If our philosophies and methodologies of Christian ministries and missions were developed from the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20, what would they be?
It is a well-known fact that the Greek text of Matthew 28:19-20 does not include an imperative verb that must be translated "go." Instead, the Greek text has a participle from which the command to go has been translated.
What if Matthew 28:19-20 were not translated with a command to go? What difference might this make in our philosophies of church and missions ministries? What effect might it have on world evangelism? Would evangelizing the world be a more attainable, or less attainable, goal?
The verb that is translated "go" (if transliterated exclusively from the English alphabet and without accent marks) is "poreuthente" which is an aorist particle of "poreuo." In A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Second Edition, Copyright 1958, page 692, the lexicographers make this double-pronged comment: "The aorist participle (of poreuo) is often used pleonastically to enliven the narrative . . . in any case the idea of going or traveling is not emphasized."
Referring to the root verb, and not to the aorist participle in particular, , also on page 692, the lexicographers describe two other ways that the verb is used: (1) "conduct oneself, live, walk" and (2) "of life generally" (page 692).
Why then is Matthew 28:19 translated "go," as if the Greek New Testament included an explicit command to go? It may be because of the command to disciple all nations. However, the command to disciple all nations may not have been given to command "going."
Instead of issuing a command to go, Jesus may have been emphasizing that the Gospel is for all nationalities, not just the descendants of Abraham. As we read the book of Acts, we see that the early Jewish believers had a hard time accepting the fact that the Gospel was for the Gentiles, too.
An expanded paraphrase of the first part of verse 19, based solely on the lexical information provided above, might read somewhat as follows:
"In whatever land you may have been born, wherever you may live now, whether your Lord leaves you where you are or sends you to a distant land, whether you are a missionary, a pastor, or work at a secular job, as a habitual pattern of life, make disciples. . . ."
Editorial Note: In an earlier uploading, I asked: "What would be the implications of basing a new translation of Matthew 28:19-20 on the lexical information given above, in which there is no command to go?
In answer to my question, and prior to the paraphrase proposed above, a respondent in Quebec replied: " . . . it seems that an inappropriate emphasis is placed on the meaning of a single term as concerns the admonition of the total sentence and its setting."
Let's leave the participle (that is usually translated as a command to go), and consider the verb that is translated, "disciple" (or "teach" KJV).
Copyright 1997 by Wendell E. Miller
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Proceed to Rethinking The Great Commission: Part II
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