The Great Re-Commission: Awakenings 2025 Day 1
"I am stuck in the middle with you all. What are the right questions for the Church to ask in this moment? Here's one: 'Whither the Great Commission of Jesus Christ?' Meaning, to what place or state are we traveling as the Church towards the Great Commission?” -Jim Baucom
“I am stuck in the middle with you all. What are the right questions for the Church to ask in this moment? Here’s one: ‘Whither the Great Commission of Jesus Christ?’ Meaning, to what place or state are we traveling as the Church towards the Great Commission?” -Jim Baucom (Co-Pastor, Columbia Baptist Church) “The Great Re-Commission”
Whenever a keynote plenary begins with a definition, the wordsmith nerd in me is activated, and I’m all ears. Jim Baucom, Co-Pastor of Columbia Baptist Church, where we gathered for Awakenings 2025, who was one of Missio Alliance’s founding board members, began his plenary with a simple question, asked in Shakespearian fashion: “Whither the Great Commission of Jesus Christ?” As several hundred of us collectively glanced around, wondering if we were listening to a lecture given in Olde English, Jim began to unpack his question with this definition:
whither | ˈ(h)wiT͟Hər | archaic or literary adverb
1. to what place or state: Whither are we bound? | They asked people whither they would emigrate. what is the likely future of: Whither modern architecture?
2. to which (with reference to a place): The barbecue had been set up by the lake, whither Matthew and Sara were conducted. to whatever place; wherever: we could drive whither we pleased.
Whither the Great Commission of Jesus Christ, meaning alternatively “What is the future of the Great Commission,” is the charge that Jesus gave to his disciples in Matthew 28, and too the Church universal by extension. Slowly, as metaphorical light bulbs began to flicker on above the heads of those gathered, we considered the successes, challenges, and frequently compromised missional witness of the Church throughout the centuries. Jim’s point was clear, yet easy to miss, rooted in a more contextually accurate reading of the Greek in Matthew 28:19:
“As you go, make disciples of all the nations…”
This is an accurate, faithful rendering of Matthew 28:19, translated directly from the Greek imperative command in this verse, which is to make disciples. In other words, wondering about the future of the Church in light of the Great Commission directly requires a confrontation with the state by which we are making disciples as we go about our daily lives. Said a third way, are we as the Church making disciples of all the nations in all that we do? What is the state of this Great Commission from Christ? Do we need a present-day ‘re-commissioning?’
Jim juxtaposed the struggle of our current moment in this manner, arguing that “We live in a day where we want to know exactly what we are doing, where there has to be a strategy and plan. But God is inviting us to respond to the great transformation of this coming moment like the apostles, taking one step forward, and then following in faith.”
Jim then weaved the story of Columbia’s founding with the journey towards its present day missional focus on Asset-Based Community Development, sharing the image above, a photo taken by the renowned Civil War photographer Matthew Brady in 1856, connecting the following gripping anecdote to our present cultural moment:
“Columbia was founded in 1856 by seven abolitionist men and women from New York. This is a picture of Columbia’s first building, taken by Matthew Brady toward the end of the Civil War. Brady was a famous Civil War photographer. In this picture, Matthew Brady is looking at a transition point beyond Columbia in Falls Church. What has his attention? Brady is actually looking at the slave-holding state church building beyond Columbia’s first building. Columbia’s first planters situated their church right next to the slave-holding lodge, declaring that ‘We are planting our church right here.’ This is boldness — in their cultural context, this is the gospel that needed to be shared.” -Jim Baucom (Co-Pastor, Columbia Baptist Church)“The Great Re-Commission”
Suddenly, as only good art does, we were confronted with the truth of this moment:
- Where is our attention currently fixed?
- Are we looking beyond ourselves (our church buildings, the small distractions in our midst, our own need for comfort) to the wider systemic injustices that are present right within our midst?
- How does a fresh need for gospel boldness, and for the Kingdom of God to be experienced ‘at hand,’ inform where we ‘plant ourselves’ as the Church of our day?
As we go, Jim wondered, making disciples of the nations in our midst, do we do so with the prophetic courage of Dietrich Bonhoeffer to fellow German clergy in 1933, as he bravely declared in the shadow of Hitler’s rise to power:
“We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice; we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1933)
We must look beyond ourselves – for God is calling us forward, even in this overwhelming, scary cultural moment. Courage is needed, and we must take heart.
~Missio Alliance
Download a PDF ‘Awakening 2025 Day 1 (Thursday) Notes | Missio Alliance’ here.
Editorial Note: How do you recap a profoundly deep and prophetically challenging biennial gathering such as Awakenings 2025? Without saying “Check out all the clips and images already on our social channels” (Do this!), the answer is, imperfectly yet with short reflections. Thus, the next few articles will contain a short reflection and key ideas and quotes from plenary speakers during each day of Awakenings 2025.
Several hundred of us gathered in the DC Metro area in early March to seek God, and begin to make sense of this cultural moment. God met us, as God always does, and we left transformed.
We hope these simple reflections spark your own transformation journey with Jesus as you continue to pursue wholeness and beauty in the life of the church alongside our team. ~CK
P.S. Pick up the Awakenings 2025 Conference Bundle, which includes video of all Main Sessions + audio of all Workshops, today!
