After Jesus’ resurrection and shortly before his ascension, he gave his closest followers what we now call “The Great Commission.” It is his marching orders for the Church.

Matthew 28:19-20 “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.”

There are three active words in the original Greek: going, baptizing, and teaching. Jesus’ followers are to be going out in the world sharing their faith and helping people become mature disciples. They are also supposed to be baptizing those new followers into the name of the Godhead. Finally, they are teaching those newly baptized disciples to obey everything Jesus taught.

Most Christians tend to land on the last one. We came to Jesus, and now we want to be taught, and we want to be taught more and more. In our desire to know God’s will and a hope of obeying everything, we want to learn every facet of what the Bible teaches. I am not opposed to this type of thinking, as I want people to grow in their knowledge, but it can lead to us living in a Christian bubble where all we do is attend Bible studies, listen to Christian teaching, read Christian books, and spend time with other believers.   

One of the biggest challenges I have with people who have followed Jesus for more than five years is getting them to share their faith with nonbelievers. There seems to be very little interest in going outside of their Christian circle. I mean, honestly, ask yourself, “When was the last time you shared your faith and led someone to become a disciple of Jesus?”

Here is my challenge: for every hour of learning you do the rest of this year, would you equally invest an hour in a person or family who needs to know Jesus? So, if you spend an hour a week at a Bible study, then also spend one hour a week trying to build a bridge with the purpose of sharing your faith. Would you pray for them, invite them out for a meal, bring them into your home, pray with them, and intentionally share the story of the Gospel?

I am happy when someone knows a lot of the Bible, but I am even more joyous when someone comes to know Jesus as their Savior. Faith is a balancing act of learning and sharing.