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Let the Nations Be Glad!: The Supremacy of God in Missions
Why do we do missions? We are told, by Jesus, to preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations. So missions is duty, right? Wrong. 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. 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. // In our worship of God we encounter God's glory. 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. 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. 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. Thus, according to Piper, does worship become the goal of missions and the fuel which makes missions possible. // 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. He feels that the true goal of missions is "the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God." If it is true, (as Piper states) that "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him," then increasing the number of people who are satisfied in God will bring God more glory. And missions is the way we can do that. // Missions must be seen as more than simply saving people from sin, though that is a very important aspect. And missions is not just about getting people into heaven, although that is important as well. Instead, through missions we should always seek to make as many people as possible into true worshipers, into those fully satisfied with the greatness of God. // With that mindset, missions becomes a joyous experience, as we joyfully share the life-changing presence of God in our lives with those who don't know God. When we have made worship both the fuel and goal of all our missionary endeavors, we realize that "missions is not a recruitment project for God's labor force. It is a liberation project from the heavy burdens and hard yokes of other gods." Missions is never a burden, because it comes out of our overwhelming joy in God's grace and mercy, and we just want to share that joy. So make God the center of your missions work, and joyfully share what He has graciously given to you.
256 pages, Paperback
First published July 31, 1993
474 people are currently reading
5468 people want to read
About the author
John Piper
609 books4,580 followersJohn Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as senior pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.), and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years, he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem.
John is the author of more than 50 books and more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.), and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years, he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem.
John is the author of more than 50 books and more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 344 reviews
June 5, 2020
Incredible book by a Spirit-empowered man that taught me to understand the purpose of missions. Many important truths regarding missions, such as this fact: "Worship is the goal and fuel of missions."
Perhaps my biggest takeaway from this book was actually some of its more periphereal ideas. Such as the idea that God is not seeking to be glorified by saving "as many people as possible" (speaking quantitatively) but "as many peoples as possible." This actually comes much later in the book, after Piper has laid much foundation for the goal and fuel of missions (worship), but it struck me as something I haven't heard people speak of.
By "peoples," Piper is pointing out that the Scriptures in their entirety point toward a missions that has its scope in reaching as many "people groups" as possible. "...in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 22:18) And more specifically, Genesis 12:3 - "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." The amazing truth that Piper unfolds is that God has more in mind, not simply geopolitical unities, but people groups, and more especially "families" (the Hebrew of which clearly refers to clan-like tribe subcultures). How specific is the mission! To bring before the throne of God in worship people out of every family of the earth!
Very encouraging to me to consider this: "In what families (or subcultures or "clans"), near and far, is there no Gospel witness? Are there subcultures in my own state that don't have a Gospel witness?" May the Lord send us and empower us for the work of bringing people to worship His great Name! Amen.
Perhaps my biggest takeaway from this book was actually some of its more periphereal ideas. Such as the idea that God is not seeking to be glorified by saving "as many people as possible" (speaking quantitatively) but "as many peoples as possible." This actually comes much later in the book, after Piper has laid much foundation for the goal and fuel of missions (worship), but it struck me as something I haven't heard people speak of.
By "peoples," Piper is pointing out that the Scriptures in their entirety point toward a missions that has its scope in reaching as many "people groups" as possible. "...in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 22:18) And more specifically, Genesis 12:3 - "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." The amazing truth that Piper unfolds is that God has more in mind, not simply geopolitical unities, but people groups, and more especially "families" (the Hebrew of which clearly refers to clan-like tribe subcultures). How specific is the mission! To bring before the throne of God in worship people out of every family of the earth!
Very encouraging to me to consider this: "In what families (or subcultures or "clans"), near and far, is there no Gospel witness? Are there subcultures in my own state that don't have a Gospel witness?" May the Lord send us and empower us for the work of bringing people to worship His great Name! Amen.
June 27, 2014
An amazing reminder of the supremacy of God in missions. Here are two of my favorite quotes from the book: "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." and "the missionary task of the church is to press on to all the I reached people's until the Lord comes. Jesus commands it, and he assures us that it will be done before he comes again. He can make that promise because he himself is building his church from all the peoples."
August 24, 2025
After buying this book in high school (when the Lord captivated my heart for missions), I’ve finally finished it. Praise God!
“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church.
Worship is. Missions exists because worship does not. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man.”
“It is our unspeakable privilege to be caught up with him in the greatest movement in history— the ingathering of the elect from every tribe and language and people and nation until the full number of the Gentiles comes in and all Israel is saved, and the Son of Man descends with power and great glory as King of kings and Lord of the lords, and the earth is filled of the knowledge of his glory as the waters cover the sea forever and ever.”
“Not every Christian is called to be a missionary, but every follower of Christ is called to be a world Christian. A world Christian is someone who is so gripped by the glory of God and the glory of his global purpose that he chooses to align himself with God‘s mission to fill the earth with the knowledge of his glory.”
“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church.
Worship is. Missions exists because worship does not. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man.”
“It is our unspeakable privilege to be caught up with him in the greatest movement in history— the ingathering of the elect from every tribe and language and people and nation until the full number of the Gentiles comes in and all Israel is saved, and the Son of Man descends with power and great glory as King of kings and Lord of the lords, and the earth is filled of the knowledge of his glory as the waters cover the sea forever and ever.”
“Not every Christian is called to be a missionary, but every follower of Christ is called to be a world Christian. A world Christian is someone who is so gripped by the glory of God and the glory of his global purpose that he chooses to align himself with God‘s mission to fill the earth with the knowledge of his glory.”
April 2, 2023
Piper is thorough in this classic work, meaning the line between "helpful theology book" and "desk reference" is sometimes blurred, but overall I found this a very helpful, guiding, and edifying book.
May 29, 2024
By far one of the best books I’ve ever read. Perhaps the best way to sum up this book is to share what Piper wrote on the first page:
“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist 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”
This book simply reminded me of God’s sovereign purpose for all the peoples to glorify His name, and the cruciality of sending more laborers to the harvest.
“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist 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”
This book simply reminded me of God’s sovereign purpose for all the peoples to glorify His name, and the cruciality of sending more laborers to the harvest.
January 3, 2021
I love John Piper and his passion to focus solely on the glory of God. This book brings the glory of God to the forefront of missions. Essentially what he does here is take “Desiring God” and turn it into a missions book, and honestly it works. The goal of the book is to have people be so zealous for God and satisfied in God that they live a life devoted to proclaiming the beauty of God to others. This is an incredibly convicting book as it calls Christians to live a life that points people to worship God. I believe this is a must read for pastors, and they should be ready to hand it out to young people considering the missionfield.
June 5, 2019
Warning! Contains powerful emotional and scriptural truth. If you want your view of missions to remain unaltered, do not read this book.
April 11, 2025
A technical, comprehensive study and explanation of missions for the glory of God. Lots of good things in here on God's supremacy, the importance of suffering in missions, etc.
I believe that most Christians (myself included) really need the reminder that the goal of missions should be "the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God" and not only to save lost souls. Piper states that "Compassion for people must not be detached from passion for the glory of God." I think this can be challenging for some believers to grasp and accept, but Piper supports this with Scripture left and right throughout the whole book.
I appreciate how the reader gets real examples of missionaries and other believers - this helps to ground the reader and provide something practical to relate to.
Very well worth the read!
I believe that most Christians (myself included) really need the reminder that the goal of missions should be "the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God" and not only to save lost souls. Piper states that "Compassion for people must not be detached from passion for the glory of God." I think this can be challenging for some believers to grasp and accept, but Piper supports this with Scripture left and right throughout the whole book.
I appreciate how the reader gets real examples of missionaries and other believers - this helps to ground the reader and provide something practical to relate to.
