Do you know the difference between the "great command" and what men call the "great commission"? If you don't, confusion reigns. Do you know the difference between ministry unto the Lord and ministry for the Lord? If you don't confusion reigns. Not knowing the difference is how we have arrived at "potpourri" religion or church.
The two questions are actually the same question. The great command is to love God with all you being and that is ministry unto the Lord, not ministry for the Lord. Ministry for the Lord is serving Him and working for Him, Every now and then, even in my own lifetime, God speaks to the church and tries to correct us, but then we drift. One of the great messages of the charismatic move of the 60's was a call to minister unto the Lord. Often our drifting is based on valuing the work of the Lord (ministry for him) above ministry to Him. This is tantamount to valuing God above men. This is the condition the Bible warns of when it speaks of those who love the creature more than the creator. Actually, there is no competition, nor should there be, and there is no excuse for not doing both, but men will find those excuses. Did you know that when God brought Israel out of Egypt, that great symbol of our salvation, He told Moses to tell them "I brought them out for myself to stand before me and minister unto me" (my words)? It is the same idea Jesus expressed with "God is seeing those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth". Is that in your thinking?
The great command is to love God with all your being and do it His way, for obedience must flavor anything we bring to God. That makes the most commanded subject in the Bible, which is praise, the most important commands for they express the great command. The great commission is to "go ye" and make disciples, cast out devils, lay hands on the sick and preach in such a manner that signs and wonders follow us. Obedience must flavor our "go ye" as well. The great command is foundational. It is the beginning of divine order, which is why is is numbered "first". Finding a church, or a believer, that is in divine order is becoming more and more difficult. The value of man has triumphed over the value of God.
