Saturday, September 27, 1997

Celebrate the Great Commission and holy chaos will break out

By LAUREN R. STANLEY

Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - "The Great Commission," someone once said, "is not a suggestion. It's a commandment."

Jesus said to his disciples, "Go therefore 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 that I have commanded you." (Matt. 28:19)

He didn't say, Do this whenever you feel like it ... whenever you have time ... whenever you aren't too embarrassed by it.

He simply said, "Go."

This is the time of year in the lives of most American churches when people are hearing that commission most clearly. For this is the time of year when most church activities are beginning anew. Summer is over, the kids are back in school, and now is the time to launch new programs, resume Sunday school, get back into weekly Bible study meetings. This is the time of year when the people of the church most readily hear and accept the commission that Jesus gave them.

And when people REALLY hear the commission, really begin to realize that they are being asked to join in the mission of the Gospel, as "co-missioners" and partners with God, and not just followers, it's exciting to behold.

It's exciting because it's chaotic. It;s exciting because the people themselves are excited over being given ownership of the place where they worship and live in the community of Christ. And it's exciting, too, because the ownership of the church SHOULD belong to the people.

In the Episcopal Church, as in many other Protestant denominations, the most important people in the church are the laity, the non-ordained members. In the catechism, the answer to the question, "Who are the ministers of the Church?" begins with "lay persons," followed by the ordained clergy of bishops, priests and deacons. In Protestant theology, every baptized Christian is a member of the "priesthood of all believers." The churches that follow this theology are led not just by the ordained clergy, but also by the lay people.

That's a surprising concept for many people who are more accustomed to being told what to do, rather than being asked what they think should be done.

But if people hear often enough that they are the ministers of the church, and if they are asked often enough to follow the Great Commission themselves, suddenly, those same people not only can accept being "co-missioners of the Gospel," they can celebrate their role.

I saw this commissioning in action recently at our church's Ministries Fair, that annual rite of fall where every group in the church asks parishioners to participate in activities. Signs and booths abounded for choir, altar guild, Sunday School, the various committees, the drama group, the youths groups, the flower ministries, the volunteer groups, the faith groups, the adult education groups, the ... well, EVERY group.

Literally hundreds of people showed up and strolled through the parish hall, talking about one ministry, signing up for another, taking information for yet a third. New volunteers were recruited, new leaders tapped.

The frenzied activity in the parish hall, coupled with the intense noise, indeed was chaotic. Anyone walking in off the street would have been befuddled and perhaps frightened by the scene. But it wasn't the sort of chaos that comes from a lack of leadership, or a lack of vision. Rather, it was, to quote a phrase I heard recently, "holy chaos."

It was holy chaos because it was part of the commissioning of the people to be partners with God in the spreading of the Gospel. It was holy because every endeavor was centered in God. Every group could answer the question, "Where is God in your activity?"

When you're being invited to be a partner with God, to be "co-missioners of the Gospel," it's nice to know God is in the mix somehow. Nothing would make sense otherwise.

Our challenge in churches isn't whether to give power to the people, it's getting people to take the power that already is theirs, as baptized Christians, and letting them run with it.

Our challenge is to get everyone to follow the Great Commission, to "go therefore and make disciples," as part of their everyday lives.

As that someone once said, the Great Commission isn't a suggestion. It's a commandment. When we celebrate it, holy chaos breaks out.

(The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley, a former assistant news editor for the Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, is a deacon at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Burke, Va. Readers may write to Stanley care of Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, 790 National Press Building, Washington, D.C., 20045.)