The Great Commission was not given to a lone individual. It was given to a group, a team (Matthew 28:16-20), which became the church, the body of Christ. This body has many members gifted by God for their respective parts in His work (Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-31; 1 Peter 4:10-11). Early Christians went out in teams of two or more (Luke 10:1; Acts 2:14; 13:2; 15:22, 40; 20:4). The Christian who feels he must do everything by himself is like the soccer player who never passes the ball. He may be a superstar—driven, talented, impressive—but he belittles the Lord’s wisdom if he misses the team concept. Individualism manifests itself in several ways:
- The person who trusts only himself to do the job properly. He allows no partners because they might interfere with his perfect performance.
- The person who never trains others. He finds it quicker and easier to do everything himself. To train a “Timothy” just adds extra, unwanted work. Of course, when this person dies, his work may die with him.
- The person who must control the evangelistic process from beginning to end—from plowing and sowing to cultivating and harvesting. Anything less, he criticizes as irresponsible.