Stay Focused!

By Tim and Stephanie Shewey 

The Great Commission (Matt. 28:16-20) are one of my life verses.  It’s what spurred me to want to become a missionary.

God commanded us to make disciples.  I said, “Yes, Lord,” then devoted the rest of my life to fulfill this mission.  At Launch (a training and time of refreshment at WorldVenture), we learned about so many important things to help us plan and prepare for a life of ministry.  But what has been resonating the most in my mind lately from that training is, “Make disciples…stay focused on making disciples.”

In one of our lessons, we learned about all the different ways we can get distracted from our ministry: sickness, family issues, busyness of life, etc.  Other ways could be in even doing good things for the people we’re trying to reach like feeding the homeless, building wells, providing resources, etc.  Doing these things are all good and well, but unless we’re making disciples while we’re at it, these acts of goodwill are essentially meaningless.  Why?

Because all these things we do to help others will ultimately fade away.  The ways we meet people’s physical needs will eventually come to an end, and there will always be more people who need help.  We can’t help everybody, and the work we do can never be satisfied.  We can continue to help others with their more immediate needs, but ultimately our focus should be in making disciples for greater impact.

Eventually, all of us will die.  I hate to be grim, but that’s a truth we can all agree on and that no one is exempt from.  However, the Bible states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life,” (John 3:16).  Sharing the Gospel (the Good News of Jesus Christ) with others, discipling them in the Word, mentoring and empowering them to do the same is service with an everlasting outcome.  Making disciples who’ll have eternal life in Jesus is work that will be satisfied.  Because he is, “…the way and the truth and the life…” (John 14:6).

Jesus is LIFE.

And unfortunately, billions of people in the world don’t know this!  It is our mission to tell others about Jesus and make disciples who’ll make disciples.  We were commanded to do so.

Discussion Questions:

On your social media, answer one of the following questions. Or, you can leave a comment. 

• Define the Great Commission and why it’s important for the church to send missionaries.
• Examine your ministries. In what areas do you need to do better at disciple-making?