!

What does that tell you about what it means to be a disciple?

It tells me that disciples are, by their nature, incomplete. Works in progress. Knowing just enough to hang around with the Christ, but not enough to settle all their doubts.

The Great Commission, then, is an invitation to let the One who has all authority and power change you in his own time and in his own way. It is to trust that he will complete the work that he started in you (Philippians 1:6).

It is also to trust that the same love that is changing you is the love that will change others, too.

But how others change or what they become is none of your business.

Now almost halfway through my nonprofit career, I am no longer doing this work to “change the world.” That is a presumption for young people to make. Rather, I am here to be changed by my Teacher and to be faithful with whatever he entrusts to me today.

I do still live as one who follows the Great Commission.

But I no longer hear it as a call to save the world by giving an ultimatum (“subscribe and submit to this system of beliefs and practices or else!”).

Rather, I hear the Great Commission as a reminder of how the Christ is so good to me. So true and so trustworthy as he gives me life and love today.

And as one who is grateful and humbled by this grace the Christ lavishes on me, I say to others with a gentle smile: “There is plenty more love where this came from. I would love to keep you company as you find your own way with the Christ. Why not give him a try?” (Psalm 34:8).

Grace and peace.