Very well worth the read!
May 20, 2022
Great explanation of the basis and goal of missions. I was particularly challenged by the chapter on prayer.
March 2, 2012
Probably shouldn't give it just four stars... I don't know. I'm extremely familiar with this book because I had to teach through it. I think my reasoning for not giving it 5 stars is that it seemed to lack unity at certain parts. Some of his key themes and proposals just needed to be stated more times throughout the book.
It seemed, from a redaction perspective, as if he was just piecing together various texts he's already written on Christian hedonism, exclusivism vs inclusivism, universalism, and some new material he had developed on the "people group" motif.
I would have appreciated more overlap in themes, more integration.
That said - the section on people groups, in its historical context, is very valuable to read. His "two sinking ships" example is almost famous in missiological circles. He was writing close enough to the Ralph Winter's presentation at the Lausanne Conference that most of his support for it is raw and beautifully naive. It's excellent, persuasive reading.
His section on inclusivism and exclusivism is, to me, the best new contribution (from a history-of-Piper's theology standpoint). He's so good at arguing the case for inclusivism that he dedicated an entire book to it (isbn:0801072638) in which he uses most of the material in these chapters.
And, of course, his section on why "missions exists because worship doesn't" is why you bought the book (if you did). It's Christian hedonism at its best. They provide most of this section in the "Perspectives" coursebook because it is so good.
It seemed, from a redaction perspective, as if he was just piecing together various texts he's already written on Christian hedonism, exclusivism vs inclusivism, universalism, and some new material he had developed on the "people group" motif.
I would have appreciated more overlap in themes, more integration.
That said - the section on people groups, in its historical context, is very valuable to read. His "two sinking ships" example is almost famous in missiological circles. He was writing close enough to the Ralph Winter's presentation at the Lausanne Conference that most of his support for it is raw and beautifully naive. It's excellent, persuasive reading.
His section on inclusivism and exclusivism is, to me, the best new contribution (from a history-of-Piper's theology standpoint). He's so good at arguing the case for inclusivism that he dedicated an entire book to it (isbn:0801072638) in which he uses most of the material in these chapters.
And, of course, his section on why "missions exists because worship doesn't" is why you bought the book (if you did). It's Christian hedonism at its best. They provide most of this section in the "Perspectives" coursebook because it is so good.
May 12, 2024
First three chapters are gold. The rest is theologically deep, but a little repetitive 🫣
April 16, 2025
2.5 rounded up- read this for my job’s spiritual development group and really enjoyed the first couple chapters. The rest felt very repetitive or just about topics that don’t interest me as much
September 1, 2024
In Let the Nations Be Glad John Piper sets out to provide a God-centered vision and purpose for missions back by Scripture. Through his thesis, “Missions is not the goal of the church. Worship is.”, Piper provides the foundation of missions in the most Piperist of ways. Missions is a means to an end, namely that the people of God, gathered from among the peoples of the world, be brought together to worship God and find Him as their ultimate satisfaction. (Think God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him). The book is laid out in large-ish chapters where Piper seeks to exegete Biblical answers to foundational questions about missions: prayer, suffering, necessity of Christ as only hope for salvation, and defining “nations”. They can feel technical at times, but I appreciate John Piper’s devotion to showing us what God’s word actually says rather than simply overlaying current-age missionary terminology over biblical texts. In particular, I enjoyed his treatment of the Greek word “ethnē”. The chapter on the necessity of knowing Christ as the only means of salvation was also very good. Let the Nations be Glad is another John Piper classic; it’s devotion to exegesis, not shying away from answering the hard questions, the insistence on God’s supremacy in all of life including missions, and the trademark infusion of Christian hedonism throughout make this an insightful, challenging, yet enjoyable and encouraging read.
July 4, 2024
If you’ve ever heard Piper state that “Missions exist because worship doesn’t,” then you have heard the central theme of this book. That statement has multiple meanings, but two stand out at the top.
The first and most obvious is that we don’t support and participate in missions because we enjoy world traveling and getting to know people across the globe. The goal of missions is to bring people to Christ through repentance and faith so that they are able to worship the one true triune God. Where worship is not happening, there is where missions should be taking place.
The second and perhaps less clear idea here is that those who refuse or are apathetic towards participating and supporting missions are not following through in their worship. True worship leads to action. It is important to remember that local missions and global missions are equally as important and necessary for the church to participate.
These themes are explored by Piper in this volume. If you are looking to explore whether God has called you to a life of participation in missions (beyond the level that all Christians are called to participate), this is not the book for you. While Piper does briefly cover that topic, his major concern is our theology of missional life and how the proper worship of God influences how we understand missions.
The first and most obvious is that we don’t support and participate in missions because we enjoy world traveling and getting to know people across the globe. The goal of missions is to bring people to Christ through repentance and faith so that they are able to worship the one true triune God. Where worship is not happening, there is where missions should be taking place.
The second and perhaps less clear idea here is that those who refuse or are apathetic towards participating and supporting missions are not following through in their worship. True worship leads to action. It is important to remember that local missions and global missions are equally as important and necessary for the church to participate.
These themes are explored by Piper in this volume. If you are looking to explore whether God has called you to a life of participation in missions (beyond the level that all Christians are called to participate), this is not the book for you. While Piper does briefly cover that topic, his major concern is our theology of missional life and how the proper worship of God influences how we understand missions.
August 23, 2019
Wow. As anyone who knows me knows, I of course love John Piper’s writing, preaching, and ministry. However, I hadn’t read this book since I was in college (I think 7 years ago). I remembered it being great, but it was even better this time than expected.
Piper’s esteem for God among the nations is so unique and contagious. And not only that, his ability to piece together biblical texts and ideas is incredible. I could write a praise for each of the chapters.
But I just want to point out one chapter that I thought was ministry-changing and so exceptional: Chapter 5, “The Supremacy of God among ‘All the Nations’”.
In this 50-page chapter (the longest in the book), Piper argues and proves biblically that God’s heart and call in missions is *not* to cross cultures so that the maximum number of individuals be saved, rather “God’s will for missions is that every people group be reached with the testimony of Christ and that a people be called out for his name from all the nations” (179).
In other words, God’s call to the church isn’t to save as many individuals as possible per se, it’s to gather his elect from every people group. “Jesus did not send his apostles out with a general mission merely to win as many individuals as they could but rather to reach all the peoples of the world” (211).
And just to be clear, Piper isn’t just saying this. He proves it robustly from the Bible. It’s fascinating.
This seriously is so revolutionary to ministry. The goal of God in missions in the Bible is not mainly to evangelize as many individuals, but the people groups. Perhaps we’ve missed this in modern American evangelicalism?
More could be said, but I recommend the book to anyone, especially chapter 5.
It’s not the easiest to read at times (because Piper is thorough and wants to prove his points are from the Bible!), but definitely worth reading. It’ll stir your heart for God’s global purpose of missions: reaching the people groups of the world with the glorious gospel of Christ.
Piper’s esteem for God among the nations is so unique and contagious. And not only that, his ability to piece together biblical texts and ideas is incredible. I could write a praise for each of the chapters.
But I just want to point out one chapter that I thought was ministry-changing and so exceptional: Chapter 5, “The Supremacy of God among ‘All the Nations’”.
In this 50-page chapter (the longest in the book), Piper argues and proves biblically that God’s heart and call in missions is *not* to cross cultures so that the maximum number of individuals be saved, rather “God’s will for missions is that every people group be reached with the testimony of Christ and that a people be called out for his name from all the nations” (179).
In other words, God’s call to the church isn’t to save as many individuals as possible per se, it’s to gather his elect from every people group. “Jesus did not send his apostles out with a general mission merely to win as many individuals as they could but rather to reach all the peoples of the world” (211).
