John Piper’s Let the Nations be Glad! is, in my opinion, one of the best book I’ve read on the necessity of world missions. Actually, it’s my personal favorite on the necessity for any and all missional activity, both foreign and domestic. Piper writes,
“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 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.” (p. 35)
Several years ago, my friend Wayne Conrad added one important clarifying remark. It’s not so much that worship doesn’t exist. Worship does exist. It’s just not the right kind of worship to the one true God through Jesus Christ! I’ll never forget that point, because I believe it’s crucial to understanding, again, the necessity of missions. Missions exists because true and biblical worship does not exist. The necessity of missions is based off of the need for authentic worship, worship that is in Spirit and Truth!
Luke is a pastor-theologian living in northern California, serving as a co-lead pastor with his life, Dawn, at the Red Bluff Vineyard. Father of five amazing kids, when Luke isn’t hanging with his family, reading or writing theology, he moonlights as a fly fishing guide for Confluence Outfitters. He blogs regularly at LukeGeraty.com and regularly contributes to his YouTube channel.
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