I’m on the home stretch of my two-week trip to Southeast Asia, where I’ve been training local church-planters. I’ve met some extraordinary servants of God. Some of them are reaching low-paid factory workers that most people ignore. Others are taking the gospel into unreached tribes and people-groups.
Tomorrow I’ll be talking about God’s mission for the church. As I was preparing for this session, I was reminded of these profound words by John Piper in Let the Nations Be Glad:
Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.
Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal of missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. “The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!” (Ps. 97:1). “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the na- tions be glad and sing for joy!” (Ps. 67:3–4).
But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can’t commend what you don’t cherish. Missionaries will never call out, “Let the nations be glad!” who cannot say from the heart, “I rejoice in the LORD. . . . I will be glad and exult in you, I will sing praise to your name, O Most High” (Ps. 104:34; 9:2). Missions begins and ends in worship.
How has your worship been lately?