And just to be clear, Piper isn’t just saying this. He proves it robustly from the Bible. It’s fascinating.
This seriously is so revolutionary to ministry. The goal of God in missions in the Bible is not mainly to evangelize as many individuals, but the people groups. Perhaps we’ve missed this in modern American evangelicalism?
More could be said, but I recommend the book to anyone, especially chapter 5.
It’s not the easiest to read at times (because Piper is thorough and wants to prove his points are from the Bible!), but definitely worth reading. It’ll stir your heart for God’s global purpose of missions: reaching the people groups of the world with the glorious gospel of Christ.
December 26, 2024
“Missions exist because worship doesn’t. Worship of the Lord is the ultimate goal of the Church.” - the thesis and focus of the book which provides a comprehensive overview of biblical missions. I appreciated Piper explaining how the Lord has always been for all of the nations and how He uses the church to bring His people to Himself. This was also interesting to read after reading Come, Lord Jesus since the coming of Christ is preceded by believers from every nation coming to Him. Although a bit repetitive in chapter 4, still a good read (the afterword was great) and excited to see what John Piper has to say at Cross Con!
December 21, 2024
Changed so much of my perspective, a beautiful 6 months growing in heart and knowledge of God’s purpose for His kingdom. Thankful.
March 30, 2019
This is a book I’ll be referencing and recommending for a long time. Piper is unrelenting and detailed in his arguments and I’ve come away with a healthier and God glorifying view of God. Read this book!
May 25, 2025
I read this book in preparation for my mission trip! The passion Piper has for the glory of God encouraged my own heart and fanned into flame a desire to spread the gospel. I really appreciated Piper’s very God-centered approach to missions and the gospel!
Some of my key takeaways/favorite parts:
(Warning—lots and lots of quotes. It’s all so good!!!)
“The highest of missionary motives is neither obedience to the Great Commission (important as that is), nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing (strong as that incentive is, especially when we contemplate the wrath of God...), but rather zeal—burning and passionate zeal for the glory of Jesus Christ.”
“Be confident in the power and supremacy of God!! Laugh that laugh of faith knowing that we have power over all the power of the enemy!”
“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 is the fuel and goal of missions.”
“There is a respect, reverence, wonder, and dread that must come through when we talk about God and when we worship Him as the Creator who spoke the universe into existence.”
“Albert Einstein felt that the religions he’d run across did not have the proper respect for the author of the universe.”
“To be the emissary of God, you must first tremble before Him in joyful wonder.”
“Be moved and carried by the vision of a great and triumphant God.”
Missions is the overflow of our delight in God!!!
“Righteousness is recognizing, welcoming, loving, and upholding what is truly valuable.”
“The most shareable message in the world:
Be glad in God! God loves to exalt Himself by showing mercy to sinners. Repent from seeking joy in other things and begin to seek it only in Him!”
“The great sin of the world is not that the human race has failed to work for God to increase His glory, but that we have failed to delight in God so as to reflect His glory. For God’s glory is most reflected in us when we are most delighted in Him.”
“The most exhilarating thought in the world is that God’s inexorable purpose to display His glory in the mission of the church is virtually the same as His purpose to give His people infinite delight.”
Wow, what a quote!!! ⬆️♥️
Very helpful: ⬇️
“Have you ever wondered what it feels like to have a love for the lost?
This is a term we use as part of our Christian jargon. Many believers search their hearts in condemnation, looking for the arrival of some feeling of benevolence that will propel them into bold evangelism. It will never happen. It is impossible to love ‘the lost.’ You can't feel deeply for an abstraction or a concept. You would find it impossible to love deeply an unfamiliar individual portrayed in a photograph, let alone a nation or a race or something as vague as ‘all lost people.’
Don't wait for a feeling of love in order to share Christ with a stranger.
You already love your heavenly Father, and you know that this stranger is created by Him, but separated from Him. So take those first steps in evangelism because you love God. It is not primarily out of compassion for humanity that we share our faith or pray for the lost; it is, first of all, love for God. The Bible says in Ephesians 6:7-8: ‘With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.’
Humanity does not deserve the love of God any more than you or I do. We should never be Christian humanists, taking Jesus to poor sinful people, reducing Jesus to some kind of product that will better their lot.
People deserve to be damned, but Jesus, the suffering Lamb of God, deserves the reward of His suffering.”
Another wow quote:
“My soul was this day, at turns, sweetly set on God: I longed to be ‘with Him’ that I might ‘behold His glory.’
Oh, that His kingdom might come in the world; that they might all love and glorify Him for what He is in Himself; and that the blessed Redeemer might ‘see of the travail of His soul, and be satisfied.’ Oh, ‘come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!’ Amen.
The absence of Brainerd's passion for God is the great cause of missionary weakness in the churches.”
“God is calling us, above all else, to be the kind of people whose theme and passion is the supremacy of God in all of life. No one will be able to rise to the magnificence of the missionary cause who does not feel the magnificence of Christ. There will be no big world vision without a big God. There will be no passion to draw others into our worship where there is no passion for worship.”
“The Great Commission is first to ‘delight yourself in the Lord’ (Ps. 37:4), and then to declare, ‘Let the nations be glad and sing for joy’ (Ps. 67:4). In this way, God will be glorified from beginning to end, and worship will empower the missionary enterprise until the coming of the Lord.”
Another wow quote:
“Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world. Prayer gives us the significance of frontline forces and gives God the glory of a limitless Provider. The one who gives the power gets the glory. Thus, prayer safeguards the supremacy of God in missions while linking us with endless grace for every need.”
“The suffering of the servants of God, borne with faith and even praise, is a shattering experience to apathetic saints whose lives are empty in the midst of countless comforts.”
“Loss and suffering, joyfully accepted for the kingdom of God, show the supremacy of God’s worth more clearly in the world than all worship and prayer.”
“We scorn the infinite worth of God when we covet. That is why Paul calls covetousness idolatry (Col. 3:5-6).”
Interesting to keep in mind for when I’m older:
“How many Christians set their sights on a retirement of life—resting, playing, traveling, and so on—the world’s substitute for heaven, because they do not know that there will be one beyond the grave? The mindset is that we must reward ourselves in this life for our long years of labor. Eternal rest and joy after death is an irrelevant consideration. What a strange reward for a Christian to set his sights on—twenty years of leisure while living in the midst of the last days of infinite consequence for millions of unreached people. What a tragic way to finish the last lap before entering the presence of the King who finished His so differently. A new life opens up to most people at 65, and if we have armed ourselves with the thought of the suffering Savior and saturated our minds with the ways of the supremacy of God, we will invest our time and energy in the final chapters very differently than if we take our cues from the American dream. When the world sees millions of ‘retired’ Christians pouring out the last drops of their lives with joy for the sake of the unreached peoples and with a view toward heaven, then the supremacy of God will shine.”
“Christ is calling His church to a radical, wartime engagement in world missions. He is making it plain that it will not happen without pain. ‘Surely there is no greater joy than saving souls.’
The way of love is both the way of self-denial and the way of ultimate joy. We deny ourselves the fleeting pleasures of sin, luxury, and self-absorption in order to seek the kingdom above all things. In doing so, we bring the greatest good to others, we magnify the worth of Christ as a treasure chest of joy, and we find our greatest satisfaction. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. And the supremacy of that glory shines most brightly when the satisfaction that we have in Him endures in spite of suffering and pain in the mission of love.”
Carey’s answer to why God allowed nations to walk in their own ways is that in doing so, the final victory of God will be all the more glorious. There is a divine wisdom in the timing of God’s deliverances from darkness. We should humble ourselves to see it rather than presume to know better how God should deal with a rebellious world.
