"What one thing comes to your mind from sixty years of ministry as to what Christians should do to increase their joy? Almost without hesitation he said, 'Share their faith.' Joy in Christ thrives on being shared. That is the essence of Christian joy; It overflows or dies".
John Piper recently preached at the T4G conference, alongside a relatively unknown preacher - David Platt. A friends blog I sometimes read linked to a message by David Platt - Divine Sovereignty: The fuel of Death Defying Missions. I've watched this video twice now - it's that good!
I made 4 very full pages of notes, but there were times when watching I just didn't - I couldn't. Platt's description of the eternal torment of hell and the pure, genuine emotion he felt was something else!
Me rehashing all my notes and sticking them up here is a pointless exercise - I would rather you watched the video. However, there's a few points I'd like to share and offer my thoughts on.
Perhaps one of the most poignant statements that Platt made was this:
"God involves us in his missions not because He needs us, but because He loves us. And in His mercy He has invited us to be involved in His sovereign design for the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth."That's a good reality check for anyone considering or currently involved in missions of any kind. A huge premise of David's message is that God's will that the unreached across the world will be reached will go on regardless of whether a person participates or not. The glory for missions belongs to God and God alone! In fact, we should consider it a blessing to be able to participate in missions.
Furthermore, John Piper also recorded a short video on the necessity of global missions:
I want to stress here that both Piper and Platt aren't saying we should abandon local mission work at all! But global missions are important. They aren't the calling of everyone, but are what God has called some to do.
Platt summarised his message with four practical ways that Pastors should support global missions, but I think that all Christians should consider these points (paraphrased).
1) Pray in confidence. Personally, I think prayer should be at the heart of whatever we do.
2) Give sacrificially. Platt gives some very sobering calculations regarding how little of American Christian's money goes to support global missions. I have no data, but I'd guess the situation isn't much different in the UK.
But what does sacrificial giving look like? One person giving £10 is not the same as another giving £10. Giving should mean us giving up something for ourselves. For example, I travel to work by bus, and I need to change buses half way. There's a McDonalds there, and sometimes I need to get a Sausage and Egg McMuffin whilst I'm waiting. McD's has these little charity boxes built into the counters. A McMuffin cost £1.88, and as I'm rushing between buses I get £2 ready, get my food, and chuck the change in the box, because I can't be bothered to put the 12p away properly. Does this hurt me? No. So is this sacrificial giving? Nope! A good biblical reference to what sacrificial giving looks like can be found in Mark 12:41-44.
3) To go intentionally. Platt then talks about how missions should be done.
4) To die willingly. This is a hard one. People have suffered and died for the sake of the Gospel. Jesus died to be the Gospel. Platt summarises this statement with the following:
"Nothing can happen to us apart from the sovereign will of God".This includes death.
So why are missions (Global and local) important? My conclusion from the two preachers above and my own thoughts are these:
1) We are biblically mandated to "Go, therefore! and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). God wants us to - for his glory and our joy. Platt's message offers much more evidence from scripture as to why we should go and make disciples.
2) Because God has graciously allowed us to become a part of His plan, and experience the joy in doing so.
I personally feel drawn towards global mission work, possibly in restricted, intolerant nations. I know full well that my time for this is not yet! John Piper in 'When The Darkness Will Not Lift' states:
"In the midst of darkness, saints may have no strength to pursue such global dreams. But it may be, in the mercy of God, that as we wait for the light to go up, we can do poorly what we would love to do well. Perhaps we can read a short article about the church in China. Or listen to a tape about a missionary family with a few lines about how we are hanging onto grace, and include a brief prayer for them"Personally, I know that someone (me) whose on two different types of anti-depressants, been referred for counselling, and is off work for the next month because I probably won't be able to handle it - I'd be as good as useless on a global mission field right now. But I can say, that as low as I've felt lately, I've felt moments of joy in following the progress of an Indian Pastor I sponsor through About Face Missions. I've been really excited to see how he's making disciples in his mainly Hindu village, and I feel it a great privilege to be playing a small part in God's sovereign plan. (Also, just on the off-chance she's reading this, I also feel amazing joy when spending time with the brilliant, funny and sometimes very testing daughter that God has blessed me with!)
So whether it's local or global, directly or indirectly, we should, for the glory of God, and for our own joy, Go! and make disciples of all nations.
M :)
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