Understanding the Great Commission

Church Basics

by Jonathan Leeman, Mark Dever

God means to fulfill the Great Commission through local churches.  How did the apostles and the churches of the New Testament obey the Great Commission? By gathering Christians together in churches. The church is God’s plan for evangelism, discipleship, and the Great Commission. This connection between the Great Commission and the church dramatically impacts how both leaders and members should think about their work of making disciples. We do it together.

Genres: Ecclesiology, Church, Christian, Theology, Evangelism, Christian Living, Discipleship

61 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 15, 2016

About the author

JONATHAN LEEMAN is the editorial director of 9Marks, which involves him in editing the 9Marks series of books as well as the 9Marks Journal. He has written a number of books on the church, including Reverberation, and he teaches theology at several seminaries. Jonathan lives with his wife and four daughters in a suburb of Washington, DC and serves as an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington. You can learn more about him and his writing at www.9Marks.org.

Reviews

[Joseph Potts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book that shows the importance of church’s in the great commission

[Bobby James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wish I could give it 3.5 stars. It’s in between for me. Much of the material is a repeat from other 9 Marks books on church polity and membership. But I appreciate Dever’s brief yet careful walkthrough of Acts and seeing how the Apostles themselves understood how to fulfill Matthew 28:19-20. That is, “The local church is the normal means God has given us to fulfill the Great Commission.” (5)

[David Shoemaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very helpful in understanding how the Great Commission is carried not on the backs of individual Christians but on the back of local churches. This is a very helpful book for this day in age when Christians are trying to do everything apart from the church, but we must do everything by the church because that is how God designed it for His glory and our good.

[Derric · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The local church is the normal means God has given us to fulfill The Great Commission.”

Good and helpful. As the local church and its centrality to the mission is the main point, there are also many good sub-points that help understand church authority and church polity. I recommend reading it.

[Mark D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I suggest this entire series for church leaders. I also suggest that you make them available to your congregation. In Understanding the Great Commission, Dever encourages the church to take the Gospel to the world. A couple of quotes I loved. "We need to quit being so turfy about our churches, and look for ways to promote the gospel's advance throughout our cities, including other churches. Also Dever addressed an issue which he faces as pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. He relates that a problem the church faces is the transient membership. Many people live in DC for a few years and move on. Instead of worrying about that condition, he said that as a church they have "embraced the transience." "We asked ourselves, assuming we have a person for two to four years, what's all the content for the Christian life we want to put in his or her backpack?" I love this thought. As a pastor of a church in rural Ky, where most teenagers leave for college and never return, I am thinking of embracing the situation instead of bemoaning it. I think I will lead our church to prepare our young people to be the best Christians they can be to help the new church they will go to when they move to a more progressive community.

[Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, Biblical, and Practical

This is the first book in the Church Basics series that I have read, but I’m excited to read the others. This book is short and easy to read. It is biblical, but also accessible. It is incredibly practical and intentional, with a plethora of examples of what Mark Dever and Capitol Hill Baptist Church do to advance Jesus’ kingdom throughout all nations.

[Kyla Schooling · Rating 4 out of 5]

This small volume is part of the Church Basics series and addresses the topic of the Great Commission. Probably the most important point of the book is that the Great Commission is not the task of individuals working alone, but rather members of a church body working together. It is a very informative and quick read.

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mostly good overview of the great commission and the Christian's responsibility to fulfill it. As Dever shows, this begins first with the church and moves outward from there. This is pretty much a broken down and slimmed up version of Dever's "The Gospel and personal evangelism."

[Esther Kim Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thought-provoking

I have never seen Great Commission in light of the author's explanation (corporate local church planting vs. individual evangelism). Awesome read!

[Jordan Shelvock · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 9 marks guys just have a way of making big concepts seem easy and obvious. Especially when it comes to practically living out what you believe.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second time I have read this book and I know I will go back and read it again. It is a quick read and a great reminder of how to obey the Great Commission today in our churches.

[Nate Weis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these little books. Can be read in a few hours and are filled with vital content.

[Ashley McKnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, concise primer to the Great Commission and the role of the local church in it.

[Jay Budzilowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise and Helpful

--- Great insight on how the local church is to fulfill the the great commission.---- -- -- -- -- --

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read, putting into a nutshell of our (Christians) responsibility associated with the Great Commission.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, nothing earth shaking, meaning it sticks prety well to Biblical truths.

[Alan Giles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read. Most of the material is also covered in his other works. This is a great starting point for investigating the church’s call as a whole to fulfilling the great commission.

[Emma Schramm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in preparation for a church missions trip and found it helpful, concise, practical, and short.

[Caroline McGill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple, clear, and profoundly helpful, especially if you want to think wisely about church planting, and building up other churches.

[Ryan Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will help re-train your instincts to see fulfilling the Great Commission as something we do through the church, not just individually.

[Luke Schmeltzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good little book on how the Great Commission is accomplished in and through the local church.

[Ben Wales · Rating 5 out of 5]

This booklet presents the Great Commission not as a mission for individuals but through the operation of the local church.

[Joel Rockey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Concise but good.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good reminder to not be a spiritual lone ranger, but to value and be involved in the local church.

[Jennifer Putney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good reminder that the Church is important, and we're not supposed to play the lone wolf in our Christian life.

[Pedro.Lopes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uma leitura agradável, clara e encorajadora que nos motiva a levar o Evangelho às nações através do ministério da Igreja Local.

[Jónatas Rafael Lopes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Livro interessante embora sendo muito pequeno.
É apenas um aperitivo.

[Chris Caldwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a helpful helpful orientation of the long-term strategy of any church.

[Shane Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

2020 reads: 36/52

Rating: 4 stars

How did the apostles and the churches of the New Testament obey the Great Commission? By gathering Christians together in churches. The church is God’s plan for evangelism, discipleship, and the Great Commission.

Dever offers a really helpful and brief introduction to how churches should go about understanding and obeying the Great Commission (see Matt. 28:18-20).

Dever rightly locates the Jesus' commission in the local church whose task it is to faithfully preach the word and make disciples; this is what the apostles did with Jesus' command.

Vital to faithfully obeying this commission is healthy leadership and membership (i.e. congregational responsibility).

This is a great read for a new Christian who perhaps doesn't see the importance of the local church in God's plan of mission.

[Michael Abraham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished reading this for the second time. For the most part there are no surprises in this booklet. Mark Dever argues that “the Great Commission is normally fulfilled through planting and growing local churches." Churches planting churches, churches sending missionaries to plant more churches, churches partnering to strengthen other churches... no surprises there.

But at the end of the book, in a book about the Great Commission, Dever leaves the reader a bit confused. He says, "staying in our culture is often the countercultural thing to do, especially among the younger generation. With all the career and educational transitions that characterize modern urban life, the radical thing to do for some will be to stay in one place for decades."

Now I actually agree with Dever's argument. But the inclusion of this at the end of a book on the Great Commission–a commission that includes the bold command "go" in it–seems misplaced at best.