Before Jesus’ coming, saving faith rested in the forgiving and helping mercy of God displayed in events such as the Exodus and in the sacrificial offerings and prophetic promises such as Isaiah 53. Jesus was not known. The mystery that the nations would be fully included through the preaching of His name was kept secret for ages. Those were times of ignorance. God let the nations go their own way. But now—a key word in the turning of God's historic work of redemption—something new has happened. The Son of God has appeared. He has revealed the Father. He has atoned for sin. He has risen from the dead. His authority as universal Judge has been vindicated. And the message of His saving work is to be spread to all peoples. This turn in redemptive history is for the glory of Jesus Christ. Its aim is to put Him at the center of all God’s saving work. Therefore, it accords with this purpose that henceforth Christ be the sole and necessary focus of saving faith. Apart from a knowledge of Him, none who has the physical ability to know Him will be saved.
Another thing we notice as we ponder this question is that the diversity of the nations has its creation and consummation in the will of God. Its origin was neither accidental nor evil, and its future is eternal. The diversity will never be replaced by uniformity. The evidence for this is found in Acts 17:26 and Revelation 21:3.
To the Athenians, Paul said, "[God] made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place" (Acts 17:26). This means that the origin of peoples is not in spite of, but because of God's will and plan. He made the nations. He set them in their place. And He determines the duration of their existence. The diversity of the nations is God's idea. Therefore, for whatever reason, He focuses the missionary task on all the nations; it is not a response to an accident of history. It is rooted in the purpose He had when He determined to make the nations in the first place.
God's purpose to have diversity among nations is not a temporary one, only for this age. In spite of the resistance of most English versions, the standard Greek texts of the New Testament now agree that the original wording of Revelation 21:3 requires the translation: "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His peoples.’" Most versions translate: "They will be His people." But what John is saying is that in the new heavens and the new earth, the humanity described in Revelation 5:9 will be preserved: persons ransomed by the blood of Christ "from every tribe and language and people and nation." This diversity will not disappear in the new heavens.
Why diversity?
There is a beauty and power of praise that comes from unity in diversity that is greater than that which comes from unity alone.
The fame and greatness and worth of an object of beauty increase in proportion to the diversity of those who recognize its beauty.
The strength and wisdom and love of a leader is magnified in proportion to the diversity of people he can inspire to follow him with joy.
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Worship is essentially an inner stirring of the heart to treasure God above all the treasures of the world—right affections in the heart toward God, rooted in right thoughts in the head about God, becoming visible in right actions of the body reflecting God.
A valuing of God above all else that is valuable.
A loving of God above all else that is lovely.
A savoring of God above all else that is sweet.
An admiring of God above all else that is admirable.
A fearing of God above all else that is fearful.
A respecting of God above all else that is respectable.
A prizing of God above all else that is precious.
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
When the heart is far from God, worship is vain, empty, nonexistent. The experience of the heart is the defining, vital, indispensable essence of worship.
The essence of worship is to act in a way that reflects the heart's valuing of the glory of God.
The defining heart of worship is the experience of being satisfied in God.
A radical valuing, cherishing, esteeming, treasuring of God in Christ and a passion for more of Him.
Some of my key takeaways/favorite parts:
(Warning—lots and lots of quotes. It’s all so good!!!)
“The highest of missionary motives is neither obedience to the Great Commission (important as that is), nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing (strong as that incentive is, especially when we contemplate the wrath of God...), but rather zeal—burning and passionate zeal for the glory of Jesus Christ.”
“Be confident in the power and supremacy of God!! Laugh that laugh of faith knowing that we have power over all the power of the enemy!”
“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 is the fuel and goal of missions.”
“There is a respect, reverence, wonder, and dread that must come through when we talk about God and when we worship Him as the Creator who spoke the universe into existence.”
“Albert Einstein felt that the religions he’d run across did not have the proper respect for the author of the universe.”
“To be the emissary of God, you must first tremble before Him in joyful wonder.”
“Be moved and carried by the vision of a great and triumphant God.”
Missions is the overflow of our delight in God!!!
“Righteousness is recognizing, welcoming, loving, and upholding what is truly valuable.”
“The most shareable message in the world:
Be glad in God! God loves to exalt Himself by showing mercy to sinners. Repent from seeking joy in other things and begin to seek it only in Him!”
“The great sin of the world is not that the human race has failed to work for God to increase His glory, but that we have failed to delight in God so as to reflect His glory. For God’s glory is most reflected in us when we are most delighted in Him.”
“The most exhilarating thought in the world is that God’s inexorable purpose to display His glory in the mission of the church is virtually the same as His purpose to give His people infinite delight.”
Wow, what a quote!!! ⬆️♥️
Very helpful: ⬇️
“Have you ever wondered what it feels like to have a love for the lost?
This is a term we use as part of our Christian jargon. Many believers search their hearts in condemnation, looking for the arrival of some feeling of benevolence that will propel them into bold evangelism. It will never happen. It is impossible to love ‘the lost.’ You can't feel deeply for an abstraction or a concept. You would find it impossible to love deeply an unfamiliar individual portrayed in a photograph, let alone a nation or a race or something as vague as ‘all lost people.’
Don't wait for a feeling of love in order to share Christ with a stranger.
You already love your heavenly Father, and you know that this stranger is created by Him, but separated from Him. So take those first steps in evangelism because you love God. It is not primarily out of compassion for humanity that we share our faith or pray for the lost; it is, first of all, love for God. The Bible says in Ephesians 6:7-8: ‘With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.’
Humanity does not deserve the love of God any more than you or I do. We should never be Christian humanists, taking Jesus to poor sinful people, reducing Jesus to some kind of product that will better their lot.
People deserve to be damned, but Jesus, the suffering Lamb of God, deserves the reward of His suffering.”
Another wow quote:
“My soul was this day, at turns, sweetly set on God: I longed to be ‘with Him’ that I might ‘behold His glory.’
Oh, that His kingdom might come in the world; that they might all love and glorify Him for what He is in Himself; and that the blessed Redeemer might ‘see of the travail of His soul, and be satisfied.’ Oh, ‘come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!’ Amen.
The absence of Brainerd's passion for God is the great cause of missionary weakness in the churches.”
“God is calling us, above all else, to be the kind of people whose theme and passion is the supremacy of God in all of life. No one will be able to rise to the magnificence of the missionary cause who does not feel the magnificence of Christ. There will be no big world vision without a big God. There will be no passion to draw others into our worship where there is no passion for worship.”
“The Great Commission is first to ‘delight yourself in the Lord’ (Ps. 37:4), and then to declare, ‘Let the nations be glad and sing for joy’ (Ps. 67:4). In this way, God will be glorified from beginning to end, and worship will empower the missionary enterprise until the coming of the Lord.”
Another wow quote:
“Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world. Prayer gives us the significance of frontline forces and gives God the glory of a limitless Provider. The one who gives the power gets the glory. Thus, prayer safeguards the supremacy of God in missions while linking us with endless grace for every need.”
“The suffering of the servants of God, borne with faith and even praise, is a shattering experience to apathetic saints whose lives are empty in the midst of countless comforts.”
“Loss and suffering, joyfully accepted for the kingdom of God, show the supremacy of God’s worth more clearly in the world than all worship and prayer.”
“We scorn the infinite worth of God when we covet. That is why Paul calls covetousness idolatry (Col. 3:5-6).”
