The Great Commission

Heard in the wild

The longer version

What it means

The Great Commission is the name Christians give Jesus' last words in Matthew's Gospel: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go 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 I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Parallel passages in Mark, Luke, John, and Acts say the same in different words.

Christians read it as marching orders: the church exists to go, make disciples, baptize, and teach — everywhere. It's the foundation of missions, evangelism, church planting, and, for many believers, of what it means to be a Christian at all.

Why people say it

Because it's Jesus' own instruction and it answers the question "what is the church for?" Evangelicals in particular organize their identity around it: a "Great Commission church" is one that sends missionaries, plants churches, and expects its members to share their faith. The phrase gives all of that a single name and a divine mandate.

How to respond

If a Christian says they're motivated by the Great Commission, they're telling you why they do missions or talk about faith — obedience to Jesus, not personal preference. If you're on the receiving end of that (someone sharing their faith with you), knowing the reason may help: they believe they've been told to. If you have concerns about how the commission has been carried out historically, thoughtful Christians share many of them and will talk about it honestly.

If you hear it in different churches

Evangelical, Baptist, and Pentecostal churches use the phrase constantly and build missions programs on it. The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant body in the U.S., describes itself as a Great Commission denomination. Catholics and Orthodox affirm the passage and have vast missionary histories but rarely use the phrase; Catholics speak of "the mission" or "evangelization." Mainline Protestants emphasize the "make disciples" and "teaching" parts alongside social witness.

Where does “The Great Commission” come from?

Matthew 28:18–20. The passage was not called "the Great Commission" until relatively recently; the name appears to have been popularized in the late 1800s, likely through Hudson Taylor and the missionary movement, though earlier uses exist. William Carey's 1792 Enquiry argued from the passage that the command still binds Christians, launching the modern Protestant missionary movement. The Lausanne Congress of 1974 and its Covenant restated it for modern evangelicals. The passage has been central to Christian mission since the first century, whatever it was called.

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Go deeper on the network

• The Lausanne Covenant — the modern evangelical statement on world evangelization ↗

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