Money is a subject many pastors choose not to talk about. They are afraid the message will not be received well for any number of reasons. My advice to pastors and church leaders when preaching about money is as simple as ABC:

Accountability

The biblical approach to life is to acknowledge that we own nothing, and He owns everything. He holds us accountable for how we manage the resources He has entrusted us with.

Every pastor should remind his church of the responsibility God has placed on them to be good stewards of His resources. Here is how I define Stewardship in my book:

The wise and proper management of all that God has entrusted to us, whether it be time, talent, things, or anything else.

Belief

Motivate your church to believe that God will maximize the return on your eternal investment. Supporting the Great Commission means having confidence that God will use His resources (including ourselves) to share the gospel with every person in the world.

People will give to ideas they believe in. Develop a church that deeply believes in the task Jesus gave us and your financial support for that task will increase.

Commitment  

Ask with confidence that all Christ-followers give at least the first tenth of all they have through their local church. However bad we may perceive the timing in a call to finance the Great Commission we must always keep things in perspective.

As frightening as your people’s financial prospects may be, far more terrifying is the prospect of millions dying without hearing the saving gospel.

Challenge your church to grow their faith by giving back to God the resources that are His in the first place. How committed are you and your church to giving His resources back to Him in order to see dying people come to know Him?

Financing the Great Commission requires pastors and church leaders to boldly challenge their church families to be accountable for the resources at their disposal, believing through faith that He will make effective use of them, and to renew their commitment to see people from all nations come to Christ.

Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie Floyd

More than 2500 years ago the prophet Joel addressed three values that are desired by all people, both then and now. He warned Judah that the people’s spiritual complacency spelled disaster.

The key to attaining these highly coveted blessings is to focus on the One who gives them. Everyone wants protection, provision, and joy but Joel teaches us that only when we repent of our casual commitment to God and completely give our lives to Him will we experience these gifts to their fullest potential.

God is Our Protection

Joel spoke of the destruction of Judah all while calling the people to repentance. The day of the LORD was coming. Destruction was inevitable unless they returned to God. What a relevant concept in our world today!

Both as individuals and as a nation we have at times felt the walls caving in around us. Our circumstances become grim and we don’t know who to turn to.

Joel points the way. He says, “The LORD is a refuge to his people.” (3:16). He is our protector and we must repent of our sin and rely on Him to protect us.

God is Our Provision

Joel also suggests that we can lose God’s provision for us through our spiritual complacency. When we fail to take seriously our commitment to the Lord we should not be surprised if He withholds His blessings from us.

Our last great hope is realizing that God reigns, that all good gifts come from Him and can be removed as a measure of loving discipline, just as a parent may send a child to bed without dinner.

Joel says, “Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love… Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him?” (2:13-14).

God is Our Source of Joy

Joel describes Judah’s situation as a never-ending funeral where “human joy has dried up.” (1:12). Here again, many of us can relate to the people of Joel’s day. We see the circumstances around us and begin to despair. Yet, Joel says, if His people will repent and return to the Lord they will experience great joy.

The joy we find in God cannot be diminished by our poor circumstances. You may not always be happy, but if you turn from spiritual complacency to a life fully devoted to the Lord, then joy will fill your life.

Who do you look to as your protector, provider, and source of joy? Is it your friends, family, or career? Maybe for you it is modern technology or medicine. Let me encourage you to rely on the Lord for these blessings.

When we repent of our spiritual complacency and wholeheartedly seek God, we can be assured he will protect us, provide for us, and be our source of Joy.

Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie Floyd

Each of us is responsible for our own obedience and availability in fulfilling the Great Commission. In my book I offer 9 action points to help you learn to talk Jesus daily so that the world can meet Him.

• Prioritize: God has designed our world so that it works only when we set our priorities according to His design. Our problems suddenly become small when put into the perspective of the world’s lostness.

• Pray for Opportunities: Every morning ask God for opportunities to talk about Jesus with someone each day. God will answer this prayer every time. Plus it will put sharing your faith at the front of your mind.

• Pray by Name: Pray specifically for individuals you know who are not followers of Jesus. As you pray for those people you will discover that the passion with which you pray for them will bleed over into your conversations with them.

• Prepare Yourself Personally and Practically: Spending time in God’s Word every morning will help place you in the right state of mind for sharing the gospel throughout the day.

• Prime Your Relationships: The most effective witness comes through a powerful relationship. The old cliché is true. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

• Present the Gospel: Friendship evangelism is a great idea, except when it is all friendship and no evangelism. There must come a time in your relationships to present the message of Jesus and ask your friend to make the most important decision of his or her life.

• Provide the Moment for Receiving Christ: We need to build deliberately toward the moment of clearly asking for a decision. Then be sure you give them an opportunity to respond to the decision you have asked them to make.

