An Inseparable Combination
Category : Blogpost
It is crucial to hold the Great Commission and the Fruit of the Spirit in tandem. Here is what goes wrong if you do not.
If you emphasize the Great Commission without the Fruit of the Spirit, you get harsh, coercive evangelism. You get crusades, colonialism, and people being pressured into decisions without being led lovingly into discipleship. You get a mission that uses people as projects rather than loving them as neighbors. The world has seen enough of that, and it has done enormous damage to the church’s witness.
If you emphasize the Fruit of the Spirit without the Great Commission, you get a comfortable, inward-looking faith. You get Christians who are nice but never share the gospel, who cultivate their own spiritual lives but never cross the street to make a disciple. You get a church that is loving and kind but has forgotten its purpose.
The Great Commission without fruit is harsh. Fruit without the Great Commission is sterile. Together, they are powerful.
Think of it this way: the Great Commission is the outward movement; that is, going, baptizing, and teaching. The Fruit of the Spirit is the inward formation, being transformed into the character of Christ. Both are necessary. You cannot sustain the outward movement without inward formation; you will burn out or become bitter. Moreover, you cannot claim inward formation if it never leads to outward mission; you are just hiding from the world.
The Christian life is a rhythm of going out and coming back. You go into the world to make disciples, and you return to the Spirit to be refilled with love, joy, peace, and patience. You teach others to obey everything Jesus commanded, and you yourself continue to learn and grow. You baptize new believers into the community, and you bear with one another in love.
Stay tuned!