The Great Commission

Jesus did not command his followers to build a Christian nation. He commanded them to love, feed, welcome, and tell the truth.

Today, 40 days after Easter, is Ascension Day, when Christians celebrate the bodily ascension of Jesus into heaven. After many post-Easter appearances and conversations with his disciples, this was the last time they would see the earthly Jesus, marking the conclusion of his earthly ministry.

Just before his ascension, in what is now often called the Great Commission, Jesus gave his final commandment to his disciples. The Bible says:

“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him they worshiped him and some doubted, And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20)

Growing up in a conservative evangelical church, I struggled with how the Great Commission was often privatized and reduced to a message of personal salvation alone, with little reference to the teachings Jesus commanded his disciples to live out in the world.

I later came to see a fuller and more biblical meaning of the Great Commission—one anchored in the teachings and commandments of Jesus himself. Understanding the importance of this day of ascension guides us to answer the Christian call to help build a more just, compassionate, and truthful world for all people by following the way of Jesus and rejecting the narrow privatized interpretation.

The Trump administration violates the Great Commission every day. In Matthew 25, Jesus says, “I was hungry,” yet this administration continues to turn the other way, advancing policies that make more people hungry both here in the United States and around the world. Cuts to SNAP benefits have increased our nation’s food insecurity, leaving families to struggle, while the Department of Agriculture has halted data collection efforts effectively obscuring the human impact these cuts have had and avoiding accountability for the growing hunger facing millions of Americans. Beyond our borders, people are dying amid wars and humanitarian crises that the Trump administration has helped fuel, finance, or refused to end.

Jesus says, “I was a stranger,” yet the cruelty and violence of the White House’s mass deportation policies, disproportionately targeting immigrants of color, continues on. With Markwayne Mullin taking charge of the Department of Homeland Security, there have been efforts to decrease reporting on ICE crackdown, this has been a tactical switch as we approach the midterm elections due to fears of voter resentment. Even so, in April there was a 94% increase in removal flights with 245 deportation flights departing in a single month. Jesus says, “I was sick,” but the GOP is actively considering cutting federal health spending to help supplement the $200 billion military budget to pay for the war on Iran.

These realities should lead Christians, especially those who support the current administration, to ask what it truly means to obey the teachings Jesus commanded his disciples to follow. The Great Commission should give us the opportunity to evaluate whether our public life reflects the values of God’s kingdom. While the Ascension day feast technically falls exactly on the 40th day after Jesus’ resurrection, many Christians will observe and celebrate this weekend at church. Also this weekend, two contrasting public events, both anchored by faith leaders, will put forward radically different understandings of what Christians in this moment are being called to do for their separate visions of America.

On Saturday, thousands are gathering in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, for the All Roads Lead to the South National Day of Action. The mobilization comes as a response to the dangerous attacks on civil and voting rights we have experienced in the past weeks, including the clear racial gerrymandering efforts across Southern states aimed at weakening Black representation at both the state and national levels. Faith leaders, organizers, and activists are joining together in direct action to defend voting rights and Black political power across the South.

While thousands gather in Montgomery, a very different vision of America will be on display at the National Mall the following day. During what they are calling the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving event, a large-scale Christian nationalist rally framed around the nation’s 250th birthday. The organizers are calling Americans to the Mall for Scripture, prayer, testimony, and what they describe as a “rededication” of the country as “One Nation to God,” language that goes beyond patriotism and firmly advances into a false theological claim about our nation’s identity and divine status. Running from morning fellowship on the Capitol grounds to an evening concert, the event is designed to project the image of a Christian America seeking divine guidance for its next 250 years as a newly chosen nation.

The contrast with Montgomery, and more importantly with the Great Commission itself, could not be sharper.

The Great Commission offers a direct rebuttal to the Christian nationalist vision on display by some politicians today and at Rededicate 250. Its call to make disciples of all nations rejects any privileged status for America, or for any racial or ethnic group, and, by its own logic, is a repudiation of white Christian nationalism. Equally important is the distinction between making disciples and making converts. The Commission is an invitation into the life, teachings, and values of Jesus — love, justice, compassion, forgiveness, and care for others. The kingdom of God, in other words, is not a political regime or a national identity. It belongs to the whole world.

Aaron Graham, pastor of the District Church here in DC, has a new book just released, called “Unshakeable Faith,” where he speaks to what the Great Commission means to us right now and for the long haul. To follow the things Jesus commanded in a time like this, when authoritarian power holders promise and execute retribution against all who oppose them, will require courage on our parts. To hold onto our hope we must always remember the cloud of God’s presence that protects and guides us. I am very grateful for how the Great Commission ends, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Knowing that Jesus is with us through it all gives us the courage to follow his teachings in the face of authoritarian power and injustice.

Happy Ascension Day!

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