Reaching Nicaragua
April 25, 2018
Insights on Short-Term Missions
May 7, 2018
By Dr. John David Smith
As featured in mission:world Magazine
In John 14:12, Jesus makes the following statement to his disciples: “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” What exactly are these “greater things”? In Western culture, where we are given to the unhindered, pedal-to-the-metal approach to life and accomplishments, we could quickly claim this verse as a license for a pragmatic (results-driven), all-out blitz in doing what we think is right…and fully expect for God to bless it! Let’s take our foot off the pedal for a second and see what Jesus is saying to us and how that applies to us, our local church, and global missions within the Baptist Missionary Association (BMA).
While our minds naturally run to those “greater things” that possibly include us, there is a question that must be answered before we approach the subject of the “greater things.” Our passage in John 14:12 says that these things will be an expansion of the things/works that Jesus was doing. This begs the question: what was Jesus doing? We begin by going back to verse 1 in this chapter in order to understand the context. Simply stated, the context of this chapter (as found in most of the gospels) is discipleship. Jesus spent ninety percent of his earthly ministry pouring himself into twelve men. Those men would, according to Acts 17:6, turn the world upside down.
Taking a look at this passage through the lens of discipleship will serve as transformational information on our own discipleship journey. The first part of the passage is very familiar to most of us. It is the “let not your heart be troubled” passage. In the preceding chapter, Jesus talked about Judas’ betrayal, Peter’s denial, and the fact that he would be “going away” in reference to his death. To this band of simple, yet resolute, followers of Jesus, this was incredibly difficult information to process. Jesus begins chapter 14 with a non-negotiable in the discipleship process. He ministers to his followers emotionally.
Discipleship involves the emotions. Jesus is comforting his disciples with the reassuring message that he is going to prepare a place for them, he will return to get them, and then they will be where he is. This is the messy, inconvenient part of discipleship. We would rather steer clear of the emotional realities of people. The truth is that we cannot make disciple makers from a distance. We must be connected in every way, and that includes the laughs, the cries, and everything in between.
The conversation then takes an interesting turn as Jesus tells his disciples that they know the way to the place he is going. To this, Thomas replies, “We don’t know the way or the place.” Jesus answered with, “I am the way, the truth, and the life….” Phillip then tells Jesus, “Just show us the Father.” Jesus then explained the relationship between himself and the Father by saying that he is in the Father and the Father is in him… they are One in essence. Jesus ministers to his followers intellectually.
Discipleship involves the intellect. Jesus is correcting their lack of knowledge and/or wrong belief about his nature. The Word of God is an indispensable part of the discipleship process. However, it may not be as large a part of the discipleship process as we tend to make it in the West where we exalt knowledge and academia. Jesus seems to have discipled using the 70-20-10 ratio. He taught them ten percent of the time; he interacted, corrected, and oriented them twenty percent of the time; and he sent them out on OJT (on the job training) seventy percent of the time. Our profound teaching alone is merely an information exchange if not accompanied by coaching and experience.
We now come to the part about these “greater things.” Jesus said to his disciples that they would do greater things. This is strictly connected to the expansion of the mission of Jesus in making disciples. Jesus ministers to his followers volitionally (the will). Discipleship involves the will. Jesus is encouraging them in the work of making disciples. There were more people who trusted Christ on the Day of Pentecost than during all of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Greater things! They would be instrumental in reaching the known world with the message of Christ. Greater things! Noteworthy in these lessons from Jesus on discipleship is the fact that you simply do not comfort, correct, or encourage anyone at a deep level unless you have a real relationship with that person. Discipleship is carried out in a relational context, not a Sunday morning ritualistic context.
Out of the five values listed for BMA Missions, the second is discipleship-based multiplication. We certainly believe the Great Commission does not say to go all over the world and count decisions for Christ. It says to go all over the world and make disciples of Christ. BMA Missions will accomplish “greater things” as we remain focused on discipleship-based multiplication that leads to leader and church multiplication. A recent trip to the Amazon Basin was filled with many adventures and new experiences.
In order to simply arrive at the M.S. Arrington riverboat, our group had to fly from the United States to Santa Cruz, Bolivia; take a commercial flight (about one hour) to Trinidad, Bolivia; Fly in a Cessna 206 (one and a half hours); spend the night in San Joaquim, Bolivia; ride in a van (another hour and a half) to Puerto Siles, Bolivia; then ride in a Jon boat (almost two hours) in order to get to the riverboat. We then spent almost six days on three different rivers, visiting churches and preaching points. Our adventures included seeing many pink dolphins, catching piranhas, and hunting for caiman (Amazonian alligators) at night. We did get to eat piranha and alligator that we helped to catch…well, we caught the fish and we watched our Bolivian brothers kill the alligators. In the midst of all of this, the absolute highlight was meeting those who have been reached and discipled through the ministry. People like Reubin, David Oliveira, David (Davico), and Belzu are the key to the ongoing work. Pastor David Flores does a good job of leading this ministry. The ministry currently works among 37 villages. There have been numerous churches started as discipleship progresses on these remote waterways.
We desire to see “greater things” through the kingdom impact of BMA Missions. Those “greater things” will be possible in the Amazon Basin and all over the world as long as we remember the one major requirement that Jesus gave in John 14:12 for greater things: we will do what he did—make disciple makers!