Understanding the Great Commission: A Missionary's Thoughts on the Great Commission

Nations duplicate technology by capturing and deconstructing the advanced weapons of other nations. Chefs emulate the culinary masterpieces of others by deconstructing their dishes, sometimes to replicate them and other times to create new recipes. Young parents watch the child-rearing methods of successful older couples, hoping that they may learn the secrets of rearing mature, wise, and godly offspring.

Whether in the sciences, arts, or life itself, there is more to any subject than meets the eye. Therefore, we study, analyze and absorb the subjects before us, hoping to understand them better and accomplish their demands. Such is the process of meditating on God's Word.

In this case, a thirty-five-year veteran missionary, Jon Nelms, seeks to deconstruct the Great Commission. The intent is not to change it or to weaken it, but to help us realize that we have missed the point in some cases and overlooked it in others. Our Lord told a group of theologians that their "traditions" had made the gospel, i.e., their view of the gospel, ineffective. Even so, our traditions in missionary endeavors have sometimes resulted in the same ineffectiveness. Jon deconstructs our traditional view and understanding and reconstructs a more effective, Biblical model for the missionary and his supporters.

This book is written both for interested individuals and class discussion, providing sufficient material for a careful, meditational deconstruction of the Great Commission.