Most people's concept of missions is of the missionary who uproots his/her life to live in another country to make Jesus known. Among the various realities and misconceptions that typically accompany this mental picture is the idea that "going" is reserved for a select few with a unique calling. 

However, the call of Christ to make disciples is for all believers. It’s not as much a call for a specific event as it is a call to a lifestyle of disciple-making. Written into the very heart of Matthew 28:19-20, the passage known as the Great Commission, is Jesus’ vision that disciple-making would be a lifestyle for His followers. The original Greek can be understood to say, “as you are going, make disciples of all nations." In Acts 1:8, Jesus tells His followers that they are to be His witnesses, not that they are to do the task of witnessing occasionally. So we see that this command is not for a select few or a one-time event. The natural, continuous identity of the disciple is that of witness and disciple-maker, an identity that results in a lifestyle of witnessing to the sufficiency of Jesus and making disciples as you go, wherever you go. 

Believers desiring practical implementation can gain further insight from Paul. In Romans 10:14, he poses the questions, “How can they call upon the one in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” What was true in Paul’s day is true in ours — that there remains a significant portion of the population who do not have access to a witness of Christ or the good news of what He has done. As followers of Christ who long for His return, we would do well to keep this truth at the forefront of our minds and be intentional about where we go. This truth might inform which ethnic restaurants or foreign-born businesses we choose to frequent or which part of the world we consider visiting on a short-term trip.

“Going” and “making disciples” are inseparable elements of a disciple’s life, whether you go across town or to the other side of the world. Wherever you go, be the kind of person who makes disciples . . . Until All Have Heard.