• Position for the Future: Many people will not be ready to receive Christ. The best thing you can do then is wisely position yourself for future efforts by focusing on building the friendship rather than forcing the issue. God will draw people to Himself in His timing.

• Place Your Trust in the Lord: Whatever happens, praise God and keep trusting. Provide an effective, Spirit-led presentation of the gospel. Then allow God to work in their hearts.

It all comes down to such a simple thing: talking Jesus every day, in every way. I challenge you to spend some time examining yourself to see how well you do these nine steps. Which of them is more difficult for you and what are you doing to become a better Christ-follower in that regard?

Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie Floyd

Sadly, the only growth many churches experience is through births within their current membership mixed with the occasional transfer family who has recently relocated to the area. In these churches there is little being done to reach out to people who need the message of Christ, both locally and globally. We can avoid this failed approach by making two important course correctives that reflect the central priority of the church’s existence.

People Must Change Their Mind-Sets

The Great Commission is not an option. Yet, we have let it become a sin of omission. We limit Christianity to a “lifestyle choice” instead of a decision of eternal destiny. Let me encourage you with a couple of ideas for developing a Great Commission oriented mind-set.

• Be faithful to talk Jesus daily. Make Jesus a regular part of your conversations. Begin everyday with a prayer asking God to show you opportunities to speak Christ into someone’s life today.
• Be sensitive and respectful. This will make your presentation of the gospel far more effective than if you were to be pushy or obnoxious.
• Be a good friend. Earn the right to be heard by building genuine friendships with people who do not know Christ. When a crisis strikes people turn to their friends for help. This often results in a great opportunity to share the gospel.
• Be confident that God is in control. We serve the Lord of all things. Rest assured that he will bring you the right moment to share Jesus with someone. Simply listen to Him and be open to his prompting.

Churches Must Change Their Cultures

We can offer the best facilities or programs of any church in the world but we’ll never make disciples until we talk about Jesus with people. We have to reinvent church life so it’s built around discussion, planning, and execution of faith sharing. The best part is, Jesus has already given the church the means, message, market, and method for fulfilling the Great Commission!

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20.

• Means:  “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me… I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
• Message:  “…observe all that I have commanded you.”
• Market:  “…all nations.”
• Method:  “make disciples…baptizing…teaching…”

The church has all the tools it needs. The only thing missing is our will to be obedient. It’s time to repent, change our mind-sets, and change the culture of our churches. Taking seriously the command to talk about Jesus with people is the key to growing a healthy church.

Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie Floyd

Through the course of their training young pastors will learn many things about preparing for a Sunday morning sermon. They may learn in seminary how to read the original languages and exegete the passage. They are taught homiletical devices to become better speakers. All of these are helpful but as wisdom grows through the years, they find that prayer is the key to Great Commission focused preaching.

This post is intended to help the young pastor or small group leader develop their practice before they preach. There are four words for you to remember:

• Rest: Your Sunday morning tradition actually begins on Saturday evening. Get yourself in a restful mode. This doesn’t necessarily mean go to bed early. Just do whatever you do to get relaxed and ready for a good night’s sleep. Spend time in prayer over your message before going to sleep.

• Rise: Rise early. I rise at 3 a.m. so I can have personal time with God. Many young pastors rush their morning preparations. Resist that temptation and allow yourself ample time to pray, journal, and master the message without feeling hurried. It’s also a good idea to exercise and get your energy level up and your blood pumping. Many pastors underestimate the importance of maintaining their physical health.

• Arrive: Arrive at your church early where you can once again spend an hour or so completely alone. Go over your message one last time. Get on your knees and fully surrender yourself and the message to God.

• Humble: Humble yourself and have other men pray over you. Every Sunday morning just before the service begins I have the privilege of having a group of men in our church pray over me. Being surrounded by such great men of faith to be prayed for is a humbling experience for which I am very grateful .

I call Sunday mornings before worship the “Situation Room” because it is when pastors seek their final marching orders before going into spiritual battle. That is why prayer is the central theme running throughout these four words of advice. The Great Commission is most evident in a pastor’s sermon when he has been fully committed to praying for all nations.

I describe my personal Sunday morning process at the end of the first chapter in my book.

Like many pastors I have a number of items in my office from around the world. As I look at them I am reminded of the country from where they originated and the people of that location.

This leads me to pray for different people groups from around the world every week before preaching. In the hours leading up to my sermon my mind is focused on fulfilling the Great Commission of making disciples of all nations.

How do you spend your time on Sunday mornings? What do you think about before preaching?

Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie Floyd

One of the reasons many churches do not have an emphasis on the Great Commission is because the leadership of those churches are not personally committed to it themselves. Addressing this problem is one of the major objectives of my new book. I want the reader to make the Great Commission personal. Here are a few ideas on how this can be done.

