Chapter 9: The Majesty of Christ in Missions and Mercy

Piper's chapter on missions tells the story of Adoniram Judson, America's first overseas missionary. In Piper's telling, God pursued Judson through the death of a friend in an inn. The chapter also points to the price of the mission: Judson's own sacrifices, and the consent of Ann's family, who had to agree to her going. That is worth noticing. Mission costs more than one person. Families, friends, and churches feel it too.

Now put that beside Paul in Acts 20. He says he is going to Jerusalem, "constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me." Paul knows part of the road and not the rest. He knows trouble is coming. He does not know how it will unfold. Then he says, "I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus."

That could sound grim, as if the Christian life is a long list of payments. But look at what else Scripture says about the same kind of loss. In Philippians 3, Paul says he counts what he once gained as loss because knowing Christ is worth far more. He is not throwing things away for nothing. He is trading, and he thinks he gets the better end of it. In Hebrews 12:2, Jesus himself endures the cross because of the joy set before him. Cost and joy appear together there, and the joy is not an afterthought.

This fits what Piper argues earlier in the book: God's glory and our joy belong together. So when the road is hard, the question is not only 'What will this cost me?' It is also 'What am I holding that is worth less than Christ?'

Judson's story invites a personal question: how might God be speaking to you? Judson's turning point came through a hard moment. Think about the moments, sudden or slow, when God has gotten your attention. If a death or loss is still fresh for you, please talk with a pastor, counselor, or trusted friend as you think about it.

Then ask the other question the story raises. Whose agreement, blessing, or sacrifice would your obedience involve? Ann's family was part of Judson's story. Most real steps of obedience have people around them.

You do not have to decide today whether God is calling you overseas. You can decide whether to hold your life loosely and whether to hold Christ tightly.

Piper's chapter on missions holds worship and missions together. He argues that God's purpose is worship among all peoples, and he points to passages in Isaiah, Philippians, and Matthew to make the case. He also says something that can take pressure off: not everyone should go. Goers and senders partner, and he notes Paul's pattern of supporting those who minister. The chapter ends with a plea to this generation.

Romans 10 gives a good way to see why both roles matter. Paul begins with a promise: "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Then he asks a string of questions, each one leaning on the next. "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?"

Read it backward and you get a chain. People call because they believe. They believe because they hear. They hear because someone preaches. Someone preaches because someone sends. Sending is the last link in the questions, and Paul does not treat it as optional. The verse that follows, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!", honors the one who goes. The chain says the one who sends is part of the same work.

Other places in Scripture show this partnership too. In Philippians 4, Paul thanks the church there for sharing with him in giving and receiving as he served. In 3 John, Gaius is encouraged to send traveling workers on their way in a manner worthy of God, so that he becomes a fellow worker with them. Sending is not a way of staying out of the work. It is a way of joining it.

So here is a real question: are you called to go, to send, or both? You may not know yet, and that is okay. A few ways to think it through. If you are drawn to go, talk with your pastor or church leaders, and ask them to help you test it. If you are called to send, think beyond money: prayer, regular encouragement, and practical care for a worker or their family all matter. For many people, an ordinary job is how sending happens. Chapter 8's picture of work and this chapter's picture of missions can meet in one paycheck.

What you cannot do, if Romans 10 is right, is treat the chain as someone else's business. Pick a link, and then take one step in it.