overseas missions & holy ambitions

Have you ever felt like a speaker or pastor in a huge crowd had prepared their message JUST for you?

Two weeks ago I heard John Piper, author and preaching pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, speak at a conference (TCX). His two messages were about overseas missions and holy ambitions. In my opinion, he really hit the nail on the head. These are two topics that I think and pray about literally every day. I can't get them out of my head. (Well, technically his first message was about God's passion for His glory...but he talked about overseas missions a lot)



Piper's goal of his first message was to 'put ballast in our boats.' Conferences are great spiritual highs for so many, helping students to build a very tall mast. But the first time there's a strong crosswind (which always comes), the boat blows over and it's so massive you can't get it back up by yourself. If there's enough ballast (weight) in it, no crosswind can knock it over.

Piper claims that God's passion for His own glory is the ballast for our boats. He then went on to talk about trends in overseas missions. He had stats about the number of unreached and unengaged people groups around the world, the number of church goers around the world and patterns of growth and interest in world missions. Here are some highlights:

-formerly dominant Christian nations (European countries, the US) are becoming less interested in world missions
-the number of Christians in Africa and Asia are growing exponentially
-there are 16,000+ people groups in the world: 6,647 are unreached, 1,662 are unengaged

Piper urged us to do the research about world missions instead of relying on others for information. There are denominations out there (a-HEM evangelical lutherans) who are pulling back on the number of missionaries in the world, saying enough people have heard about Christ. There are people that are claiming it's more effective and efficient for native Christians to reach their own people (while this may be true for those crossing severe culture boundaries, foreign missionaries are actually more effective in many areas of the world).

Then came a variation of one of Piper's missions quotes, "Go, Send or disobey:" 'We are to be a passionate, sacrificial sender or a passionate, sacrificial goer. There is no other choice.'

Another Piper quote from the night: "Do not make the mistake that it's cheaper, more efficient and more effective to quit going overseas for missions."

There was much more to Piper's first message, but there is a segue in my mind right now that will lead me to my thoughts on his second message.

Probably Piper's most famous quote is "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." I first heard this my freshman year of college on a spring break trip and I thought it was a pretty cool idea.

Now, 5 years later, I see it in a different light.

Piper's second message was an admonition to find out God's 'holy ambition' for our lives. I think the above quote is a huge help in this assignment.

And here was the second topic that often consumes my thoughts and prayers. Those in the age range if 18-30 have a HUGE change to influence others for Christ. Piper talked about the current trend for 20-somethings to postpone adulthood to our 30s. "Adolescence" is a modern, 20th century idea- and now we are moving on to "Adult-o-lescence," the postponement of becoming an adult. Piper quoted a lot of sources and names here to back up his point, but I didn't even write any down. I've had this feeling for awhile now and often consider how I'm postponing adulthood in my own life, and whether I should or should not be doing so.

Then Piper told us the story about his personal holy ambition, the thing which drives him every single day in ministry, in relationships, in life. The element of ultimate glorification of God in our lives when we are satisfied in Him is Piper's holy ambition. This famous statement drives his ministry.

Paul of Tarsus had a holy ambition. His can be found in Romans 15:18-24.."It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation." An important element of this point is that Paul doesn't talk about how God calls him to this holy ambition. The calling does not matter. Neither Paul nor God expects us to have the same 'calling' experience. However, I think it's safe to say that we will be lead to our own holy ambition through personally encountering Christ. How does that happen today? We probably won't get blinded on a road to Damascus (though I'm sure God does work in that way for others).

To move toward a holy ambition, we must immerse ourselves in God's Word. God can work in a lot of ways and through a lot of things, but I this is primarily how God speaks to us now.

While some may discover a holy ambition to preach where the Gospel is not known like Paul, there are other types of holy ambitions. Piper made the point of bringing up Timothy, who was to shepherd others and build up the church in Ephesus. Not everyone is a Paul, and not everyone is a Timothy. Maybe you're one of those. Maybe you're a

One more thought from Piper: It is a good thing to be controlled by a holy ambition. It does not/will not leave you with regret.

{not sure how long this link will last but you can download piper's sermons here}