Introduction
It’s been a long time since I’ve done any blogging, primarily because I was immersed in writing The Kingdom Election along with a rewrite of my first book published in 1995, The Pass(ed)over Table [originally The Lost Supper]. But, as is always so with God, He has been doing “new things” in my life relating to “the book” [what I will call The Kingdom Election in this series] and where He has taken me since. Let me begin by saying that due to the time that has passed I realize many of you may not wish to renew the connection or some new folks I’ve added may want to bail as well. It’s all good! Please feel free to let me know and I will be happy to remove your name from the list.
I write this in the firm belief that everything that will impact you in the coming times, how you perceive and thus react, and whether or not you “endure to the end to be saved” (Matt. 24, Mark 13) will depend on your understanding and “election” of the kingdom in which you spiritually live and operate. If you are not absolutely sure of whether you’re a citizen of the kingdom of man and religion, the kingdom of heaven on earth, or you’re attempting dual citizenship [sadly the case with most occupying pews in Western Christianity today], I urge you to read the book for it will help you understand the kingdoms and their differences so you can better make that critical election.
Truly the words, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” were the most important nine words ever spoken, especially how they relate to the days I believe we now live in Jesus referred to as “The Birth Pangs” (Matt. 24). That said, let’s press into this five part series that hopefully will help you establish your identity in the most important environment of all: the body of Christ!
The Great Commission, Apostles, Shepherds, and Sheep!
In the book I talk about all the teaching today concerning the importance of our kingdom identity, but even more important than discovering our individual identity is discovering our identity in God’s church. It’s no shame to admit you may be struggling with that. Until I came to understand what I will relate in this series, I spent 45 years as an active follower of Jesus with a mistaken identity, so don’t be afraid to admit you’re not sure. Better to approach the question humbly and unsure than being sure of a false identity. The Lord is always about His people gathered, far moreso than what individuals may do. The Bible breaks who we are and where we best fit the body into apostles, shepherds [including elders, deacons, and pastors for they serve essentially the same function] or sheep. There is perhaps nowhere better to understand this than in the light of our place in the Great Commission. Jesus said,
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you…”
(Matt. 28).
Breaking this down, I believe there are three roles in fulfilling it occupied by three groups: Apostles, shepherds, and sheep. He begins by stating the goal: the making of disciples, Then He breaks is down to those who go out baptizing, then those who follow up with teaching. Together, they represent the way to the goal. It’s obvious that the Apostles were to be the ones going into all the world evangelizing and baptizing, while the shepherds would be responsible for the disciple making. The sheep are not mentioned here, but as we will see in later articles, they do indeed play a huge role in the forwarding of the Gospel.
I never understood these delineations until a very wise friend said to me shortly after the book was published, “Do you realize one of the greatest deceptions Satan has perpetrated upon the church is the Great Commission being commanded of all who follow Christ?” Having been a Great-Commission-kind-of-guy for over 40 years, in utter stunned amazement I thought, “What? How can you say such a thing???” He then challenged me to look at when, and to whom, He gave that command and asked me to find who exactly was tasked with it.
I thought, “Oh dude, you are so on!” knowing this would bug the heck out of me until I discovered the answers. So, I went back and reread the entire NT to see if my friend was right and came to an entirely new understanding that there were three groups and how they all fit. I discovered that, yes, we are all involved to some extent in fulfilling the Great Commission, but in completely different ways! The revelations that came to me, including concerning myself, amazed me!
When Jesus walked the earth, there were thousands who followed Him around—some quite devotedly—listening to His sermons and beholding His miracles. And yet, He selected only 12 for intimate fellowship. These were the apostles and He treated them very differently from the far larger group I refer to as the sheep. He never mentioned the Great Commission in all His sermons to the sheep or the “hundreds” He appeared to after His resurrection. The Bible says very different things about the way the three are to impact their worlds for Christ and I have come to believe, as my friend proposed, we have done a great disservice to the sheep by telling them the moment they are saved, without any discernment as to what their true purpose is, that their calling in life is to fulfill this mandate.
It was only to His hand-picked apostles after His resurrection that this message, along with His command in Acts 1:8, was delivered and that because He had specifically chosen, and then spent three years intensively preparing them. Likewise, Paul spent the same three-year period in Arabia after his conversion, yet before He was entrusted with all he accomplished as an apostle for the kingdom. Coincidence? The fact remains Jesus never mentioned the Great Commandment to the thousands—only the twelve.
We must be getting something wrong in our application of the Great Commission seeing as, according to all of their own polls, approximately 5% of “evangelical Christians” seem to have an authentic, life-giving walk with Jesus and why 95% don’t. Oh, people are getting saved but the whole “making disciples” thing just isn’t working. In the book I discuss Jesus’ one and only mission while on this earth was to “the lost sheep of the House of Israel” (Matt. 10, 15) and discuss how history seems to have repeated itself today. While there are many reasons, I believe one of the most influential ones involves the difference between these three groups and how our message to the sheep concerning the Great Commission has indeed left them “lost in their Father’s House” once again.
When we tell people immediately after conversion [then “sheep”] their calling is to “go into the world baptizing and making disciples of all nations,” they dutifully run off and try though they haven’t yet spent three weeks with Jesus. They are wholly unequipped, and probably uncalled and unanointed, but they’ve been told it’s what they were saved to do. Failure inevitably ensues for most [shall we say 95%?], and they determine they’ll not do that again. They then surrender such responsibilities to “the full-time ministers” thereby rendering themselves lost churchgoers concerning what role, if any, they are to play.
Mind you, I am not saying the sheep are not to witness or to even disciple, for Hebrews 5 indicates that after a period of time we are to all leave the cradle and become teachers to some extent. I’m also not saying there haven’t been any new apostles since NT times. There have been many, but if you look at the biblical percentage for the number of them compared to the sheep, it hovers around .045%. I propose that just as a false command to the sheep is leading to the tragic polling numbers we see, so also a false calling among those who consider themselves apostles and elders is, for there are nowhere near as many truly called as our number of pulpits would indicate.
When you have sheep getting wrong commands from unanointed, misguided pseudo-shepherds you get—well you get—95% of them who are lost in the church. These tragic results reveal that by no means does a certificate from a Seminary guarantee apostleship, or even eldership. The guys who had the certificates on their walls in Jesus’ day were largely to blame for those lost sheep and couldn’t have gotten the message more wrong!
Here is the smashing point I will set out to prove in this series: there is a difference between how apostles, shepherds, and sheep are to operate concerning the ministering of the Great Commission, and how these differences have been misunderstood and misapplied has everything to do with the dysfunction in the body which keeps the vast majority “lost in their Father’s house.” I came to discover for the sheep their place is in response to others who witness, and then are drawn, to the authentic body of Christ. With apostles, it is about individuals “going out into all the world,” initiating the gospel message, and “baptizing.” With the shepherds, it is about “making disciples” within the body. With the sheep, it is about witnessing through the visible example of their fellowships, and when people ask, responding. Apostles invade the space of others while others see something attractive to them in the body and invade the space of sheep. Either way both groups play critical roles when it comes to the Great Commission. In fact, sheep functioning properly and in the right environment can be God’s most effective tool.
In part two of this series, we will examine how the differences between the three groups are so perfectly revealed in the Day of Pentecost and the Church of Acts. As it did for me, this picture will hopefully both challenge and change your thinking about who you may be and where God created you to serve and to thrive!