DIGITALISATION AND ITS CHALLENGES FOR INTERPRETING THE MATTHEAN GREAT COMMISSION (MATTHEW 28:19-20) IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN CHURCHES

Abstract

The rapid expansion of digital ministry following the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped how many African churches approach evangelism, worship, and discipleship. Although studies on Matthew 28:18-20 have examined discipleship, baptism, and the missionary mandate of the church, relatively little attention has been given to how digitalisation influences the interpretation and practice of the Great Commission within African contexts. This article addresses that gap by examining the implications of digital ministry for the Matthean understanding of disciple formation. The study employs the grammatico-historical method alongside an African contextual hermeneutical framework, bringing exegetical analysis of Matthew 28:18-20 into dialogue with contemporary discussions on digital religion. Particular attention is given to the participles “going,” “baptising,” and “teaching” as integral components of disciple making. The analysis shows that digital technologies have expanded opportunities for communication, instruction, and pastoral engagement, yet they also expose tensions surrounding embodied presence, sacramental participation, and communal formation. These tensions are further shaped by infrastructural and socio-cultural realities across many African contexts. The article argues that Matthew’s portrayal of disciple making is fundamentally relational, communal, and embodied, thereby positioning digital technologies as valuable extensions of ministry rather than substitutes for the practices through which Christian formation is sustained.