I have been reflecting recently on ‘The Great Commission’ and how seriously the church takes the word of Jesus. Imagine the scene. Eleven men had gathered on an unnamed mountainside, in the north of Palestine. These eleven men had left their families, their livelihood, their futures, their heritage and their homes. To follow a man, a man, a man who was causing a stir in land. These eleven men had experienced the heights of giddy hope and the depths of crushing despair, not once but over and over again. They had lived for weeks in fear of their lives. They had endured the spine-tingling shock of having their best friend and inspirational leader publicly executed and the eerily, unbelievably, break free from a heavenly guarded rock tomb and appear among them on several difference occasions. They had invested three years of their lives, at a great cost, in a dream and a cause, and now it seemed as if it had all come crashing down around their ears. And then, the familiar face of their leader was suddenly back among them. At least, he was recognizable, but not exactly the same as the man with whom they had traveled the length and breadth of their country with; the one who had sat in boats and slept in their homes, who had healed sick and fed the hungry and earned the implacable hatred of the religious leaders of the day. The leader who had taught so clearly and simply and yet sometimes in these incomprehensible riddles. Dearly familiar he might be, but there was also some awesome difference, for here was one who that had come back from the dead. Here was Jesus and here were they at this breath taking moment, which would shape the rest of their lives. Then on the unnamed mountainside

I recently re-wrote the great commission in light of what I saw in the churches understanding of the great commission. It’s entitled ‘The Great Suggestion’;

‘Come into our building and be like us, wear our clothes, listen to our music and becareful not to instigate change or on that note do not read anything or listening to anything we disagree with. The Holy Spirit is here and we can show him to you.’

I wonder how much you see yourself and churches in this….