Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, "I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!" Luke 19: 8 (NLT)
The response from Jesus was that salvation had come to him this day. The answer from Zacchaeus is a word picture of regeneration of the heart that is supposed to occur at salvation. It represented the change that has to occur in all of us. What mattered to Zacchaeus in his sinful life were money and cheating people. Once saved, what mattered was using his ill gotten gains to help the poor and correcting past wrongs. How important is baptizing people?
For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. Galatians 3: 26-27 (NLT)
Baptism unites us with Christ. We take off the clothes of our old life and put on the new clothes of Christ. It is symbolic yes, but also very practical. Because our old life often does not give up without a fight. But we as Christians are to go and get out of our comfort zone. We are to make disciples who make disciples who make disciples. We are to baptize believers so that they can bury their old life in the death of Jesus Christ and become resurrected with Him into the new life He has for them.
And lastly, we are to teach. We are not commanded to teach them the latest schemes to draw people. We are not commanded to teach them how to be purpose driven or seeker friendly. We are simply to teach them to observe all that Jesus has commanded us. As Paul's days on earth were winding down, he tried one last time to reach his people, the Jewish people, with the Gospel. The Book of Acts records that Paul called together the local Jewish leaders to try and explain why he believed that the hope of Israel, the Messiah, had already come in the form of Jesus Christ.
So a time was set, and on that day a large number of people came to Paul's lodging. He explained and testified about the Kingdom of God and tried to persuade them about Jesus from the Scriptures. Using the law of Moses and the books of the prophets, he spoke to them from morning until evening. Some were persuaded by the things he said, but others did not believe. And after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: "The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet, 'Go and say to this people: When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes--so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.' So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it." For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him, boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him. Acts 28: 23-31 (NLT)
Even when death was approaching, Paul kept on teaching. The results he experienced are what we can expect too. Some will be persuaded and others will not. Realize that when someone is not persuaded it is God they are rejecting, not you.
Being a Christian is not designed to be a noun. We are meant to be action verbs with our beliefs. The Great Commission is for all of us. Not everyone has the same role or the same gifting. Some may "go" further than others. Some may be better at "making" disciples and "baptizing." Others may be called to "teach" more. But the notion that all of us cannot do something, serve some role, and carry out the Great Commission is simply not accurate. If you can tell people what God has done for you, then you can "go", "make", "baptize" and "teach." But it always starts with a choice. We choose to be a noun or we choose to be an action verb. Choose wisely today.
Reverend Anthony Wade August 22, 2011
