Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation—

    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
    of whom shall I be afraid?

² When the wicked advance against me
    to devour^[a] me,
it is my enemies and my foes
    who will stumble and fall.
³ Though an army besiege me,
    my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
    even then I will be confident.

⁴ One thing I ask from the Lord,
    this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
    and to seek him in his temple.
⁵ For in the day of trouble
    he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
    and set me high upon a rock.

⁶ Then my head will be exalted
    above the enemies who surround me;
at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;
    I will sing and make music to the Lord.

⁷ Hear my voice when I call, Lord;
    be merciful to me and answer me.
⁸ My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
    Your face, Lord, I will seek.
⁹ Do not hide your face from me,
    do not turn your servant away in anger;
    you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
    God my Savior.
¹⁰ Though my father and mother forsake me,
    the Lord will receive me.
¹¹ Teach me your way, Lord;
    lead me in a straight path
    because of my oppressors.
¹² Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
    for false witnesses rise up against me,
    spouting malicious accusations.

 

13 I remain confident of this:
    I will see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the Lord.

My Holy Ambition

The past week or so I've been reading through John Piper's A Holy Ambition: To preach where Christ has not been named. Let's just say it wrecked me.

The book is a collection of some of Piper's sermons given about missions. The way he digs into scripture for the true heart and calling behind missions is really amazing. I was telling a friend that it is so cool how God has gifted Piper with the ability to teach and communicate passionately and soundly to the body. While I was reading I was reminded of the power of the written word and how it can powerfully speak to the soul.

I gleaned a lot from my time in this book and I just wanted to share a few of the things that God taught me. Wherever you stand concerning missions and our call to make disciples of all nations, I hope these little snapshots will cause you to slow down and really pray over how you are spending your God-given life. Are we truly living with the holy ambition to see Jesus Christ glorified among the nations, to see him globally glorified? As I was challenged, that is what I want to challenge you with.


First, I love how missions is defined- "From beginning to end- in target, effect, and impetus- missions centers on the worldwide fame of Jesus in the praises of his diverse peoples from every tribe, tongue, and nation. What's at stake in missions is the universal honor of the Father in the global glory of his Son in the joy of all the people" (23). Wow! And the awesome thing about this is that since God is so passionate about having his named praised among the nations, it will happen. All the nations will someday be praising his name. There is a victorious, glorious, and triumphant ending to this story.

"We are all utterly dependent on the honor of Christ, not our value or our distinctives. And nothing is more secure than the honor of Christ" (69). I love this.

Because Christ's work on the cross is complete, because he already has conquered sin and death and sits at the right hand of the Father, his honor and glory is totally secure. And as redeemed people, our identity in him is therefore also totally secure. I'm learning that the real beauty of missions is that I literally cannot do it in my own strength. With my pride, selfishness, and impatience there is just no way. But that is where Christ enters into my shortcomings, where the Holy Spirit works in my heart and where the Father equips me with power to be his hands and feet to his people. 2 Corinthians 3:5 says our competence and sufficiency is in the Lord. What an important, life-giving truth!

I want to share with you a few facts Piper mentions about unreached people groups. An unreached people group is defined as being a distinct ethno-linguistic people of whom fewer than 2% of the population are Christ-followers. Of the over 15,000 people groups worldwide, there are over 6500 that are unreached. Something that hit really close to my heart is that the Japanese are one of the three largest unreached people groups. One of the largest!

Piper also comments briefly on the history of Christianity in Japan, writing "I don't doubt the hardness and difficulty of Japan today is largely owing the massive (though short-term) triumph of the devil in the early 1600's" (126). That gave me chills because it was my reality this last year. Satan has such a strong, mysterious hold on this country. And yet I have hope because God will see his name glorified among ALL the nations. And what an honor, joy, and privilege that I get to be sent to the world sharing the only message of true salvation with those walking in darkness. Little old me, it blows my mind.