Interesting to keep in mind for when I’m older:
“How many Christians set their sights on a retirement of life—resting, playing, traveling, and so on—the world’s substitute for heaven, because they do not know that there will be one beyond the grave? The mindset is that we must reward ourselves in this life for our long years of labor. Eternal rest and joy after death is an irrelevant consideration. What a strange reward for a Christian to set his sights on—twenty years of leisure while living in the midst of the last days of infinite consequence for millions of unreached people. What a tragic way to finish the last lap before entering the presence of the King who finished His so differently. A new life opens up to most people at 65, and if we have armed ourselves with the thought of the suffering Savior and saturated our minds with the ways of the supremacy of God, we will invest our time and energy in the final chapters very differently than if we take our cues from the American dream. When the world sees millions of ‘retired’ Christians pouring out the last drops of their lives with joy for the sake of the unreached peoples and with a view toward heaven, then the supremacy of God will shine.”
“Christ is calling His church to a radical, wartime engagement in world missions. He is making it plain that it will not happen without pain. ‘Surely there is no greater joy than saving souls.’
The way of love is both the way of self-denial and the way of ultimate joy. We deny ourselves the fleeting pleasures of sin, luxury, and self-absorption in order to seek the kingdom above all things. In doing so, we bring the greatest good to others, we magnify the worth of Christ as a treasure chest of joy, and we find our greatest satisfaction. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. And the supremacy of that glory shines most brightly when the satisfaction that we have in Him endures in spite of suffering and pain in the mission of love.”
Carey’s answer to why God allowed nations to walk in their own ways is that in doing so, the final victory of God will be all the more glorious. There is a divine wisdom in the timing of God’s deliverances from darkness. We should humble ourselves to see it rather than presume to know better how God should deal with a rebellious world.
Before Jesus’ coming, saving faith rested in the forgiving and helping mercy of God displayed in events such as the Exodus and in the sacrificial offerings and prophetic promises such as Isaiah 53. Jesus was not known. The mystery that the nations would be fully included through the preaching of His name was kept secret for ages. Those were times of ignorance. God let the nations go their own way. But now—a key word in the turning of God's historic work of redemption—something new has happened. The Son of God has appeared. He has revealed the Father. He has atoned for sin. He has risen from the dead. His authority as universal Judge has been vindicated. And the message of His saving work is to be spread to all peoples. This turn in redemptive history is for the glory of Jesus Christ. Its aim is to put Him at the center of all God’s saving work. Therefore, it accords with this purpose that henceforth Christ be the sole and necessary focus of saving faith. Apart from a knowledge of Him, none who has the physical ability to know Him will be saved.
Another thing we notice as we ponder this question is that the diversity of the nations has its creation and consummation in the will of God. Its origin was neither accidental nor evil, and its future is eternal. The diversity will never be replaced by uniformity. The evidence for this is found in Acts 17:26 and Revelation 21:3.
To the Athenians, Paul said, "[God] made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place" (Acts 17:26). This means that the origin of peoples is not in spite of, but because of God's will and plan. He made the nations. He set them in their place. And He determines the duration of their existence. The diversity of the nations is God's idea. Therefore, for whatever reason, He focuses the missionary task on all the nations; it is not a response to an accident of history. It is rooted in the purpose He had when He determined to make the nations in the first place.
God's purpose to have diversity among nations is not a temporary one, only for this age. In spite of the resistance of most English versions, the standard Greek texts of the New Testament now agree that the original wording of Revelation 21:3 requires the translation: "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His peoples.’" Most versions translate: "They will be His people." But what John is saying is that in the new heavens and the new earth, the humanity described in Revelation 5:9 will be preserved: persons ransomed by the blood of Christ "from every tribe and language and people and nation." This diversity will not disappear in the new heavens.
Why diversity?
There is a beauty and power of praise that comes from unity in diversity that is greater than that which comes from unity alone.
The fame and greatness and worth of an object of beauty increase in proportion to the diversity of those who recognize its beauty.
The strength and wisdom and love of a leader is magnified in proportion to the diversity of people he can inspire to follow him with joy.
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Worship is essentially an inner stirring of the heart to treasure God above all the treasures of the world—right affections in the heart toward God, rooted in right thoughts in the head about God, becoming visible in right actions of the body reflecting God.
A valuing of God above all else that is valuable.
A loving of God above all else that is lovely.
A savoring of God above all else that is sweet.
An admiring of God above all else that is admirable.
A fearing of God above all else that is fearful.
A respecting of God above all else that is respectable.
A prizing of God above all else that is precious.
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
When the heart is far from God, worship is vain, empty, nonexistent. The experience of the heart is the defining, vital, indispensable essence of worship.
The essence of worship is to act in a way that reflects the heart's valuing of the glory of God.
The defining heart of worship is the experience of being satisfied in God.
A radical valuing, cherishing, esteeming, treasuring of God in Christ and a passion for more of Him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2021
El pastor John Piper es uno de los líderes cristianos más reconocidos de la actualidad. Ha influido grandemente mi vida desde mis años formativos como cristiano. He releído este clásico suyo, aprovechando que en mi iglesia estamos leyéndolo juntos y reuniéndonos cada domingo para conversar acerca de él. El propósito del libro es nutrir y fortalecer la visión y la acción de cristianos e iglesias en las misiones para la gloria de Dios. Todo en el universo existe para la gloria de Dios, incluida la misión de llevar el evangelio a todas las naciones (cap. 1). En esta empresa, la oración es crucial y muestra nuestra dependencia total de Dios y de su plan global (cap. 2). El sufrimiento por amor a Cristo también manifiesta la belleza y supremacía de Cristo a un mundo que está mirando (cap. 3). La necesidad de creer solo en Cristo para ser salvos de la ira de Dios en el infierno eterno lo magnifica por encima de todos sus competidores falsos y sustitutos vanos (cap. 4). Finalmente, la tarea de las misiones no consiste en alcanzar a la mayor cantidad de gente posible, sino en proclamar a Cristo en todas las naciones (grupos étnicos) para que personas de toda tribu, lengua y nación lo adoren (cap. 5).
Este libro enciende nuestra pasión por Dios y su gloria, que es la motivación suprema para hacer misiones. A su vez, esto no está reñido con la compasión por la humanidad perdida. Al predicar a Cristo y ser creído en el mundo, Dios es glorificado y los pecadores son salvados (cap. 6). Aunque no todos los cristianos son llamados a ser misioneros, todos debemos estar involucrados en la misión, ya sea yendo o sosteniendo a los que van. No conozco otro libro más desafiante, bíblico y enfocado que éste en la teología de la misión cristiana. Oro que más iglesias entiendan la supremacía de Dios en las misiones por medio de su lectura.
Este libro enciende nuestra pasión por Dios y su gloria, que es la motivación suprema para hacer misiones. A su vez, esto no está reñido con la compasión por la humanidad perdida. Al predicar a Cristo y ser creído en el mundo, Dios es glorificado y los pecadores son salvados (cap. 6). Aunque no todos los cristianos son llamados a ser misioneros, todos debemos estar involucrados en la misión, ya sea yendo o sosteniendo a los que van. No conozco otro libro más desafiante, bíblico y enfocado que éste en la teología de la misión cristiana. Oro que más iglesias entiendan la supremacía de Dios en las misiones por medio de su lectura.
January 24, 2011
Al Mohler says, "'Let the Nations Be Glad!' is the most important book on missions for this generation, and I hope it will be the most influential as well." My thoughts on this book would echo Dr. Mohler's opinion. This book is certainly vintage Piper. Every chapter is God-centered, Scripture-saturated, and Christ-exalting. Unlike most modern books on missions, it is more theological treatise than missiological strategy. Don't let that scare you away, however. While I have had my struggles muddling through some of Piper's work, this was a very easy read. The chapters are very logical, and he breaks almost every thought up with section heads. I spilled a great deal of yellow ink highlighting the 259 pages of this book, and I will certainly be keeping it close at hand as a resource for all of my life and ministry.
