A couple of weeks ago, much of the world tuned to the heavens to watch the highly anticipated landing of “Curiosity” – NASA’s newest Mars Rover. The descent onto the Red Planet marked the culmination of years of research and a 354 million mile journey.
You can understand the elation that erupted from the mission control room. Curiosity’s landing was one of the most technically complex. If anything went wrong, it could have turned a $2 billion robot into scrap metal.
And despite the research, the construction, the long journey from Earth to Mars, and the complex touchdown, the Mars mission has just begun.
On Sunday, I had the amazing privilege of baptizing three people. Our church celebrated, as these three publicly announced, through baptism, that they are a committed Disciple of Jesus. Sunday was a very special day for me personally. I, along with many, have prayed for each three of these individuals for many years (one of them being my daughter). Participating with them as they made this public profession was an absolute honor.
When someone makes this type of commitment to follow Jesus, we as fellow Believers might give a huge sigh of relief – “Phewww, at least they’re saved now.” But like the Mars Rover, the mission has just begun.
Jesus tells us in the Great Commission, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Two things stand out to me about this passage.
First, Many people think about the Great Commission in terms of foreign mission and getting people saved. However, the emphasis in the Greek verb tense is not on the word “go,” and there’s nothing in here about “getting people saved.” The emphasis both from a contextual and grammatical standpoint is on the words “make disciples.” The tremendous opportunity which Jesus entrusts to us is to turn believers into disciples.
Secondly, He tells us to baptize them in the name of the Triune God. The word baptism means immersion. I think what Jesus is insinuating goes much further than baptism into water. He’s inviting us to immerse people into life with the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
How do we do this? First, as parents and as fellow members of the Body of Christ, we need to see this person in their new identity. If they are Believer, then they are a child of God, just like us.
Secondly, we can treat them as such. To us they may be just a little child – the kid we watched grow up or our own son or daughter. However, now the Holy Spirit indwells within them. We should expect God to do big things through them, just as we expect Him to do within us.
Thirdly, we need to remind them often of their new identity. Now that they are a Believer, they have an enemy, and that enemy is going to try to take them out. Often Satan’s attacks come through accusations where he whispers, “See, you’re just the same old guy, trapped doing the same old stuff. You’re not really a Believer. Believers don’t act like that. You’re such a failure.” We can help people overcome this by reminding them of who they are in Christ. Have you ever thought of waking up in the morning and saying to your spouse or child, “Good morning child of God?” When we encourage and help people find their identity in God, we are bringing them to Jesus – immersing them in a life full of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Congratulations Brian, Peyton, and Annalía. I rejoiced seeing your landing. Now I’m so looking forward to the great mission and the journey ahead.