Listen:

• Listen to the needs of your community. An awareness of how your church can best serve those around you creates an effective platform for sharing the gospel.
• Listen to the talents in your church. Identify the unique gifts people in your church possess and allow them to strategically exercise those gifts to reach people with the gospel.

Look:

• Look for opportunities to share the gospel corporately in your preaching. A gospel preacher needs to be preaching the gospel. It’s that simple.
• Look for opportunities to share the gospel personally. Church members are unlikely to act on your preaching unless they see you personally living out your sermons.

Lead:

• Lead by living on mission with God. Live available and open to serving others. Your church will begin to mimic your actions causing a chain-effect that will see drastic growth in your ministry.
• Lead by going on mission with your church. Personally take your church on mission efforts. (In the next year I am leading teams from my church to the Dominican Republic and Brazil). Show your church you are serious about missions by being actively involved yourself. And remember, the Great Commission is not just about “over there”, but it all begins “right here, right where you are!”

A word of caution:

• Be careful of your motives. You want your people to see you leading by example but not for the sake of an example. Are you serving in the outreach program just to be seen or are your intentions honestly to serve?
• Jesus warns us in Matthew 6:1, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Personally owning the Great Commission is not about being honored by others (see my post Audience of One) but obeying the words of our Savior to go and make disciples of all nations.

Here is an example of how one pastor is taking steps to own the Great Commission personally and corporately. This shepherd of a church in a small Texas town said, “It is a fantastic read. I am planning on taking my church leadership through it.”

This is exactly what I am encouraging all church leaders to do. Go through this book with your staff and/or lay leadership. One of the reasons I hope you share this book and set it in the hands of the top two tiers of leadership in your church is because when they read it they begin to own the Great Commission personally.

Will you give a copy to your church leaders?  It will change the conversation in your church. Maybe you have already finished the book. How is it affecting you and your church?

Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie Floyd

This line from a simple children’s song speaks volumes to the attitude of a Christ-follower truly committed to the Great Commission. It is encouraging that so many churches have made significant progress toward understanding that no matter one’s skin color, “they are precious in His sight.”

However, the sad truth is that many churches remain segregated. Before addressing the issue it is important to note first of all what is meant by the word “segregation.” It means, “to separate or set apart from others or from the main body or group; to isolate.”

It is more than just racial, gender, or ethnic divisions. Socio-economic status, politics, personal preference for worship styles and décor, even sports can become barriers to unity in the church. Any number of segregating walls can be built in the church, some more severe than others. However, to be a church focused on the Great Commission we must first recognize that the love, unity, and power of the gospel is our most effective weapon against segregation.

If we will fully obey Christ’s command to go and make disciples of ALL nations, then segregation will cease to be the type of issue it is today. The gospel is more demanding than our nationality, the color of our skin, or the amount in our bank account. All ethnicities, all people groups, all economic classes share a fallen ancestry that puts us on equal ground at the foot of the cross.

Throughout several chapters in the book of Revelation John records a majestic scene. He sees Jesus who, through His blood, “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” (Rev 5:9).

Then he sees, “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages…crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Rev 7:9-10).

What an image: a multitude of people from all different nationalities shouting, in unity, praises to our Lord! This should encourage us to model our churches here on earth after the scene John describes.

God has not only called us to unity and worship, but unity in worship. We serve a God who loves busting borders and knocking down walls. It brings Him great joy when we reach to each other across the distinctions that usually divide us.

Does your church embody the image captured by John? We should all desire that our own local church be comprised of all people from every people group in our town, community, or city. What are you doing in your church to tear down the walls of all forms of segregation so that you can more effectively reach ALL the nations with the gospel?

Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie Floyd

These three traits are often lacking in the lives of many Christians. Sure, we talk about them in marriage seminars, but how often do we actively develop these concepts in relation to the Great Commission?

While strengthening these features in our marriages is a necessary and excellent ambition, I want to focus right now on using them to intensify our commitment to telling every person in the world about Jesus and making disciples of all nations. We can do this by giving honest, harsh answers to three tough questions.

Do I know Jesus Intimately?

Take your time and think about how you would honestly answer. You’ll never address a more important question in your life. In order to have a passion for obeying the Great Commission a person must first fully internalize its message. The beautiful thing is, if you have internalized it then you can’t help but to obey it! If you’ve truly tasted of the Bread of Life then there is absolutely no way you can live without telling others about Him. Use your level of commitment to the Great Commission as a litmus test for how intimately you know Jesus.

Do I love Jesus Passionately?

Like the church at Ephesus that Jesus talks to in the book of Revelation, many Christians today have lost the passion they once had for Christ. Has some of your passion for Jesus faded away? Then I urge you to follow the instructions Jesus gave in Revelation chapter 2. He says, “remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” (Rev 2:5). This is a simple three-step plan: Remember, Repent, Repeat. Do these and you will rediscover your passion for the Lord.

