The Great Commision is not so great when it is one-dimensional instead of three-dimensional. Here, let me humbly reprimand us as evangelicals, among whom the very term “Great Commision” caught on like wildfire in the first place. We have essentially equated the Great Commission with the ministry of evangelism, with Matthew 28 earning the distinction of the premiere evangelistic missionary text. Inspired by it, we have gone about the task of world evangelization with abandon, creating strategies based on unreached people groups and territorial windows to help us fulfill the Great Commission.
I argue that a one-dimensional, evangelism-only theology and practice of the Great Commission is incomplete at best, dangerous at worst. It has in fact contributed to crimes against humanity under colonialism, as the church’s collusion with the colonial project is undeniable.
Al Tizon, “Reconciling All Things: Missional Competencies in a Broken World” in Ambassadors of Reconciliation: God’s Mission through Missions for All, edited by Geoff Hartt, Michael A. Ortiz, and Manuel Bohm (Littleton, CO: William Carey Publishing, 2023), 5.
In the page before this quote (page 4 of this book) Tizon explains what those three dimensions are:
| Vertical Dimension | Between God and People | “Evangelism” |
| Horizontal Dimension | Between People and People | Peacemaking |
| “Circular” Dimension | Between God, People, and Creation | Stewardship |
The reason for this is that Tizon sees the Great Commission as a call for the Church to be involved in a ministry of reconciliation. And reconciliation requires these three dimensions.
I see value in this. I am also reminded of Clebsch and Jaekle’s book “Pastoral Care in Historical Perspective” that speaks of four primary forms/functions of pastoral care— guiding, sustaining, healing, and reconciling. They expressed the belief that each one of these had a period of time in church history where it dominated. So there was a time when healing was most important, a time when guiding was most important, and so on. They believed that we live in the age of Reconciliation.
I am not sure if that is true, but arguably the three dimensions above (relating to Evangelism, Peacemaking, and Stewardship) would be important to that discussion. The only difference I can see is that in Pastoral Care we would add a fourth dimension— Reconciliation of self. I am not sure, however, if we could see that as an aspect of the Great Commission. Even if we could, perhaps that would be best seen as a “Zeroth Dimension) anyway.
Books:
AMBASSADORS OF RECONCILIATION: GOD’S MISSION THROUGH MISSIONS FOR ALL
