How do Christian’s view and understand the Great Commission? In 2018 Barna assessed this in many churches to see how this might impact evangelism around the world. The research showed an alarming low level of church members being well-versed on this biblical perspective. Only 17 percent knew the meaning of the Great Commission.

Then, in 2020 they looked a little more specifically about how the younger generations view a global ministry. Many believe missionary work is “very valuable.” Some would even consider being a missionary. However, those of the ages 18-34, according to Barna’s “The Future of Missions”, express more concern about the history of missions and believing missions in the past has been unethical.

Now, Barna has come out with another study of missions in the church. It is called The Great Disconnect. There is a disconnect from what the Pastors of church see missions to be versus many in the congregation. In this study they found that “half of churches Christians say they’ve never heard of the Great Commission and can’t correctly identify the scripture associated with this command from Jesus.”

It would be good if all pastors would evaluate their church when it comes to the Great Commission. Barna asks, “What is the current state of mission culture within your church? Do you feel your congregation is connected to the calling, the need and your strategy?”

Now, I believe that our BBFI churches are much more in tune with the Great Commission than with most of the churches in Barna’s research. However, I don’t think we can take this for granted. If we are going to seriously make an effort to GO, SEND, and PRAY in order to reach our work, it will be good to self-evaluate where our churches stand.

For a very in-depth look into this, I would highly recommend obtaining and reading Barna’s research in The Great Disconnect. You can order it online.

Jon Konnerup