Do I share Jesus Constantly?

Knowing Christ intimately and loving Him passionately will always lead to sharing Him with others. These three ideas are inseparable. To know Christ is to love Him; to love Him is to share Him. Here is a tough but true statement: The Christian who is apathetic about the Great Commission is the one who is not walking at Jesus’ speed, who has fallen far behind, or who is wandering somewhere in the woods. If Christ is our guide, then the Great Commission is our compass. Make it a consistent aspect of your daily life.

But how do you do these three things? Here are some simple solutions to help you become more Great Commission focused.

• The best way to know Him more intimately is to:
  Be intentional about studying God’s Word.

• The best way to love Him more passionately is to:
  Be persistent in communicating with Him in prayer.

• The best way to share Him more consistently is to:
  Be continually aware of the evangelism opportunities around you.

Here I will echo a challenge put to you in a previous post called “Reality Check.” Devote time each and every day to prayer and the study of God’s Word in order to know, love, and share Him better.

Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie Floyd

One of the major challenges that prevent many churches from being Great Commission churches can be summarized in a single word: insecurity. It eliminates opportunities for evangelism, it creates conflict in the church, and I’ve even seen it ruin ministries. Here are some helpful tips for identifying the signs of and solutions to insecurity.

Signs of Insecurity

• Competitiveness– One of the biggest problems insecurity carries with it is overt competition. Churches try to “out-do” one another. Pastors find themselves competing with other pastors.
  Solution: Remember that as a Christ-follower your only competition is the world, the flesh, and the devil; not other pastors or churches.

• Combativeness – I have seen many pastors or other church leaders ruin their ministry by the incessant need to have their way all the time. In one of my previous books, Ten Things Every Minister Needs to Know I talk about this issue in more detail.
  Solution: Recognize that not every hill is worth dying on. Sometimes the best, most Christ-like way is to humble yourself and see that the best idea is not always your own.

• Complaining– Some of the whiniest people I know are ministers. It also happens that pastors are some of the most insecure people I know. The two often go together. Complaining is a serious obstacle for many ministers of the gospel.
  Solution: Return to the reason you are in ministry. Church leadership roles are often very hard. When all the bad stuff starts coming your way instead of complaining about it keep your heart in the Word of God and keep your eyes on Jesus and the lost-ness of the world.

We don’t have time to play games and be insecure. We are not competing against the pastor across town. We are not entitled to getting everything our way because we’re in a church leadership role. Insecure pastors create insecure churches. Insecure churches are ineffective churches.

So let’s set aside the competiveness, combativeness, and complaining and focus on taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world and making disciples of all nations.

Our Savior’s command to go and make disciples is prefaced by the statement, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” and is followed by “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:18, 20). Because we live in and with the authority of the Great Commission there is no need for insecurity.

Knowing that the One who has all authority is with you, how are you fulfilling the Great Commission in your life right now?

Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie Floyd

Most of us spend some part of our mornings standing in front of a mirror. Whether it’s to fix your hair and apply makeup or shave and tie your necktie, we all take the time to look at ourselves in the mirror to prepare for the day.

We do all sorts of things to get ready for the physical day and in the same way we prepare for the spiritual day by spending time in the Bible. The mirror shows us our reflection, even the imperfections and bits of ourselves we may not want to see. Similarly, the Bible reveals who we really are with harsh precision. God’s word provides a reality check that shows us how fallen and helpless we are without Christ. It shows us the imperfections and things we need to change.

Recognizing our dependency on Jesus Christ is the first step toward a life centered around the Great Commission. Telling the world about Jesus and making disciples of all nations is a challenge beyond the scope of any fallen human being. That’s why the last sentence of the Great Commission is so important. Jesus said, ‘And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt 28:20).

Seeing our utter dependence on Christ and knowing He is always with us is the first step towards fulfilling the Great Commission. This is a reminder we need every day, just the same as we need a physical mirror every day.

Let’s push the analogy a little bit further. The type of day we are planning on having will determine how much time we spend in front of the mirror doesn’t it? If you have an important meeting you may spend a little extra time making sure you look as sharp as possible. If you have a date you may spend a few extra minutes making sure every hair is in its right place. The principle is this: the more important the day, the more time we spend preparing for it.

Every day when you go into the workplace or some other social setting there will be numerous opportunities to win someone to Christ. What could be more important than that?

So let this illustration be an encouragement to you that there is nothing more important on your schedule than the opportunities you will have to carry out the Great Commission. Every day is an important day! Prepare for each one well by spending extra time with God in His Word and in communication with Him each morning. This daily practice that I have done for decades has been the source of all spiritual power and the secret of all success.

Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie Floyd