Following the Sunday morning message through the Gospel of John, a member of the church I serve approached me and requested for me to clear up some unclear tension between Matthew 10:5-15 and John 4:1-42. I agreed to the task and then went home to read over the two texts to see what tension exists between them. My message on Sunday morning was from John 4:31-42, titled, “Crossing the Street and the Oceans – Declaring the Good News that Jesus Saves.” My point was that we should be reaching lost people with the good news of the Gospel. I had two main points regarding the passage that pointed out the fact that the Gospel is for all people – not just people like ourselves. I pointed to the fact that Jesus was a Jewish man who approached a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. I then pointed out that the Samaritan woman went back to town and reached other Samaritans. I contrasted and compared the two situations – then I pointed out what the Samaritans said about Jesus when they called Him the Savior of the World.
While I preached about this subject of faithful missions and taking the Gospel to all types of people, a woman in my church read Matthew 10:5 where Jesus tells His disciples not to enter into a town of the Gentiles or Samaritans. She was confused. Did the Scripture contradict itself? How could Jesus go to a city of the Gentiles and reach out to an immoral Samaritan woman if He had told His disciples not to in Matthew 10:5? There does seem to be a contradiction or at least some tension between the text on an overview reading. However, once the full context is read, it does not take long to see that Jesus was not intending His disciples to hold back the Gospel from the Gentiles forever. His desire was for the disciples to go to the Jews first and then move outward to the Gentiles. That was the pattern of Jesus and it was also the pattern of Paul in the book of Acts. As we read through Acts, we see Paul going from city to city preaching the Gospel, but he always starts in the Synagogue.
The New American Commentary, commenting on Matthew 10:5-6 says:
Only Matthew includes vv. 5–6, a distinctively particularist text. But these restrictions do not contradict the Great Commission (28:18–20). Even 10:18 anticipates the disciples going into Gentile territory. Instead, Jesus’ commands fit the larger pattern of his own ministry prior to his death and match the missionary priority Paul himself maintained throughout Acts (e.g., 13:46; 18:6; 19:9; 28:25–28) and articulated in Rom 1:16 (“first for the Jew, and then for the Gentile”).13 It is not clear that even the end of Acts heralds a change in strategy,14 and it is at least possible that God intended Israel to be the first mission field in every era of Christian history.15 Even if this is not the case, it certainly does not justify relegating the Jews to the relatively low position in Christian missionary strategy they have usually been assigned. The “lost sheep” of “Israel” (literally, of the house of Israel) does not refer to a portion of the nation but to all the people (see 9:36; cf. Jer 50:6).
Therefore, as we consider the words of Paul in Romans 1:16, the Gospel is for the Jew first, but thank God it is also for the Gentile. The Gospel is to be taken to the ends of the earth and proclaimed to all people for the glory of God. How many Christians are reaching out to people that are different than they are in their local communities? Why do we tend to become little groups of clones that look like one another, talk like one another, and engage in the same types of recreation outside of the assembly? Why are we not reaching out to people like Jesus reached out to the immoral Samaritan woman?
Possible reasons:
1. People with tattoos and piercings bring things into our church that are difficult to explain to our children.
2. People with different skin color are difficult to fellowship with due to cultural differences.
3. People with low incomes are often needy and may have body odors that are not pleasant to our nostrils.
The question we must ask ourselves is simply this – what is the purpose of missions and evangelism? Is it that we can have more numbers in our pews? Is it that we can have more money in the offering plate? Is it that we can report more baptism numbers to the local association or state convention? Is it that we can boast about our numbers on our website to let everyone know how successful we are in our ministry? Absolutely not! The purpose of our missions and evangelism should be to see lost people of various backgrounds (both high and low class) saved by God’s grace and worshipping God together for His glory! The Father is seeking people to worship Him and that should be our goal as we go out in the community. We should desire to see people changed by the Gospel and worshipping with us on the same pew singing – AMAZING GRACE HOW SWEET THE SOUND THAT SAVED A WRETCH LIKE ME! I ONCE WAS LOST BUT NOW AM FOUND WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE! Anything less becomes a stench in the nostrils of our God.
Matthew 28:18-20
By His Grace,
Josh Buice
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13 Responses to “The Great Contradiction vs. Great Commission?”
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Josh, good thoughtfilled post.
Why do we do missions? For God’s glory, yes!
Does it bring God glory when people are in his house? When they tithe? When they serve? when lives are changed? absolutely. God was angry in Malachi that they would not bring him glory. The problem seems to come when we do it for our glory, ie: I do evangelism so I can have a bigger church. Wrong attitude. Or for tithes. But God is glorified by a healthy church.
That is interesting the seeming contradiction that was pointed out. I had never noticed that.