October 3, 2020
John Piper lays out from start to finish that the goal and hope of all Christians, biblically, should be to see the glory of God known among all the nations (people groups). The fuel for this mission is the worship of God. Piper leaves the individual Christian with no excuse, but to play a significant role in seeing this come to fruition. As Piper points out, we know how it ends; “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every TRIBE, and LANGUAGE, and PEOPLE, and NATION, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God. And they shall reign on earth.’” (Revelation 5:9-10)
October 20, 2011
As a missionary's son who'd first encountered theology of missions as a teenanger, I didn't think this book would add much to my Biblical thinking about missions. Boy, was I wrong! It's doctrinally meaty, but thoroughly seasoned with vivid language and stories told with Piper's characteristic "I'll set myself ablaze and let 'em watch me burn" passion. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the work of Jesus in the world, and particularly for those struggling with those asking, "Do you need to trust Jesus to be saved?" and "What about those who have never heard?"
June 16, 2015
"Moreover, there is something about God that is so universally praiseworthy and so profoundly beautiful and so comprehensively worthy and so deeply satisfying that God will find passionate admirers in every diverse people group in the world. His true greatness will be manifest in the breadth of the diversity of those who perceive and cherish His beauty. The more diverse the people groups who forsake their gods to follow the true God, the more visible God's superiority over all His competitors." Piper
Read
February 19, 2019This was my second time reading Let the Nations Be Glad! (First was in seminary.) This is classic Piper and gave me a fresh reminder of biblical priorities for missions. So many missions conversations get off target and need to keep the truths of this book (and the NT) in perspective. What a mighty God we serve!
April 27, 2022
Excelente livro! Piper realinha a visão bíblica de se fazer Missões. Sua tese é muito boa, muito bem defendida, e com dezenas de passagens bíblicas. Em suma, em minha opinião, essa frase resume bem o fundamento que ele defende: “As missões não são o alvo fundamental da igreja. A adoração é”.
November 21, 2024
Mixed feelings on this one. The theological arguments on missions were convicting and inspiring, but often difficult to read as they were incredibly thorough and academic. I almost wish I could read this from Piper’s perspective.
February 22, 2016
John Piper’s volume Let The Nations Be Glad presents a cogent, clear, and commendable case for making world missions a celebrated means, rather than a mere necessary end. Missions books often promote a view that the end goal of missions is to make missionaries, train them, and get them “into the field.” As long as we have gotten them there, we have achieved our goal. Piper does not move so fast. Missions, he says, is not the end. It is the means. “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” What is the glorious goal of missions? It is nothing less than the collective peoples of the earth, together treasuring the glory of God in the face of Christ. That is the end for which the means of mission was purposed, and worship, prayer, and suffering—the book’s three-pronged first part—are integral in getting us there.
THE CONTENTS
Space allows only a brief survey of the books contents, so we will glimpse them in short. In the first chapter, Piper introduces the supremacy of God in missions through worship. Here Piper establishes his foundation, that worship is ultimate because God is ultimate, and the grateful acknowledgement of his supremacy (worship) is what we are seeking when we involve ourselves in missions. Chapter two issues a call to prayer. We the church have received our marching orders. “Go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.” (Matthew 6:6) We are to “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) For missions to succeed, we must plead prayerfully, putting the fruitful outcome of missions under the sovereign mercy of God. In chapter three, Piper richly portrays how the inevitable life of suffering brought by the pursuit of missions is a life most worthy of living. “Whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35) Jim Elliot, a missionary martyr among the Auca natives of Ecuador would agree. “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Chapter four preaches Christ as the only means to salvation from the horrors of hell, as the object of conscious, saving faith. Piper here does nothing less than radically draw our eyes to the depths and trepidations of the biblical doctrine of hell and the heights and rising peaks of God’s love for us in Christ as the only Savior from it. This is perhaps one of the greatest contributions of this book. Piper closes in the final chapters by in chapter five defining missions not according to love, but by God. It is God and his acknowledged glory which must be the foundation for our understanding of missions, not love for the souls of nations. Chapter six and seven end the volume with a survey of the life of Jonathan Edwards and an elaboration on Piper’s purpose for writing the book.
THE AUDIENCE
For whom is the book written? Let The Nations Be Glad is written with the Christian lay-believer and the Christian pastor in mind. With some careful attention, a non-believer will likely be able to follow along. Yet I do not see it likely they will be interested in what is here. The volume is no-holds-bar, black-coffee Christianity—the real stuff. Piper does not cut corners. He opens the Bible with lucidity and without apology. Yet in doing so, he is sure to assume nothing of his reader. That is a good thing. He is plain in speech, thorough in explanations, and (sometimes tediously) clear in his arguments; so clear that sometimes (a rarity) the broader scope is clouded in the slow belaboring of excessive detail. I experienced this in chapter 5 where Piper sets forth an extended argumentation on what he sees as the correct way to interpret panta ta ethne (“all nations” in Matthew 28:20). Piper may be justified in his laborious defense, for how we interpret “all nations” will determine in large part our view of the extent of the great commission, one of Christ’s final commands and a battle cry for Christian missions. (Is Christ telling us to go to all nations, all ethnic groups, all individual unsaved Gentiles, or something else entirely?) Yet the point could have been received with more immediateness were there a more succinct presentation. Overall, Piper approaches and touches on many strong, complex theological arguments, while keeping his prose at a simple level of reading. He brings the reader along with him.
MEDITATION: A LOVE OF THINGS
Every now and again as one reads a book, uncovering some distant theological landscape or familiarizing oneself with a new spiritual topic, a sentence will suddenly leap from the page, gripping the reader and making so forceful an impression as to change them in their seat. The mind stops. The book falls into the lap. A deeper reflection is prompted. This did not happen for me in my reading of Let The Nations Be Glad. Yet there were two times that came close.
One statement I found worthy of meditation was in the third chapter. Piper wrote: “It will be difficult to bring the nations to love God from a lifestyle that communicates a love of things.” It is a statement innocuous enough, yet it deeply struck me, first because of the overwhelming consensus today that material things are of all things most dear. Things hold an inordinate sway on us all. We are blind men; materialists, consumed by the physical and averse to the spiritual. Yet this is not how it ought to be, and we believers who share Piper’s passion for the supremacy of God must feel this incongruency more deeply. How unseeing are we of our stinginess? Are we giving sacrificially to the labor of the gospel in our local church? Are we demonstrating love for things of God by taking responsibility for our church, pursuing membership, and involving ourselves financially in its well-being and continued sustenance? Supporting its missionaries? Its pastors? We are told: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15) We may well do this, leaving our homes to evangelize the greater world. Yet what of it, if we come with the wealth of Westerners? It would be delusional to think we can preach a gospel of grace with our mouths and not preach the prosperity gospel with our lives. We can, and we do.
Piper’s statement jarred me into wondering how readily my own lifestyle communicates the love of things, and what damage that could do to my commendation of Christ. In his sermon “The Weight of Glory” delivered at St. Mary The Virgin Church at Oxford in 1942, C.S. Lewis commented on the worldliness of Christians. “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” Does this not describe the people with whom we pray, sing hymns, hear sermons, enjoy fellowship? Too easily pleased by earthly delights? Taken by the allure of the latest iPhone? In our culture, materialism reigns. Have we unwittingly imbibed the toxin? This I believe is a point that requires more emphasis in the local church—radical generosity, counter-cultural living, in our finances, our things, our time. The theme of Lewis’ sermon was not self-indulgence but self-denial. We must see that it is only in the giving up of ourselves that the infinite joy will be found.
