(Part 2) The Great Re-Commissioning
The Great Dechurching doesn't have to be the end of the story. It could be the painful prologue to the Great Re-Commissioning.
A moment when we got honest about what wasn't working, returned to Jesus and his actual plan, and said with renewed conviction: "For God's sake, let's do something brave."
(Part 2) The Great Re-Commissioning
"In sending out his trainees, Jesus set afoot a perpetual world revolution. That revolution continues today, or at least it should."
Last week, we looked at the sobering reality of the Great Dechurching…forty million people walking away from the American church in the last twenty-five years. We diagnosed the problem: (remember the cup factory?) we've been optimizing for something other than what Jesus actually commissioned us to make.
But diagnosis without prescription is just despair. How do we step forward from this point?
The Refreshingly Great Commission
When we get lost amidst our own plans, Jesus is our north star. Let's get refreshed on what Jesus actually said his plan and mission was:
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)
Notice what the target is?
Not converts.
Not church attendees.
Not "believers" in some abstract sense.
—> Disciples.
Disciples are the target. People who are apprentices of Jesus. Students learning his way of being human. Folks who don't only apply his sacrifice to their eternal destiny but actually take up their cross to follow him. This looks like caring about what he cares about, talking to the type of people he talked to, carrying the values he carried, proclaiming the same good news of the kingdom that he proclaimed. It means being a student, a learner, of Jesus.
This is our target and commission: that these students of Jesus would then carry on the work to multiply and train up other students of Jesus.
As Dallas Willard put it: "In sending out his trainees, Jesus set afoot a perpetual world revolution." That revolution continues today, or at least it should, until He returns to make all things new.
It’s amazing that, until His return, Jesus chose to accomplish this redeeming work with and through us. As we carry out Jesus’ Great Commission, we get to be part of the answer to his prayer "your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven."
But we can only do that if we're actually clear on our target. The church is only being obedient to Jesus’ Great Commission if we are making disciples of Jesus who also take up His commission to make disciples.
What Would Wesley Do?
I've been reading John Wesley's journals lately. (See? Stats and dead guys' diaries. I'm a real catch.) I’ve been amazed at the similarity of his context to our cultural moment. While institutional Christianity was declining (see previous article), the spirit of God was stirring in the hearts of men and women. John Wesley saw this moment for renewal, and along with many others, began to put in place intentional structures of Jesus-centered disciple-making. Instead of being a flash in the pan, England began to see this moment of renewal become a revival.
Wesley famously said, "The whole world is my parish." For him, the work of carrying out the Great Commission was not simply about making ‘better’ Christians, Bible studiers, or seeking church renewal for its own sake—he yearned for the transformation of society. I serve the world as I help form Jesus-shaped disciples. As one of my mentors used to say: "It's not revival until the crime rate goes down."
In Wesley's England, society was on the brink of civil war. But because of the faithful proclamation of the biblical gospel…and crucially, because of an intentional, planned discipleship process to fulfill the Great Commission in his day…marriages lasted longer, children began going to school instead of the workshop, prisons were reformed, and slavery was abolished. Society was transformed by Jesus-shaped disciples. As Jesus intended, heaven was breaking through to Earth with and through those trained up as Jesus’ apprentices.
Wesley put up a sail and caught the wind the Spirit was stirring.
We stand at a similar moment.
From Dechurching to Re-Commissioning
What would it look like, in this moment, to be good stewards of our moment? What would it look like to be “Re-Commissioned” by Jesus’ Great Commission? To put up our sails to catch the wind the Spirit is sending?
First, it’d look like getting painfully clear on what gospel we're preaching. Not just what we say in our doctrinal statements, but what people are actually hearing. What gospel is implied by our metrics, our strategies, our success celebrations? What gospel undergirds our invitations? Are we chasing the goal of more converts to a religious system or church brand, or are we daily driven by the goal of more disciples of Jesus?
Going further, are we proclaiming only Jesus the Sacrifice, leaving out his life, teachings, his call, resurrection, and ascension…not to mention the entirety of what he proclaimed? Or are we proclaiming the gospel of Jesus the King, who invites us, through his death and resurrection and the giving of His Spirit, into freedom from our sins and freedom for his kingdom life and mission right now? This is a gospel that calls for us not only to say a prayer, but to pick up our cross and follow Him for the sake of the world.
(Side note: This is a nuanced, sacred, and serious work at the core of who we are, and it takes time to unravel then jettison the cultural gospels we’ve inherited to fully rediscover the Biblical gospel in all of its beauty. This article won’t do it. You need time, discerning prayer, coaching, and a deep dose of ‘nose in Scripture’. This is one central work of our cohorts.)
Second, it’d look like reorienting our churches, Christian organizations, ministries, and lives around the actual Great Commission. Obeying Jesus’ call to be a disciple (and make disciples) is not a nice add-on for the extra-spiritual folks, but as the organizing principle. What if every new believer was immediately oriented not first to our systems or brands or processes, but to Jesus himself—his teachings, his way, his mission?
(Getting practical, here’s a good check: How long does it take in your church’s pipeline for a new believer to actually sit with a Gospel open, learning from Jesus, and having someone intentionally teach them ‘everything He has commanded us’?
My hunch? Doctrine, theology, membership, ‘how to get involved’ etc. are great things that can come later. Start with Jesus as the cornerstone and everything else will build correctly.)
Third, it’d look like being apprentice-makers before program-builders. Jesus didn't say "create systems and factories that produce disciples." He said "You go make disciples." Yes, we need structures and curricula and processes. These can be great and helpful things. (Intentional infrastructure is necessary…just look at Wesley’s societies, classes, and bands!) But, these should be built to serve the relationships, not replace them. No silver bullets. No one-size-fits-all solutions. Faithful people empowered to help others follow Jesus in and for their specific contexts.
Fourth, and this is crucial, it’d look like empowering every disciple to carry out the Great Commission, not just pastors and professionals. The Great Commission was given to eleven ‘believer-doubters’ (the Greek in Matthew 28:17 lacks ‘some’...it actually says they "worshiped, and they doubted”). Talk about an incomplete team. Yet that mission given to these eleven transformed the world. Every disciple gets to carry this commission. Every follower of Jesus is called to make disciples. Pastor, if you are the only person responsible for making disciples in your church…you aren’t actually making disciples. You’re just really busy.
(A helpful check: where, in your context, are you giving your people the opportunity to practice making disciples?)
A Final Word
Here's what keeps me up at night: I'm nervous that we'll miss this beautiful, Spirit-gifted moment. That the next generation will walk through our doors looking for Jesus and we'll hand them a membership packet instead. That we'll optimize our systems, polish our brands, and completely miss the King who's knocking. These windows of stirring don’t last forever. It will soon close.
But I'm convinced that if we can help leaders—pastors, ministry workers, kingdom-minded thinkers—rediscover the why (the gospel of the kingdom), redefine the what (disciples, not just converts), and reimagine the how (contextualized, relational, Jesus-centered processes)... then we might just see that perpetual world revolution Jesus set in motion 2,000 years ago continue in the Western world in our generation.
The Great Dechurching doesn't have to be the end of the story. It could be the painful prologue to the Great Re-Commissioning…a moment when we got honest about what wasn't working, returned to Jesus and his actual plan, and said with renewed conviction:
"For God's sake, let's do something brave."
Brothers and sisters, may we be good stewards of this moment. May we raise the sails to catch the wind while it's blowing. May we tend to the fire of renewal rather than just managing the machinery.
And may the next generation walk into our churches and actually find Jesus.
