August 6, 2012, nearly ten years ago, is a historic day for The Well because on that day, Christy and I and four other people began planting The Well. Back then, we had no church name, no bylaws, no money, no leadership structure, no buildings, and no idea where we would be in the next few months.

We did have three passages of Scripture and a simple mission statement that read: “Running a rescue mission within a yard of hell.” That mission statement stuck and continues to be our mission statement today. The three passages of scripture we had were Matthew 4:17 – 20; 16:15 – 18; 28:18 – 20…

Matthew 4:17 – 20

17From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 18While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Matthew 16:15 – 18

15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Matthew 28:18 – 20

18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Back then (and still today) Christy and I simply believed that when Jesus called us to follow him and to fish for men and women, that he would use this church to assault the gates of hell and that we would grow into a church family that made more disciples who were on the same mission.

What began as a small group of six with three passages and a mission statement that still raises eyebrows, slowly and sometimes painfully grew into the church of nearly 120 adults and kids that we are today. What began as a theoretical pipe dream and a tattoo on my arm, morphed into the church that we all make up today. What began as a backyard pipe dream in a garage full of cigar smoke and laughter became a reality in this building on the South side of the tracks in Hastings.

It is fascinating to think about the now nearly ten years that have passed since those early days. Theory became practice. Dreams came face-to-face with the stark cold reality of what a yard from hell actually means as Christy and I and others of you became practitioners of the mission we were called to, sometimes in some really painful ways, oftentimes in some really beautiful ways.

We have often marveled at the sheer emotional, relational and spiritual toll that a commitment to this kind of mission statement brings along with it as we both have witnessed some of the darkest and most twisted perversions in this world simultaneously with some of the most awe-inspiring evidences of God’s grace, power, and provision. Commit yourself to rescuing lost souls within a yard of hell and you will gain a front row seat to the horrific depravity of sin as well as the overwhelming power of the gospel to transform lives at the same time.

Almost every day I wonder what kind of screws must be loose in our heads to continue doing what we do but then I realize that anything other than “running a rescue mission within a yard of hell” would feel like child’s play to me. Maybe that is the reason C.T. Studd, the famous missionary, pastor, and church planter to China, India, and Africa, said that “Some people wish to live within the sound of a church or chapel bell, but I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.” Mr. Studd, a studly man as I often refer to him, also said:

  1. “True religion is like smallpox. If you get it, you give it to others and it spreads.”
  2. “Only one life will soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.”
  3. “Let us not glide through this world and then slip quietly into heaven, without having blown the trumpet loud and long for our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Let us see to it that the devil will hold a thanksgiving service in hell, when he gets the news of our departure from the field of battle.” 
  4. “The “romance” [romantic picture] of a missionary is often made up of monotony and drudgery; there often is no glamour in it; it doesn’t stir a man’s spirit or blood. So don’t come out to be a missionary as an experiment; it is useless and dangerous. Only come if you feel you would rather die than not come. Don’t come if you want to make a great name or want to live long. Come if you feel there is no greater honor, after living for Christ, than to die for Him.”

Suffice it to say, I have benefitted personally from the ministry of C.T. Studd and his “pull no punches” way of speaking as we have adopted his words as our mission statement and labored to see it become the mission statement of an entire church family. But what does it mean to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell? And what would it look like if more people committed to that statement as their very own mission in life?

The simple answer to these questions can be summed up in a word: Commissioned. The word commission basically means “sent together” and it has a militant feel to it, like when a commander sends a team with his authority to accomplish something on his behalf. For our purposes, we would say that a church like The Well is running a rescue mission within a yard of hell to fish for men and women, to assault the gates of hell, to make disciples who make disciples. This is our commission:

#1: WE ARE COMMISSIONED TO FISH FOR MEN AND WOMEN (MATT. 4:17 – 20)

In Matthew 4:17 – 20, Jesus is out and about preaching the message of repentance, which means to turn away from living in sin and to submit to God as both Savior and King. As Jesus is preaching this message, he finds some fishermen and he calls them to come follow him so that he can make them into fishers of men, and it says that they left their nets behind and immediately began following him.

In the Italian Mafia culture there is a concept of the “Made Man.” A “Made Man” is someone who has been selected, trained, and formally installed as a member of the Mafia who is then sent on behalf of and with the authority of his local crime boss to accomplish the mission of the family in that region.

In this same way, Jesus is the boss, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who makes men and women into fishers of other men and women so that the rule and the reign of the kingdom can be extended across the earth. Jesus does not call people to follow him into comfort and safety; he calls his disciples to join a military family that fishes for men and women with the message of the gospel.

Our job is to respond to that calling, to that commission, immediately, by leaving anything behind that would hinder us from obeying the King. For some people this means relocating to another country while for other people this means that they begin to see their normal circles of influence as opportunities to share Jesus with others instead of opportunities for making a wage or enjoying a hobby.

#2: WE ARE COMMISSIONED TO ASSAULT THE GATES OF HELL (MATT. 16:15 – 18)

Oftentimes when someone becomes a Christian, they become an instant Christian consumer as they begin to consume the Christian lifestyle and all the trinkets that come with it. If one is not careful, it is easy to miss the fact that believers are also called to be soldiers in a spiritual battle for the souls of others who are still living within a yard of hell.