MEDITATION: A VIEW FOR ETERNITY
A second phrase that seized me was: “I know of no one who has overstated the terrors of hell.” The reality of hell and eternity is a dogma taught infrequently in our churches today. We (especially in the secular west, but increasingly in the global scene) live in “the now,” a me-focused, present-oriented mode of being where the latest is greatest, forward progress dominates our thoughts and industries, and anything remotely old is deemed eternally out of date; the future is worth thinking about, only as much as it pertains to our days here, now, on this earth. Heaven is no longer on our minds. That is old fashioned. Many of us, Christians included, pass our days unaware that our moment on earth is a mortal one, that our first breath is one of our last, and that we, like a seed, will one day be planted. Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor identifies this as the “immanent frame,” that is, the unconsciously inhabited view of the universe as a place entirely absent of the supernatural; all there is to reckon with is the “immanent” or immediate context, that which is before us, the natural world disenchanted of the numinous, metaphysical, or eternal.
With the rest of the secular West, evangelical Christians have drawn this air largely unawares. As a result, we think on the here and now (finances, marriage, parenting—all important realms no doubt) and neglect the deep soul work of preparing for eternity. It is a long labor and a haunting on, facing death. It intimidates. Yet we must face it. We must turn, and allow ourselves to approach the endless hall of eternity. We need to open back up our perspective, and work ourselves to accommodate the eternal into our very temporally bound state of living. Where will we be spending our days, the real length of them? In the place where moth and rust do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6:19). It is of vital import. May we, as Piper encourages us to do in Let The Nations Be Glad (chapter 5, but the beam shines across the whole thing), store up our treasure not here, in the immanent and the temporary, but there, in the transcendent and the eternal, as have many great missionaries who precede us. They counted the cost. They numbered their days (Psalm 90:12). They knew they were but breath, their days a passing shadow (Psalm 144:4). And their kingdom work was better for it.
CONCLUSION
In close, there is much to be gained by the believer in studying these pages. John Piper is a pastor, and a good one. He wants to point his readers to Christ. This book does that with remarkable immediacy and effectiveness; I found my affections for Christ and my gratitude for his work being consistently stirred and my limited view for international missions being opened to the biblical view. That does not happen every time one reads a book. Therefore I would recommend it heartily. I have not cited too much in this review. Yet on such an ending note, perhaps one ought to close with an appropriate citation from the work itself. In some ways, the following quote on the love of God summarizes exactly the entire message of the book’s 288 pages. Read it slowly. “The love of God for perishing sinners moved him to provide at great cost a way to rescue them from everlasting destruction, and missions is the extension of that love to the unreached peoples of the world.”
It is indeed.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Charles Taylor, A Secular Age. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Belknap Press, 2007).
Elizabeth Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty - The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot (Hodder and Stoughton, 1958).
John Piper, Let The Nations Be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1993, 2003, 2010), Kindle Edition.
THE CONTENTS
Space allows only a brief survey of the books contents, so we will glimpse them in short. In the first chapter, Piper introduces the supremacy of God in missions through worship. Here Piper establishes his foundation, that worship is ultimate because God is ultimate, and the grateful acknowledgement of his supremacy (worship) is what we are seeking when we involve ourselves in missions. Chapter two issues a call to prayer. We the church have received our marching orders. “Go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.” (Matthew 6:6) We are to “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) For missions to succeed, we must plead prayerfully, putting the fruitful outcome of missions under the sovereign mercy of God. In chapter three, Piper richly portrays how the inevitable life of suffering brought by the pursuit of missions is a life most worthy of living. “Whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35) Jim Elliot, a missionary martyr among the Auca natives of Ecuador would agree. “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Chapter four preaches Christ as the only means to salvation from the horrors of hell, as the object of conscious, saving faith. Piper here does nothing less than radically draw our eyes to the depths and trepidations of the biblical doctrine of hell and the heights and rising peaks of God’s love for us in Christ as the only Savior from it. This is perhaps one of the greatest contributions of this book. Piper closes in the final chapters by in chapter five defining missions not according to love, but by God. It is God and his acknowledged glory which must be the foundation for our understanding of missions, not love for the souls of nations. Chapter six and seven end the volume with a survey of the life of Jonathan Edwards and an elaboration on Piper’s purpose for writing the book.
THE AUDIENCE
For whom is the book written? Let The Nations Be Glad is written with the Christian lay-believer and the Christian pastor in mind. With some careful attention, a non-believer will likely be able to follow along. Yet I do not see it likely they will be interested in what is here. The volume is no-holds-bar, black-coffee Christianity—the real stuff. Piper does not cut corners. He opens the Bible with lucidity and without apology. Yet in doing so, he is sure to assume nothing of his reader. That is a good thing. He is plain in speech, thorough in explanations, and (sometimes tediously) clear in his arguments; so clear that sometimes (a rarity) the broader scope is clouded in the slow belaboring of excessive detail. I experienced this in chapter 5 where Piper sets forth an extended argumentation on what he sees as the correct way to interpret panta ta ethne (“all nations” in Matthew 28:20). Piper may be justified in his laborious defense, for how we interpret “all nations” will determine in large part our view of the extent of the great commission, one of Christ’s final commands and a battle cry for Christian missions. (Is Christ telling us to go to all nations, all ethnic groups, all individual unsaved Gentiles, or something else entirely?) Yet the point could have been received with more immediateness were there a more succinct presentation. Overall, Piper approaches and touches on many strong, complex theological arguments, while keeping his prose at a simple level of reading. He brings the reader along with him.
MEDITATION: A LOVE OF THINGS
Every now and again as one reads a book, uncovering some distant theological landscape or familiarizing oneself with a new spiritual topic, a sentence will suddenly leap from the page, gripping the reader and making so forceful an impression as to change them in their seat. The mind stops. The book falls into the lap. A deeper reflection is prompted. This did not happen for me in my reading of Let The Nations Be Glad. Yet there were two times that came close.
One statement I found worthy of meditation was in the third chapter. Piper wrote: “It will be difficult to bring the nations to love God from a lifestyle that communicates a love of things.” It is a statement innocuous enough, yet it deeply struck me, first because of the overwhelming consensus today that material things are of all things most dear. Things hold an inordinate sway on us all. We are blind men; materialists, consumed by the physical and averse to the spiritual. Yet this is not how it ought to be, and we believers who share Piper’s passion for the supremacy of God must feel this incongruency more deeply. How unseeing are we of our stinginess? Are we giving sacrificially to the labor of the gospel in our local church? Are we demonstrating love for things of God by taking responsibility for our church, pursuing membership, and involving ourselves financially in its well-being and continued sustenance? Supporting its missionaries? Its pastors? We are told: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15) We may well do this, leaving our homes to evangelize the greater world. Yet what of it, if we come with the wealth of Westerners? It would be delusional to think we can preach a gospel of grace with our mouths and not preach the prosperity gospel with our lives. We can, and we do.
Piper’s statement jarred me into wondering how readily my own lifestyle communicates the love of things, and what damage that could do to my commendation of Christ. In his sermon “The Weight of Glory” delivered at St. Mary The Virgin Church at Oxford in 1942, C.S. Lewis commented on the worldliness of Christians. “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” Does this not describe the people with whom we pray, sing hymns, hear sermons, enjoy fellowship? Too easily pleased by earthly delights? Taken by the allure of the latest iPhone? In our culture, materialism reigns. Have we unwittingly imbibed the toxin? This I believe is a point that requires more emphasis in the local church—radical generosity, counter-cultural living, in our finances, our things, our time. The theme of Lewis’ sermon was not self-indulgence but self-denial. We must see that it is only in the giving up of ourselves that the infinite joy will be found.
