YOUR MISSION …

… SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT

Written by MayBell Developments – April 30th, 2021

If you’ve ever watched Mission Impossible you know this means accepting the challenge to meet some very demanding and even life-threatening goals.  However, before Hollywood snagged the “mission” term it was Biblical.  

Biblical Mission

That’s right, The Great ComMISSION is our mission, should we choose to accept it, given by God.  Mirriam-Webster defines commission as an authorization or command to act in a prescribed manner or to perform prescribed acts.  So what exactly are we being authorized or commanded to do?

Our mission is made of one imperative verb and three participles.  We can think of the imperative as the “What?” and the participles as the “How?” 

The four verbs in this commanding statement are: Go, Disciple, Baptize, and Teach.

Often we read God’s commission to us in the order it is written as we would read it in the English language.

GO! – imperative/what verb

Discipling – participle/how verb

Baptizing – participle/how verb

Teaching – participle/how verb

You may find it interesting that this is NOT how it is meant to be read in Greek.  In the Greek language “DISCIPLE!” is the imperative verb.  

DISCIPLE! – imperative/what verb

Going – participle/how verb

Baptizing – participle/how verb

Teaching – participle/how verb

We are authorized and commanded to DISCIPLE.  Going, baptizing, and teaching simply tell how we are to disciple others.  

Let’s briefly talk about what it means to disciple others.  We can define discipling by discussing those three participles.  

Going – This does not translate, as many believe, exclusively into going on trips or evangelizing in distant places.  Rather it means to tell others about Jesus as you go about your everyday life. 

Disciple everywhere.

Baptizing – You may be thinking “I’m not a pastor. I can’t baptize anyone.”  Baptizing here means to help others as they publicly affirm their faith in Jesus as they become disciples.

Disciple publicly.

Teaching – So you’ve been telling others about Jesus, creating disciples, but “Discipling” doesn’t just end after a disciple has publicly affirmed Jesus.  We must continue to build relationships with these young disciples, growing together in our love and obedience to Jesus Christ.

Disciple always. 

Adapted from “Greek-Geeking the Great Commission in Matthew” by Kenny Burchard, https://thinktheology.org/2013/11/07/greek-geeking-the-great-commission-in-matthew/

MayBell’s Mission

As a Christian organization, MayBell follows Jesus, including his commands in The Great Commission. 

We disciple others right where we are in our community and as we develop communities of belonging.  

We empower others to publicly affirm their faith in Jesus and to grow and strengthen their voices over time.

We teach and build relationships with others over long periods of time and are dedicated to walking with them all of their lives.

MayBell Developments is dedicated to developing communities of belonging that empower the vulnerable to discover the wholeness of life that Christ has offered.

Here’s the most important part, “we” does NOT imply only the board and staff members of MayBell; “others” does NOT imply only our participants.  Both “we” and “others” are everyone remotely associated with MayBell, including board members, staff, leaders (participants), allies (volunteers), donors, instructors, etc.

Your Mission

Do what we are all called to do Biblically, DISCIPLE! as you go by baptizing and teaching.   We would love for you to disciple, and be discipled, alongside us at MayBell but are excited to see you disciplining as you go about your daily life.

So, let’s get involved in discipling, empowering, teaching, and building relationships with each other!