MISSIONS-REASON
The bedrock
of missions is not the value of man. It is the spread of God's glory. The
biblical commitment to evangelism and missions is rooted in God's passionate
concern to make His name known.
Steve Fernandez
Missions and the Glory of God's Name.
The Christian
is a God-explorer. The Christian vision is the vision of God. The missionary
vision is the vision of God also. It is not something different from the
Christian vision. It is the same vision being shared rather than merely
enjoyed. It is the same vision being shared with men who have no natural taste
for it, in the hope that God will create that taste so that they too will
become “God-admirers.” Sharing the vision of God-
that is the work of missions.
Tom Wells
A Vision for Missions, Permission by The Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle, PA. p. 26-27.
The God who
is worthy to be known and served for who He is, is
Himself the answer to this world’s longings. And those who know Him best
are best equipped to serve Him. He is their message. If we have discovered the
glory of God in the face of Christ, we must not hold back. The God of glory
must be made known.
Tom Wells
A Vision for Missions, Permission by The Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle, PA. p.
152.
But what if we
look to God for our success? And what if God has “a great multitude,
which no man could number” in His eye and on His heart? Why then, we
ought to take courage. Who knows what God may do? The missionary is not alone. He
is accompanied by the God who has determined to have a people for Himself. And God has made up His mind to take them from “all
nations, and kindreds, and tongues” (Revelation
7:9). Here is the missionary’s hope. It is not in himself. It is in God.
Tom Wells
A Vision for Missions, Permission by The Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle, PA. p.
51.
We face a
humanity that is too precious to neglect. We know a remedy for the ills of the
world too wonderful to withhold. We have a Christ too glorious to hide. We have
an adventure that is too thrilling to miss.
Theodore Williams
Why do we
desire the spread of the gospel throughout the world? Not out of a sinful
imperialism or triumphalism, whether for ourselves or the church or even “Christianity.”
Nor just because evangelism is part of our Christian
obedience (though it is). Nor primarily to make other
people happy (though it does). But especially because
the glory of God and of His Christ is at stake. God is King, has
inaugurated His saving reign through Christ, and has a right to rule in the
lives of His creatures. Our ambition, then, is to seek first His kingdom, to
cherish the passionate desire that His name should receive from men the honor
which is due to it.
John Stott
The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, IVP, 1978, p.
170.
God is
pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide purpose of gathering joyful
worshippers for Himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He
has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of His name among the
nations. Therefore, let us bring our affections into line with His, and, for the sake of His name, let us renounce the
quest for worldly comforts and join His global purpose.
John Piper
If we love
God’s fame and are committed to magnifying His name above all things, we
cannot be indifferent to world missions.
John Piper
Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, Bethlehem
Baptist Church, 2002, p. 187.
A
God-centered theology must be a missionary theology. If you say that you love
the glory of God, the test of your authenticity is whether you love the spread
of that glory among all the peoples of the world. Or another way to say it is
that worship is the fuel and the goal of missions. Missions
exists because worship doesn't. God's passion is to be known and honored
and worshipped among all the peoples. To worship Him is to share that passion
for His supremacy among the nations.
John Piper
The Driving Convictions Behind
Missions, Nov. 2, 1996, Used by Permission, www.desiringGod.org.