Worship is Eternal, Missions is Temporary 

By Kayla Dubnick, Establish Network Intern, Summer 2024 

As a part of my internship for the Reach ministry, I was asked to read Let the Nations be Glad by John Piper. The very opening paragraph of this book states: 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. 

This opening paragraph alone challenged the way that I view missions and what it means to be on mission. As a whole, I believe this book provides a clear, convicting, deep, and poignant insight into what it truly means to be on mission for the Lord, how we can be on mission for the Lord, and what Jesus says about being on mission for Him. As Christians, we are all called to be on mission for the Lord. To proclaim His Gospel and make His Glory known wherever we go and to whomever we encounter. Therefore, I believe that Let the Nations be Glad is a book that can be applied to the lives of every Christian, not just the individuals called to a life of international missions. The content contained within this book is information that we should all know and give intentional thought towards. 

The first section of Let the Nations be Glad is titled Making God Supreme in Missions: The Purpose, the Power, and the Price. This first section dives into what the scriptures say missions are, what the scriptures say it means to be on mission, and why missions are so important to the Kingdom of God. Through reminding us of what God’s Word says and presenting multiple poignant stories of missionaries from across the world, Piper reveals the answers to these questions and similar ones. Arguably the part of this section that stood out to me the most was Piper stating that we as Christians are currently living in a time of war and not peace. I found this statement to be greatly convicting, and it caused me to reevaluate how I go about my daily life and what I allow to occupy my spare time and thoughts. 

The second section of Let the Nations be Glad is titled Making God Supreme in Missions: The Necessity and Nature of the Task. This section narrows in on why God says missions are so important and how we are called to go about being on mission. Furthermore, throughout this section Piper addresses several arguments or debates that have arisen over the years regarding the necessity and nature of missions. For example, Piper addresses the question of if an individual who has not heard the name of Jesus, but is devoted to their own God in a “Christian way,” is considered saved and how the answer to these questions impact the way we should view and engage in missions. 

The third section of Let the Nations be Glad is titled Making God Supreme in Missions: The Practical Outworking of Compassion and Worship. This section dives deeper into how exactly worship and missions are related. Furthermore, this section dives deep into what biblical worship looks like and how we as Christians are called to worship our Creator. The final section of Let the Nations be Glad is titled Making God Supreme in Missions: Global Shifts and Wartime Living. This section addresses the current state of Western missions and also touches on the prosperity Gospel and how we should approach it. 

Over the course of this book, my views of missions were challenged, shaped, and, ultimately changed. Furthermore, I believe that this book is one of the ways that God placed the calling for international missions on my heart. However, I believe that this book is one that can, and perhaps should be, read by all Christians, regardless of if they plan on a life of international missions or not. This is because, as Christians, we are all called to be on mission for the sake of the Gospel and we are all called to worship God our Creator. At the same time, I would encourage whoever reads this book to read it intentionally. Allowing themselves to ruminate on and thoughtfully consider both Piper’s words and the various pieces of scripture Piper presents throughout the book and how they can be applied to the reader’s life.