Who, Me? A Missionary? - Mrs Claire Lowe

𝗔𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲, 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀.

We will look at three Greek words in Matthew 28:10. The first is “go” or “poreuthentes” in Greek. In the mission's context, this word “go” suggests an uprooting of oneself from one geographical place to another. However, in Greek, this word means “as you go about in life”. It is not asking you to pluck yourself out from your place now and go somewhere, but it is saying, as you go about in your life, make disciples. You do not need a special mission calling to fulfil the great commission.

The next word is “nations”, or “ethne” in Greek. We tend to think of missions as going to different countries. However, in Greek, they are talking about people of different races and ethnicities. In Singapore, there are many people of different ethnicities who live among us. Jesus invites us, as we go about in life meeting people of different ethnicities, to make disciples.

The last Greek word is “Matheteusate”, which is the verb for disciple. In Greek, the root word “math” means to learn and study something in a meticulous or rigorous way. Discipleship is a way of cultivating your heart, your mind, and your behaviour. Discipleship is when a mentor journeys in life and faith with another person. It involves teaching others to obey everything that Christ has commanded. It requires long-term, in-depth commitment to journeying with someone in faith and life. Teaching to obey is not about knowledge acquisition but about character transformation. It is this kind of life-on-life discipleship that Jesus has modelled and is asking his disciples to do likewise. The transformation that happens in this kind of discipleship is holistic and it will permeate through every aspect of your life.