After his resurrection, Jesus commissioned his disciples to announce the gospel of the kingdom: “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 lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

As often as possible, the church community sends out brothers and sisters to proclaim the gospel. In doing so, our prayer is that the original apostolic commission might become a reality today as it was in New Testament times: for Christ’s messengers to be equipped with the full authority of the Spirit, going into all the world to invite people to the great feast of the kingdom of God. We pray that God grants this gift somewhere, whether to us or to others. But whatever the measure of grace he gives us, he sends us out as envoys of his kingdom, and we desire to obey.

The gospel we proclaim is alive and gives life: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Ours is not a silent God. His Word is not cast in iron or set in the dead letters of holy books. The Word of God is Christ himself, his presence and his power. This living Word never contradicts the Bible, which testifies to him and his will, but is spoken again and again by the Spirit into human hearts.1 He opens our eyes to the meaning of Scripture and teaches us everything we must do.

Those who go out to spread the good news must be sent in the name of Christ by a church community united in a spirit of repentance and love. They must trace the footsteps of Christ as they lead from one person to another and follow them from house to house and town to town. To the extent that we are given discernment to do this, we will find ourselves where he has already gone, among people whose hearts have already been opened by him. Our task is not to proselytize or judge others, but to witness to the greatness of God’s kingdom.

So, too, those who remain at home in the church community desire to live in a way that testifies to perfect unity, as a sign to all the world of who Jesus is and what he wills.

How will the world know that the gospel is true? Jesus taught us that it would be through the love and unity visible among his disciples. On the night before his death, he prayed for them and for all believers who would come after them: “That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

Oneness in Jesus is a great grace. This grace is not cheap. It demands deeds of love and repentance. It requires giving and receiving forgiveness again and again. Yet if we live in the unity that Jesus prayed for, it will shine out into the whole world as a powerful proclamation of his coming kingdom.2

* This online version of Foundations is for reference only. For the authoritative version, see the print edition.