john piper the supremacy of god in preaching

Worship as the fuel for missions makes sense to a lot of people, but worship as the goal of missions? Piper reminds us that the true reason we share God with others is to make them worshipers (and sharers) as well. Thus, according to Piper, does worship become the goal of missions and the fuel which makes missions possible. Does that seem like duty to you? Instead, Jesus calls us to a new mindset, which flows from the mindset that worship creates in us. When Jesus was asked what the kingdom of God was like, he compared it to a pearl so valuable that one would sell all they owned simply to possess it. The overflow from our worship is a desire to share God's glory with others (the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever), and we naturally become missional. In our worship of God we encounter God's glory.

Duty is the wrong place to look, so where do we find the answer to why we do missions? We turn, according to John Piper, to worship. If you do missions purely from a sense of duty you will not honor those you are reaching out to, nor will you truly honor God. Personally, Piper is always a breath of fresh air, and whenever I read one of his books or listen to one of his messages, I’m reminded of those formative years of my life (18,19, 20) in which Piper helped me find my theological footing.Why do we do missions? We are told, by Jesus, to preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations. They may not even understand terms, notions, categories and ideas that many thoroughly trained Christians take for granted. Also, Piper points out that a preacher’s job is, in this age that increasingly is biblically illiterate, to create categories for our listeners. I especially enjoyed his look at Jonathan Edwards’ life and ministry to glean wisdom from a great man of God in history. This book is chock-full of great insights, quotes and advice that are really and truly helpful to any preacher of the Lord’s Gospel.

Thankful once more for the wisdom Piper brings to the table.

The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper

John piper the supremacy of god in preaching