Acts 20:24 NIV “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” 

If the Great Commission is not the mission of every Christian, then what is its mission? Why has God not taken us to heaven immediately upon our conversion if not to go and make disciples through evangelism leading to baptism and discipleship leading to obedience to everything Jesus has commanded. Certainly, we are all to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Jesus loved God the Father in this manner by seeking and saving the lost and then offering Himself as the human sacrifice necessary for all humans to be reconciled to God. If we love God the most, then reconciling people who otherwise remain estranged from Him to Him seems the most loving way to demonstrate our love for God. Likewise, we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. What greater love can we express to our neighbor than reconciling our neighbor to Christ by faith? Otherwise, they remain condemned forever to suffer eternity in the fires of hell. What is necessary for obedience to the Great Commission? We need the willingness to take up our cross and deny ourselves so that man’s opinion means nothing, but God’s opinion means everything. In this way, we will share Christ though mocked, we will obey Christ though maligned, and we will serve Christ though humiliated. When we care more about ourselves and what others think of us, we will remain fruitless, society will continue to be defiant toward God, and we will risk jeopardizing our very souls because we love ourselves more than God. The Great Commission is the mission of every Christian; the fields are ripe, but the laborers are few. It is time to love God most by loving our neighbor through sharing the gospel and discipling the saved.