I think I finally figured out that I've been mistaken about the "Great Commission." I always thought that we were to go into all the world, preach the Gospel and make disciples. Go-Tell-Make. What I didn't know was that down in the fine print it says "But first, thou shalt build."
From my admittedly limited firsthand view of the church world, it seems that we take this command to build to heart. I wonder if there are many churches which are not coming out of capital campaigns, planning them or in the middle of them. It seems that great effort is put into fulfilling this command. Pretty admirable, this sense of dedication, isn't it?
I wonder what would happen if we in the Western Church would put equal effort into the Go-Tell-Make part of the Great Commission. I wonder how many people would come into relationship with our loving Father. I wonder how much suffering would be alleviated. I wonder what would happen if mercy would flow like a river through the land.