Take Africa for example. Africa is the most evangelised continent in the world and is estimated to be 80% Christian south of the Sahara. There are hundreds and thousands of churches and evangelists. We would expect, according to the Word of God, that Africa would therefore be a blessed continent. In Deuteronomy 28, we have God’s perspective on what a blessed nation looks like and what a cursed nation looks like. It is like a national inventory covering the different areas of life such as family, job and economy, defence forces, the weather, and the national debt.
However, whilst nearly every person in the southern part of Africa has been ‘reached’ with the gospel, the reality is that it has not really made a difference to the African nations where the gospel has been received. With 30 of the 40 poorest countries in the world in Africa, there is widespread poverty, along with violence, disease, corruption, injustice, chaos and devastation. The African nation of Rwanda has experienced revival in recent decades but at the same time terrible poverty and civil war. Uganda, which later became the centre of this revival, has experienced two decades of terrible suffering with its economy being destroyed. There has been torture, murder, civil war and displacement of people, all of this having taken place while the Ugandan Church was one of the strongest churches in Africa.
Some of you may be tempted to point out that whilst this has been the case, the important thing to remember is that the people in these nations have been blessed by receiving Jesus into their lives. It is true they have personally received the greatest gift available to mankind. However, this is where we as Christians, particularly those of us who would call ourselves ‘evangelical’ Christians, have tended to overlook something critically important. For the past 200 years there has been a division in Christian thinking between what is considered ‘spiritual’, eternal and what really matters, with that which is merely ‘secular’, temporary and material. While some have argued the case for or against a ‘social’ gospel, oftentimes churches and missionaries have preached an incomplete message that has left those reached with a segregated view of life.
Jesus made it clear that He would not return until the gospel of the kingdom (not gospel of salvation) had been preached as a witness to all nations (Matthew 24:14). He also taught His disciples to pray that His Father’s kingdom - God’s rule and way of doing things - come and for His will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).
The truth is, on the whole (as there are always exceptions) the gospel that has been preached has majored on getting people saved and starting churches. As wonderful as this is, it is not enough as it only addresses one part of the Great Commission mandate. My previous article highlights that we still have more to do on this part as ¼ of the world is still waiting to hear the gospel. Preaching the gospel to every person (Mark 16:15) is just the beginning. God’s perspective is much bigger than just seeing people ‘saved’. His heart has always been for nations.
“Ask of Me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, the ends of the earth for your possession.” (Psalm 2:8)
The second and often overlooked part of the Great Commission mandate is recorded in Matthew 28: 19-20.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you…”
This vital part relates to discipleship which is the process of leading a person to transformation according to the Bible. However, whilst the process begins with individuals, the command specifically relates to discipling entire nations.
As we read in Psalm 2:8, God the Father has given the nations of the earth to His Son, Jesus. As the Church worldwide, Jesus gave us the authority and responsibility to disciple the nations for Him. Sadly, for the most part, we have failed and by default have handed over the nations to the evil one. Thank God for His grace and forgiveness whereby we can put behind us the mistakes of the past and have a new opportunity to disciple nations in this generation!
How are we to disciple nations? This will be the subject of my next article, but essentially as we teach and apply the Word of God to every area of society – government, church, economy, science and healthcare, family, education, communication, arts and entertainment. A biblical model is given in the Old Testament where we see God discipling, through Moses, the nation of Israel (the book of Deuteronomy is a good place to start). In about 300 years God took some 3 million refugees and turned them into a kingdom whose reputation and fame travelled far and wide so that another head of state, the Queen of Sheba, wanted to learn about its wisdom and education, just laws and prosperity (1 Kings 10:6-7).
It is time to return to the forgotten mandate and in whatever area of society we are called to, to be catalysts and nation disciplers bringing godly reform and transformation wherever we go!