There is so much more that I learned or was convicted by in reading this book. But I think it all boils down to the fact that the gospel is real, Jesus is alive, he is coming back, and he will receive the praise of all the nations. How exciting that when he comes his children will come together and sing with one voice from all the nations, tribes, and tongues of the world. As Piper writes in his conclusion, "may the center of our singing be the same as the center of the new song we will sing in the age to come, namely, the song of the Lamb who was slain:

 "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain,

and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and

language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and

priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."

(Revelation 5:9-10).

 

 

Missions is a serious calling because the praise of our Creator God is at stake. Piper writes "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" (160). Is that true of our walks? Do we love the glory of God enough to leave home, cross cultures, make sacrifices, suffer, so that Christ might receive glory among all the nations? God give us the strength and courage and passion to have this be true every day of our lives. 

The people I work with

Leaders going to the ends of the earth

Colorado sunsets can't be beat

Exploring downtown Denver

Pacific Southwest leaders going to the world

UCLA, Cal Poly SLO, Pomona, and UCF. Seriously awesome people!

Our fearless leaders

Team Hoodies- Tokyo Stint 2012-13
 

What counts?

About 80 recent college grads like myself sat in a hotel meeting room for hours on end receiving practical training and a world vision for our role as stint team leaders this upcoming year. It was a super helpful, overwhelming, humbling experience. I realized how much fear I was carrying into this new position rather than living in my identity as a child of the Lord, filled with the power of his spirit.

With so many things to keep track of and make decisions about, it's incredibly easy to completely take God out of the equation. That is the danger this year brings- it is so easy for me to believe the lie that as long as I plan long enough and well enough I can do everything on my own. Instead of sharing the gospel with others because I myself am motivated by its power in my own life, I share because it's on the checklist. Instead of serving my team out of love and the desire to be Christ to them, I serve because I want them to admire my humility and sacrifice. With these ever so subtle tweaks, the power of the gospel and Christ's work on the cross is totally lost. I glorify myself in my own strength rather than glorifying my creator in my weakness.

This week I experienced a huge burden for the mission ahead of all of us. There are so many people who have yet to hear they are loved by the God who made them. So many people walking around every day without purpose or any sense of their worth in the Lord. I have the chance to bridge that gap in a small way. And yet no matter what I do there will always be more people. It leaves you feeling helpless and ever so small. Insecurities abound as you question why you got dragged into this and who possibly thought it was a good idea.

In these doubts and fears the truth of scripture speaks, "in his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade..." (1 Peter 1:3-4). I don't have to enter this year of leading alone. I can enter with a living hope in the power of the resurrection of Christ. I can enter confident that my identity, my inheritance, come from a place that will never perish, spoil or fade.

Knowing this allows me to live in freedom. That is why Christ set us free after-all. I'm still a long way from learning what it looks like to live in true freedom. It will be a life-long process with a lot of failing and a lot of grace. But in the end the struggle is worth it.

In thinking about this daily struggle to live in freedom, the question that struck me the most this week was thinking about what counts in our lives. What, at the end of our days when we stand before the Lord, will really count?

Paul has a few thoughts on that in Galatians that I am now clinging to. First, "the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." (Galatians 5:6). And secondly, "neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what matters is a new creation." (6:15). Is my faith expressing itself through love towards others? Am I living life as a wholly new creation, set free from sin and living in the power of the Holy Spirit rather than my own? That is what counts. That is what I want to define this upcoming year of leadership and all the days of my life.

Relevant

 

Live a life of authentic reverence for Jesus and you become relevant to

the watching world. Live your life to become relevant and you become both

irreverent to Jesus and irrelevant to the watching world.

 

Before we ruminate on how to reach seekers, we must focus on how to revere the Great Seeker, the God who seeks worshippers who worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23).

 

You exist "to the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:12b, 14b), "so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you" (2Thessalonians 1:22a), that your life and mine would shout together Paul's anthem "to him be the glory forever" (Romans 11:36b).

Thaddeus Williams

Biola magazine

Summer 2013