The Missionary Position

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”

                        Mark 16.15 

Back to Square One

This scripture is often referred to as “The Great Commission”—the disciples’ authorization by Christ to spread the gospel. We hold it in high regard and rightly respect those who dedicate their lives to His call. But what led up to it was not quite so noble.

After leaving the tomb, Jesus met some women who came to anoint His corpse. He instructed them to tell the disciples He was alive and would meet them in Galilee. (That’s right; Christ first entrusted women with the resurrection message.) The disciples didn’t believe. They stayed put, ignoring the command to return to Galilee, where many of them initially encountered Jesus. Plainly, He intended to begin this new phase of His ministry by going back to square one. When the disciples failed to meet Him, He had to come to them.

Alone and Afraid

Why didn’t the disciples show up? Before rushing to judgment, we should gauge their emotional state. They left everything—homes, families, and jobs—for Christ. Now He had been taken from them, no doubt sooner than they anticipated and in a far more sinister, gruesome manner than they imagined. Seeing how the public and politicians turned on their Leader, they had no assurance they wouldn’t be next. Naturally, the disciples felt alone and afraid.

Mark reports that when Jesus arrived, “he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe.” He chastened them for yielding to natural impulses instead of following the unnatural lifestyle He taught them to live by faith. He understood their feelings of rejection and fear. But rather than comfort them, He confronted the doubt and disbelief behind their emotions. After that reality check, they were ready to hear what He planned to tell them in Galilee: “Go everywhere and tell everyone what you know.”

Meet Him in Galilee

We most often associate The Great Commission with preaching and foreign missions. Yet knowing its context tells a different story. We are all commissioned to spread the good news of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. Before taking off for parts unknown, we start in Galilee, the world and people we know best. As GLBT believers, we must assume the missionary position first and foremost in our community. Given the religious hostility it’s suffered, we potentially face a similarly angry backlash. We can’t respond like the disciples, hiding out in fear, nowhere to be found. We’ve got the best news known to humanity. If we truly believe it, we’ll act on it by faith. Go.

  

 

Whether we live in big cities like these or remote rural areas, our community is our Galilee.