Those who truly come to know the King of the kingdom like Peter who was able to say, Jesus “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”, find their marching orders to assault the gates of hell for the salvation of lost souls as they trust in the promise of their King, that he will build his church “and the gates of hell will not prevail” or withstand the assault that the bride of Christ brings upon it (Matt. 16:15 – 18).

Hell, ain’t got nothing on the church of the resurrected Christ! If the cross couldn’t defeat Jesus and the tomb couldn’t hold him, then the gates of hell will never stand against the pressure that soldiers of the crucified, resurrected, and returning King bring against it. The only reason that the church proves to be impotent against the gates of hell is when its members become too comfortable, too fearful, too selfish, and too fat on the “Christian life” to leave the sheep pen to rescue other souls from the teeth of wolves.

We were built, brothers and sisters, to assault the gates of hell. This assault happens every time we participate in the normal activities of worship, prayer, preaching, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and fellowship as a gathered church to be sure. But assaulting the gates of hell also happens when we unreservedly pray with and share the gospel with our lost friends and practice reaching out into the community. We only have one life to live and so do the lost people in our lives; so we better be about the business of sharing the gospel often.

One of the most practical ways I know to be obedient to God in this area is to make a list of the lost people that I know, pray for them daily, ask other believers to pray for them, commit to praying with them in person when I see them, and learn how to share the message of the gospel with them often. This is how we live out the commission to assault the gates of hell.

#3: WE ARE COMMISSIONED TO MAKE DISIPLES (MATT. 28:18 – 20)

We were not commissioned by the Lord Jesus, on the day we were saved, to simply occupy a seat in a church building on Sunday mornings while living as heathens between Sundays; being a disciple of Jesus Christ is not about a Sunday morning social event. Sunday mornings are all about equipping and sending a transformed family of missional disciples back into the community to make disciples between Sundays.

True disciples of the Jesus who died horrifically on a cross to rescue sinners from the flames of hell and left the tomb empty three days later so that those same sinners who are now saints could walk in victory over Satan, Sin, and Death, and who now look forward eagerly to the promise of Heaven, these true disciples, will be about the business of making other disciples who make other disciples!

Matthew 28:18 – 20 is Jesus’ final words to his disciples. He explains that he alone possesses all the authority of heaven and earth and that he (in that complete authority) is sending his disciples to make more disciples in the name of the triune God and that his true disciples will baptize new believers and then train those new believers to obey all the words that Jesus commanded them. His final words to them are a promise that he will be with them “always to the end of the age” (v. 20).

If you cross reference Jesus’ commissioning of his disciples in Matthew 28 with the other four instances of this commission (Mark 16:15 – 18; Luke 19:9 – 10; John 20:19 – 23; Acts 1:8), you get a full picture of what it means to be commissioned to make disciples. We do not have time to review all those other passages, so a summary will have to do.

All five great commission passages paint the picture of what it means to be commissioned to make disciples. If you claim to be a disciple of Jesus then you and I are soldiers who are commissioned by the unmatchable authority of the crucified, resurrected, and returning King. We have marching orders to proclaim the gospel everywhere we go and to lead other lost souls into the kingdom.

We are to be about the business of actively seeking and saving those who are lost just like Jesus did in Luke 19:9 – 10 with Zacchaeus. At the moment of salvation, God gave you and I the Holy Spirit so that we would have the supernatural strength to be His witnesses in our own backyards, in the hardest and scariest places of relationship, to the ends of the earth.

This biblical mandate, this gospel commission, to make disciples like little “made men” throughout the kingdom, is no easy task; it is not for the faint of heart, it is for those with a Spirit filled heart. And this disciple making labor happens every time you and I proclaim the gospel and teach the Word 1-on-1, in small groups, and in large groups. We have been commissioned to make disciples within a yard of hell.

CONCLUSION…

In conclusion, I want to note a few things I read in some books this week. I came across this quote that says, “when Jesus said, ‘go and preach’ in the Book of Acts, we find disciples obeying that command throughout the rest of the Bible… without the activity of going and preaching, the Christian life will be ‘reduced to unfettered activism.’”2

I also read that, “God’s [evangelism] method is mankind… His plan is his people… His strategy is you and I… We are the only Jesus the world will ever see… Making a difference is up to you and me… If we do not do it, it will not get done… Charles Spurgeon said that every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.3

This is why I believe with every fiber of my being that God has commissioned us to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell; we have been commissioned to fish for men and women, commissioned to assault the gates of hell, and commissioned to make disciples of the cross of Jesus Christ. – Amen!

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references in this paper are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).

2 Thomas P. Johnston, Consumed! A Passion for the Great Commission, (Evangelism Unlimited, Liberty, Missouri: 2017), 87, 33.

3 Dave Earley and David Wheeler, Evangelism Is: How to Share Jesus with Passion and Confidence, (B&H Publishing Group, Nashville: 2010), 45, 109.