The Great Commission Resurgence - Reflection on Axiom #1

Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20, HCSB).

I. A Commitment to Christ’s Lordship. We call upon all Southern Baptists to submit to the absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ in all things at the personal, local church, and denominational levels. (Col. 1:18; 3:16-17, 23-24)

Scripture is clear that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. Therefore, Jesus Christ must be our passion and priority and we should aspire to both know Him and love Him more fully. We must long to see Him have preeminence in all things. We desire to see a Convention of Christ-centered, “Jesus-intoxicated” people who pursue all that we do by God’s grace and for His glory. We believe we need the ministry of the Holy Spirit to lead us into a new and fresh intimacy and communion with the Lord Jesus that results in greater obedience to all that He commands. Christ’s Lordship must be first and foremost in a Great Commission Resurgence or we will miss our most important priority and fail in all of our other pursuits.

This axiom truly needs no further reflection. All I would add at this point is that for the Southern Baptist Convention to to a "Christ-centered" and "Jesus-intoxicated" people will mean that we must have "Christ-centered" and "Jesus intoxicated" churches, pastors, and congregations. In short, it will require each individual church member to be focused on, passionate about, and driven by Christ.

Questions we all must ask ourselves, then are questions such as:

• Can I be described by others as a 'Jesus intoxicated' person?


• Are my pursuits, expenditures, goals, etc. geared towards bringing Christ the most glory?


• Am I trying to build my kingdom, or Christ's on the earth?


• Is every member of the church I attend a genuine, born again, Christ-centered person?


• How can I spur others on toward being intoxicated with Jesus?


• How can I gear my life so that future generations are passionate for Christ?


• Do I long for others to be enthralled with a love for Christ?

I believe this axiom is first for a reason. If we fail here, we fail all the way down the rest of the line of axioms. So, I pray God would make me into a man who is intoxicated with the Person and Spirit of Jesus Christ.