The passion of a missionary-as distinct from that of an evangelist-is to plant a worshiping community of Christians in a people group who has no access to the gospel because of language or cultural barriers. Paul was one of those "frontier" missionaries: "I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named... But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions... I go to Spain" (Rom. 15:20, 23-24)Then this:
The first great passion of missions, therefore, is to honor the glory of God by restoring the rightful place of God in the hearts of people who presently think, feel and act in ways that dishonor God every day, and in particular, to do this by bringing forth a worshiping people from among all the unreached peoples of the world. If you love the glory of God, you cannot be indifferent to missions. This is the ultimate reason Jesus Christ came into the world. Romans 15:8-9 says, "Christ became a servant to the circumcised... in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy." Christ came to get glory for his Father among the nations. If you love what Jesus Christ came to accomplish, you love missions.
That, right there, is the heart of the book, Let the Nations Be Glad. And if you want to know more, the entire book is his case for every aspect of those statements.
The urgency is such when you study this issue, that individuals and churches who are not in some explicitly involved way (prayer? money? GOING? supporting? encouraging others to go? informing others? studying? networking? All the above?) a part of God's global undertaking are badly missing the point of God's purposes for all of creation. Read Revelation 5 (the last revealed chapter of God's story of redemption) to get some idea. And then get out of your neighborhood, and hop on the global missions bandwagon.
2 comments:
Does it have to involve going or supporting others to go? What about the church just DOING - right where they're placed, in the mission field in your own backyard? Does mission have to involve going out of your neighbourhood and going somewhere else? Or isnt every christian called to be a missionary?
Sure, the Church "does" ministry right where it's placed, in it's community - that's the starting point and the core of church ministry. But as it grows in it's understanding of God's scope, the missions mandate is hard to ignore. Not that the whole church up and exits of course, that's why there's so many ways to be involved.
And that's why Piper's book is so foundational. I'd recommend getting it. Especially to get a grip on scripture's teaching about "all nations". There are so many things to address, it's too big a study to address here.
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