MEDITATION: A VIEW FOR ETERNITY
A second phrase that seized me was: “I know of no one who has overstated the terrors of hell.” The reality of hell and eternity is a dogma taught infrequently in our churches today. We (especially in the secular west, but increasingly in the global scene) live in “the now,” a me-focused, present-oriented mode of being where the latest is greatest, forward progress dominates our thoughts and industries, and anything remotely old is deemed eternally out of date; the future is worth thinking about, only as much as it pertains to our days here, now, on this earth. Heaven is no longer on our minds. That is old fashioned. Many of us, Christians included, pass our days unaware that our moment on earth is a mortal one, that our first breath is one of our last, and that we, like a seed, will one day be planted. Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor identifies this as the “immanent frame,” that is, the unconsciously inhabited view of the universe as a place entirely absent of the supernatural; all there is to reckon with is the “immanent” or immediate context, that which is before us, the natural world disenchanted of the numinous, metaphysical, or eternal.
With the rest of the secular West, evangelical Christians have drawn this air largely unawares. As a result, we think on the here and now (finances, marriage, parenting—all important realms no doubt) and neglect the deep soul work of preparing for eternity. It is a long labor and a haunting on, facing death. It intimidates. Yet we must face it. We must turn, and allow ourselves to approach the endless hall of eternity. We need to open back up our perspective, and work ourselves to accommodate the eternal into our very temporally bound state of living. Where will we be spending our days, the real length of them? In the place where moth and rust do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6:19). It is of vital import. May we, as Piper encourages us to do in Let The Nations Be Glad (chapter 5, but the beam shines across the whole thing), store up our treasure not here, in the immanent and the temporary, but there, in the transcendent and the eternal, as have many great missionaries who precede us. They counted the cost. They numbered their days (Psalm 90:12). They knew they were but breath, their days a passing shadow (Psalm 144:4). And their kingdom work was better for it.
CONCLUSION
In close, there is much to be gained by the believer in studying these pages. John Piper is a pastor, and a good one. He wants to point his readers to Christ. This book does that with remarkable immediacy and effectiveness; I found my affections for Christ and my gratitude for his work being consistently stirred and my limited view for international missions being opened to the biblical view. That does not happen every time one reads a book. Therefore I would recommend it heartily. I have not cited too much in this review. Yet on such an ending note, perhaps one ought to close with an appropriate citation from the work itself. In some ways, the following quote on the love of God summarizes exactly the entire message of the book’s 288 pages. Read it slowly. “The love of God for perishing sinners moved him to provide at great cost a way to rescue them from everlasting destruction, and missions is the extension of that love to the unreached peoples of the world.”
It is indeed.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Charles Taylor, A Secular Age. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Belknap Press, 2007).
Elizabeth Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty - The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot (Hodder and Stoughton, 1958).
John Piper, Let The Nations Be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1993, 2003, 2010), Kindle Edition.
January 2, 2021
I apologize for this really long review. Going into this book I had a lot of questions on missions such as:
Is there a need for western missionaries?
In the great commission, is the emphasis on all nations?
What is the chief end of missions?
What is a healthy sending church like?
These may sound silly but I have heard of how God is already at work among the nations through the native people. So many times, I come from a critical world-view. I wanted to be an obedient Christian and so I figured that this book would be a good start. I have to admit, I had a lot of incorrect notions on missions that I'm thankful for the corrections this book offered.
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
The good
--------
- John Piper's flow of writing follows questions. Every question you can think of about missions is probably answered.
- Piper makes it clear to exalt missions and not missionaries
- It is so God-centered. This book revolves around worship
- There is a long discourse and in-depth study on every time the word "nations" are mentioned in the Bible.
- John Piper differentiates between Pauline-type work and Timothy-type work. The work of both were important but it is good to mention the differences between planting and establishing and equipping.
- There is a healthy dose of understanding that what drives missions is not only compassion for people who are headed to hell but a zeal for the glory of God.
The bad
--------
- The book is more of a textbook. John is involved in many missions across the world but he doesn't write as a practitioner. I don't think this deserves to be labeled as "the bad" but I wanted to stick to the format haha
- In my opinion, I think the book spends too long in the word studies and convincing us that God desires for all people groups to know him. I think most people reading this, would agree that the Bible says this. Instead, I was hoping to hear more a little about the state of missions today, the balance between missions and discipleship, and the importance of healthy sending churches. I think these all play a role in missions as well and are worth mentioning. The book spends a little long in the academic side of things and what the writers of the Bible meant when they wrote certain passages pertaining missions. But I can't blame John Piper that much because he is an academic person after all.
The ugly
-------
- A (possible) unhealthy byproduct of this book is for there to be little discernment of what it means to be serving in missions. For example, many people may read this and decide that God is calling them to missions. I am not arguing that is bad. In fact, it is good. But for this example, imagine that person has rarely shared their faith or maybe never even discipled someone else or had a consistent prayer life. I think there should be a healthy dose (which should be a part of the pastoral burden to mention) of raising up Christians that have deep understanding of how to live the Christian life already, prior to leaving. Going on a plane ride will not make you magically obedient. Calling can be discerned by the people in your life and your desire. What do the people in your Church see in you when they see you serving? Where has your gifts and experience been of service? Then go out in serve. Having many people surrounded in the sending is important.
Those are most of the things I thought when I read this book. Overall, this book was for my good in seeing that God does want people from every tribe, tongue, and nation standing before him in worship and that is my responsibility to live my life in a way that reaches towards that goal in however God sees fit.
Acts 20:24 sums it up well: "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace."
Is there a need for western missionaries?
In the great commission, is the emphasis on all nations?
What is the chief end of missions?
What is a healthy sending church like?
These may sound silly but I have heard of how God is already at work among the nations through the native people. So many times, I come from a critical world-view. I wanted to be an obedient Christian and so I figured that this book would be a good start. I have to admit, I had a lot of incorrect notions on missions that I'm thankful for the corrections this book offered.
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
The good
--------
- John Piper's flow of writing follows questions. Every question you can think of about missions is probably answered.
- Piper makes it clear to exalt missions and not missionaries
- It is so God-centered. This book revolves around worship
- There is a long discourse and in-depth study on every time the word "nations" are mentioned in the Bible.
- John Piper differentiates between Pauline-type work and Timothy-type work. The work of both were important but it is good to mention the differences between planting and establishing and equipping.
- There is a healthy dose of understanding that what drives missions is not only compassion for people who are headed to hell but a zeal for the glory of God.
The bad
--------
- The book is more of a textbook. John is involved in many missions across the world but he doesn't write as a practitioner. I don't think this deserves to be labeled as "the bad" but I wanted to stick to the format haha
- In my opinion, I think the book spends too long in the word studies and convincing us that God desires for all people groups to know him. I think most people reading this, would agree that the Bible says this. Instead, I was hoping to hear more a little about the state of missions today, the balance between missions and discipleship, and the importance of healthy sending churches. I think these all play a role in missions as well and are worth mentioning. The book spends a little long in the academic side of things and what the writers of the Bible meant when they wrote certain passages pertaining missions. But I can't blame John Piper that much because he is an academic person after all.
The ugly
-------
- A (possible) unhealthy byproduct of this book is for there to be little discernment of what it means to be serving in missions. For example, many people may read this and decide that God is calling them to missions. I am not arguing that is bad. In fact, it is good. But for this example, imagine that person has rarely shared their faith or maybe never even discipled someone else or had a consistent prayer life. I think there should be a healthy dose (which should be a part of the pastoral burden to mention) of raising up Christians that have deep understanding of how to live the Christian life already, prior to leaving. Going on a plane ride will not make you magically obedient. Calling can be discerned by the people in your life and your desire. What do the people in your Church see in you when they see you serving? Where has your gifts and experience been of service? Then go out in serve. Having many people surrounded in the sending is important.
Those are most of the things I thought when I read this book. Overall, this book was for my good in seeing that God does want people from every tribe, tongue, and nation standing before him in worship and that is my responsibility to live my life in a way that reaches towards that goal in however God sees fit.
Acts 20:24 sums it up well: "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace."
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