Trying to Reconcile

This is a totally different subject than what I planned on writing about so this will be a little short. Keep in mind that my goal is not to offend, but rather to inspire thought.

Have you fulfilled the Great Commission in your own life? Now I know that some who read this may be ordained ministers so the answer could be "yes". I myself am an unordained minister (long story) and I can say with no hesitation that my answer to that question is "no, I haven't".

To make sure we're all the same page (literally), here's the exact passage. Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Here's my problem that I'm trying to reconcile, Can I fulfill the Great Commission within the average Baptist church? My short answer is "no, I cannot", and here's why. I'm not ordained as a minister.

I've had the privilege of leading people to Christ, yes. I've taught Bible Studies, Sunday schools, and have probably preached to close to 1000 people, but I've NEVER baptized anyone. The sadness of that is, I never will baptize anyone if I a) remain unordained or b) remain in an average baptist church.

But I'm not alone. To my female readers I ask, "Can you ever fulfill the Great Commission in an average Baptist church?" The answer is "no, you cannot", and here's why. You can NEVER be ordained as a minister. Interesting. Let's look at Jesus' ministry. Mary and Martha, Mary Magdalene, all women involved in Jesus' ministry. They were welcomed in his ministry. Fast forward to the early church and you will find many women that were instrumental in spreading the Gospel (lookup Priscilla and Phoebe). Phoebe is referred to in Romans 1:16 as a "servant" of the church. The interesting thing about the word "servant" is in the original language (Greek) it's the word "diakonos" which when referring to a male is mostly translated "deacon". Very interesting.

So what do you think? How do we reconcile a command from Jesus Himself with a culture that makes it almost impossible. Keep in mind that I'm arguing the fulfillment of the Great Commission within the context of the average Baptist church. I know that not all Baptist churches are the same and I also know that there is no mandate that the fulfillment of the Great Commission MUST be in a local church.

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