1. People with tattoos and piercings bring things into our church that are difficult to explain to our children.
2. People with different skin color are difficult to fellowship with due to cultural differences.
3. People with low incomes are often needy and may have body odors that are not pleasant to our nostrils.
JOSH, ARE YOU SERIOUS??????? i know you cant be serious…these are the reasons you think we choose to be in smaller, homogenious groups???? NO. please, tell me you realize that the reasons we stay away from people with tattoos is not because they are “difficult” to explain. “we” stay away from them because “we” are judgmental. i have NEVER found it difficult to worship with someone of a difficult background. in fact i have found it incredibly moving to see how others worship and i embrace their freedom in Christ to do that. low income families might smell and need??????? i truly think of all the things you’ve ever said that i’ve been “put off” by, this is truly the most shocking.
i think your “reasons” as to why we choose to segregate ourselves in church are just baffling.
the purpose of missions is not LOWERING ourselves so much that we might witness to a tattooed black person who is poor. the purposeof missions is loving others so much that it is unconscionable not to share God’s Gift with them. a benefit of missions is realizing that we are no different than those peoplewho are different than us. we are surprisingly similar, have the same goals and problems and thoughts and worries, and we need the same Jesus.
truly, this posting of yours has made me sad. it has also reminded me of why so many people are turned off by Believers.
CORRECTION TO MY EARLIER POST:
I said:
i have NEVER found it difficult to worship with someone of a difficult background.
I meant:
i have NEVER found it difficult to worship with someone of a different background.
Mae,
May I suggest you click on the Cornerstone link from the homepage and listen to Josh’s sermon. I think you maybe a little less judgemental of him when you hear his heart on this subject.
im not judging his sermon, im judging his words on the subject of these two seemingly contradictory passages of Scripture. im judging his words because they are NOT Christlike. they are mere justifications for prejudice and racism within the church.
Mae,
Yes, I am very serious. If you consider the subject, the different types of people that are in our towns provide difficult situations for parents to explain to their children. As I said in my message on Sunday, “That is the heart of racism and elitism.” I feel very strongly about the way that we “do” church. We should not be looking for people in suits and ties, white, and upper middle class to fill our pews. That type of attitude is a muzzling of the Gospel.
The Gospel is for the entire world – all tongues and ethnicities. Matthew 28:18-20!
Josh Buice
i understnd your convictionson the subject. i cannot understand that you would seriously use those three “reasons” to explain why we choose to worship in homogenious ways. the reasons are not because tattoos are hard to explain or that different races do things differently so it’s more difficult. the reasons are because there is racism andprejudice. i understand what you are saying but the reasons youlisted are NOT the real reasons. the reasons you listed are offensive.
Mae,
The reasons I listed are better titled “excuses” that are related to the heart problem of racism and elitism. The reasons are real. They are offensive because they are often used as excuses while laying a blanket over the heart issue.
If you are offended, It could be that you have misunderstood the post.
Josh Buice
Why are we not reaching out to people like Jesus reached out to the immoral Samaritan woman?
Possible reasons:
1. People with tattoos and piercings bring things into our church that are difficult to explain to our children.
2. People with different skin color are difficult to fellowship with due to cultural differences.
3. People with low incomes are often needy and may have body odors that are not pleasant to our nostrils.
i took this as you were giving these as reasons as to why we choose to worship with people who arent like us. i read it as though you saw these as justification. i read it as though you were accepting these as excuses. i aplogize if i misread your meaning.
Mae,
Reread the last paragraph. Note the last line, “Anything less becomes a stench in the nostrils of our God.” Anything less than what? Than true Spirit-led, God glorifying, and selfless mission minded evangelism is a stench in God’s nostrils. In other words, we are doing a terrible job at this and we must reform and change our heart on this subject!
Josh Buice
I wonder if we Americans are doing a “terrible job” in the area of missions because of our politics. Hear me out: We have become convinced that we can make laws that are moral and somehow we’ve done our Christian duty.
Like you, I absolutely believe in a child’s right to live (I am pro-life). I also believe marriage is between a man and a woman. But have we in the conservative movement begun to trust the laws of the land to change hearts instead of the Truth of Christ?
Mae: “i have NEVER found it difficult to worship with someone of a difficult background. in fact i have found it incredibly moving to see how others worship and i embrace their freedom in Christ to do that.”
Wow, I have! I was asked years ago to preach at a black pentecostal church. I said yes. The worship was — different. At my home church I do not sit on the platform, and am usually not visible until the sermon. But they put me right up front, as they did — stuff I wasn’t used to. I remember the preacher leaning in to me and asking, “You okay?” The look on his face said: Wow, we really messed up asking this kid to preach.
Anyway, my preaching style is pretty fiery and somehow God gave grace as I preached and I felt deeply accepted. But did I at first? no way! It was a barrier.
david,
was it difficult for YOU to worship God in that environment?
differences may be distracting when they are new, but those diferences shouldnt make it different to worship. that was my point. i think it is beautiful to see and experience people worshipping in different ways.