One of the things I have noticed as I have the opportunity to hear different preachers, especially throughout the Southern Baptist Convention, is that they frequently focus on the Great Commission. In fact, the Great Commission is said to be one of the founding pillars of the SBC. On the front of many churches is a statement similar to, “We are a Great Commission church.” Is that wrong? Is it wrong to say we are a Great Commission church, or we are a Great Commission denomination?

I would like to answer that two different ways. In one very real sense, of course it is not wrong to say that we are a Great Commission people. We should be about preaching the gospel. We should be about winning people to Christ. We should be about discipling believers (the translation “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” is a relatively poor one; a more accurate reading of the original language is “Go therefore and disciple all nations,” signifying an ongoing relationship with those we lead to Christ, not just a one-time gospel presentation). Discipling all nations as a result of our uncontainable joy in Christ is good thing, an exciting thing.

As right as that is, it is important to note that Jesus did not refer to the Great Commission by that name. Certainly we should heed His words here as we do all of His teachings, but there is something we’re missing if the only thing we focus on as Christians or as a denomination is the Great Commission. We miss out on what Christ Himself called the Greatest Commandment. “‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these? (Mark 12:29-31 ESV).

The Great Commandment should be at the very core of everything we do. Our love for God should guide our thoughts, discussions, and actions. And as a result of our love for God, we should love our neighbors with everything we have. I submit to you that the greatest way we can love our neighbors is to share the good news of Christ’s gospel with them. There are other ways to love them, for sure: feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, crying with the hurting, laughing with the rejoicing. But the greatest way of loving them is to lead them to the One Who will make them supremely happy. So the Great Commission is fully encompassed within the Great Commandment. Because of that, I would rather major on the things that Jesus majored on. And doing so requires we refocus ourselves on the Great Commandment.

Tex, over at Edwards, Spurgeon, Ryle and Friends, quotes J. C. Ryle on the Great Commandment:

Do we love God with all our heart, and soul, and strength, and mind? Do we love our neighbor as ourselves? Where is the person that could say with perfect truth, “I do?” Where is the man that ought not to lay his hand on his mouth, when he hears these questions? Verily we are all guilty in this matter! The best of us, however holy we may be, come far short of perfection. Passages like this, should teach us our need of Christ’s blood and righteousness. To Him we must go, if we would ever stand with boldness at the bar of God. From Him we must seek grace, that the love of God and man may become ruling principles of our lives.