A few weeks ago my wife and I listened to an online sermon on the topic of missions. This message interested me both because the speaker, Jim, is a friend who years ago was a student of mine, and because I have been writing about missions in these weekly newspaper columns. In the sermon Jim referred to missions as GC1, GC2, and GC3. I had never heard those labels before, so I was intrigued and did some research.
GC1 refers to the Great Commission. GC2 refers to the Great Commandments. GC3 refers to the Great Community.
The three references are interrelated and, interestingly, they each have an international application— which is why they refer to missions.
GC1, the Great Commission, relates to Jesus’ final instructions to his disciples before leaving them in charge as he returned to heaven. His mandate was for the disciples to become disciple- makers in every nation of the world. In my column two weeks ago, I wrote about the “Five Great Commissions” because Jesus gave this instruction five times, suggesting he considered it very important.
GC2 refers to the Great Commandments: To love God wholeheartedly and to love one’s neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). Jesus summarized the Old Testament law as these two commandments about love. As we discussed in last week’s column, Jesus gave us a commentary on the meaning of the second commandment, loving our neighbor. He told a story about a man we call the Good Samaritan. We call him good because he showed kindness to a person in need. These two men were strangers, foreigners to each other, and from different religions, yet the Samaritan (a non-Jew) cared for this other man, even spending his own money to do so. Jesus told us to love our neighbors (including foreigners in our country, Leviticus 19:34; Deuteronomy 27:19) by showing kindness as the Samaritan did.
GC3 means the Great Community. Perhaps we think of the Christian community as our local church, and that is how it should be. The Apostle Paul described the church as the “multifaceted wisdom of God” (Ephesians 3:10, Holman Bible). God intends for the church to be “multifaceted,” a word which means many-sided, diverse. One writer used this word to describe Joseph’s coat of many colors. God’s plan for the local church was to be like a coat of many colors! To achieve this, each local church should be a place known for its unity and its grace—accepting believers of all colors and languages.
Paul described the “unity” in the word community, “there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free men, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28, Good News Bible). Every church should be a gathering in which there are no differences!
The Bible, however, refers to a much greater, international community. The book of Revelation tells us that heaven will be filled with believers from every nation, tribe, people, and language (Rev 5:9; 7:9); a worldwide congregation united in worship of the Lamb. This heavenly Great Community is still a future ideal—we aren’t there yet—but all who follow Jesus are called to take part in creating that community.
What is this Great Community like?
It is a community composed of disciples who follow Jesus’ commandments (GC1).
It is a community of those who love, serve, and care for one another, especially the poor and needy, as Jesus did (GC2).
It is a community of disciple- makers, part of the ever-expanding worldwide movement of followers of Jesus (GC1) It is an international, multiethnic, multicultural community (GC3)—a church of many colors. If heaven is going to be a multiethnic community, maybe we should be getting accustomed to such diversity now! As a missionary in several foreign countries, one of my favorite experiences was to visit churches where the singing and the message were in a language I couldn’t understand. As I sat quietly listening to my brothers and sisters worshipping in some other language, I would remind myself that this gathering was a preview of heaven, the Great Community to come!
We will talk more about this Great Community next week.
Greg Giles is a published author, who, along with his wife Jean, has embraced the call to serve and teach around the globe. Their life together has included missionary work in Liberia, Bangladesh, teaching in China, and raising a family in Bemidji, Minnesota. Between global travels and local commitments, including serving as superintendent of Corn Bible Academy and their current part-time roles at Corn Heritage Village, the Gileses have found “home” in many places; yet, they now happily reside in retirement in Cordell. Please visit his website at reflections-on-wisdom.com.