Mark 16 closes out the book of Mark with a brief account of the resurrection and a somewhat controversial last 11 verses. Controversy aside, what stuck out to me was the great commission like statement found in Mark 16:15. The idea is found in all the gospels, Acts… Well really the whole Bible.

God has made the way to rescue sinners from His wrath through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ who was crucified, buried and risen from the dead. This is indeed good news and the world should hear!

Believers are called to be ambassadors of Christ! We are to take the good news everywhere, including to people who may not count the gospel as good news. We are to go!

It’s the PEOPLE not the PLACE!

But where are we to go? If we are not careful we will become mistaken and think we are to go places (indeed that may be part, but it is not the whole), but the command to go and make disciples is not about geography as much as it is about people. People who at this very moment stand outside the kingdom of God. People who may have never even heard the gospel. The command is to go to the people, not the place. Sometimes we have to go places to get to the people, but please make no mistake we go to share the good news with people.

The implications of this are huge! Tonight as I write this there are people in my city who will lay their head on their pillow to go to sleep and they have never heard the good news. My city has an abundance of churches, and yet there are people who have not heard.  The condition of those who have not heard in Pensacola is the same as those who have not heard in another city or country with less churches. Again the command isn’t to go to places, but to go to people! Darkness is darkness wherever it exists. We can no longer use the fact that there are more people without the gospel in another region of the world as an excuse to just give our money and not search out those who are without Christ on our own neighborhood. (We should give and give generously to reach people across cultural divides, but not in replace of sharing the good news in our own culture).