Mere Missions

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submit and obey to their new Lord. If the one making a disciple is to supply the convert with everything that Jesus taught us, so that they can demonstrate obedience to the One they are now claiming to be their Lord, what is “everything” so that the disciple maker can fulfill the Lords Great Commission mandate? Is there a radical minimum to “everything” that Jesus taught? Dr. George Patterson trained pastors and planted churches in Central America, where his strategies for church multiplication became known. He asked himself the same question and came up with the “Seven Basic Commands of Christ” found in the New Testament. In his context, most of the new converts were illiterate. He taught them orally the seven basic commands of Christ, with the pertinent Scripture texts for them to memorize. They memorized the key texts so effectively and thoroughly, that they were able to witness to others by reciting the verses without usually having the ability to read them. The Seven Basic Commands of Christ according to Patterson are as follows: 1. Confess, repent, and believe the Gospel (Mark 1.15). 2. Be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28.19; Acts 2.38). 3. Love a. God (Matt. 22.37) b. Neighbor (any other person irrespective of race or religion with whom we live or whom we chance to meet) (Matt. 22.39) c. One another (those in the Kingdom Society; brothers and sisters in Christ) (John 13.34) 4. Celebrate the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22.17-20). 5. Pray (Matt. 6.5-15).