March 29th, 2024
by John Kelley
by John Kelley
“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. So worship is the fuel and goal of missions. Worship has always been and will always be the ultimate purpose of God in the universe. It has always been the fire that fuels our passion to reach peoples who do not worship the true God through Jesus Christ.”
- John Piper, Desiring God
Way back in the 1980s, I remember watching commercials with Sally Struthers for Christian Children’s Fund. “With a little of your spare change, you could change the life of a child forever.” was their claim. Unfortunately, as was revealed in 1994, most of that spare change never made it to those children. In fact, as little as 50 cents of it did. Between the company’s CEO having a gorgeously furnished office and posh lifestyle, the board was also taken on trips overseas where they stayed in the most expensive and high-class hotels. In many of the countries where people’s money was sent, the funds were mismanaged and many children received little aid at all. Both the CEO of CCF and the chairman of the board stepped down under heavy pressure as the company needed a fresh reboot. By 2009, Christian Children’s Fund had changed their name to Child Fund International. This was appropriate given the organization was never considered Christian by the people who worked and served there.
The issue with Christian Children’s Fund wasn’t the way the money was spent. That was a symptom of the cancer they were dealing with. Whenever sin comes into the equation through corrupted power, use of money, or deceitful practices, those acts are not the issue. They happen because of one thing. The lack of worship. The Oxford Dictionary describes worship as, “the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity". John Piper, in his book “Desiring God”, says, “True worship is a valuing or a treasuring of God above all things.” In Romans 12:1, we read…
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Romans 12:1
All three of these definitions are correct. One academic, the second heartfelt, and the other a call to action. NO MISSION WILL SUCCEED IF WORSHIP IS NOT PRESENT. In order for us to live out the Great Commission, we have to have an honest understanding of who we are in comparison to God. Jesus did.
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:1–11
Even the Son of God couldn’t grasp equality with God. That verse always hits me for some reason. Throughout the Gospels Jesus says things like, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” - John 14:6 and “I and the Father are one.” - John 10:30. However, Paul makes the statement here that even Jesus knew the immense nature of God. Jesus understood his greatness and reknown. He wouldn’t put himself on the same level as the Father and would humble Himself in obedience to God. He stepped down from the highest possible place and lowered himself to the form of a human to do that very thing. Jesus’ entire life was out of worship of His Father.
This is the very heart of why we serve. Service is temporary, but worship is eternal. Service for the sake of service is a waste of time. As Christians, we are not called to just do things. We are called to be a reflection of Christ.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.
2 Corinthians 3:17–18
Our service has an end goal. We are to make disciples. Our service has one source. That is Christ Jesus. Our service comes from one place, worship. When the day comes that we finally get to receive the very thing we have lived our lives for and our hope is made complete, worship will still be there. Christ will still be there, but our service will be over. This is why we work so hard now. We can’t allow this hope to be hidden from the world. We are the light in a very dark place. To hide that light means there is a lack of worship in our hearts. If we step back and take a good, hard look at God, how could we sit on our hands and do nothing? People are lost, and they desperately need what we have for them.
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:13–16
It’s not our “good works” that save us. Our “good works”, however, can save others. As disciples ourselves, we need to remember that someone took the time to show us Christ. It was the greatest gift you or I have been given, and it came from a place of worship. If our service is the vehicle by which disciples can be made, then worship is our fuel. So let’s gas up the tank and get to work.
- John Piper, Desiring God
Way back in the 1980s, I remember watching commercials with Sally Struthers for Christian Children’s Fund. “With a little of your spare change, you could change the life of a child forever.” was their claim. Unfortunately, as was revealed in 1994, most of that spare change never made it to those children. In fact, as little as 50 cents of it did. Between the company’s CEO having a gorgeously furnished office and posh lifestyle, the board was also taken on trips overseas where they stayed in the most expensive and high-class hotels. In many of the countries where people’s money was sent, the funds were mismanaged and many children received little aid at all. Both the CEO of CCF and the chairman of the board stepped down under heavy pressure as the company needed a fresh reboot. By 2009, Christian Children’s Fund had changed their name to Child Fund International. This was appropriate given the organization was never considered Christian by the people who worked and served there.
The issue with Christian Children’s Fund wasn’t the way the money was spent. That was a symptom of the cancer they were dealing with. Whenever sin comes into the equation through corrupted power, use of money, or deceitful practices, those acts are not the issue. They happen because of one thing. The lack of worship. The Oxford Dictionary describes worship as, “the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity". John Piper, in his book “Desiring God”, says, “True worship is a valuing or a treasuring of God above all things.” In Romans 12:1, we read…
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Romans 12:1
All three of these definitions are correct. One academic, the second heartfelt, and the other a call to action. NO MISSION WILL SUCCEED IF WORSHIP IS NOT PRESENT. In order for us to live out the Great Commission, we have to have an honest understanding of who we are in comparison to God. Jesus did.
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:1–11
Even the Son of God couldn’t grasp equality with God. That verse always hits me for some reason. Throughout the Gospels Jesus says things like, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” - John 14:6 and “I and the Father are one.” - John 10:30. However, Paul makes the statement here that even Jesus knew the immense nature of God. Jesus understood his greatness and reknown. He wouldn’t put himself on the same level as the Father and would humble Himself in obedience to God. He stepped down from the highest possible place and lowered himself to the form of a human to do that very thing. Jesus’ entire life was out of worship of His Father.
This is the very heart of why we serve. Service is temporary, but worship is eternal. Service for the sake of service is a waste of time. As Christians, we are not called to just do things. We are called to be a reflection of Christ.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.
2 Corinthians 3:17–18
Our service has an end goal. We are to make disciples. Our service has one source. That is Christ Jesus. Our service comes from one place, worship. When the day comes that we finally get to receive the very thing we have lived our lives for and our hope is made complete, worship will still be there. Christ will still be there, but our service will be over. This is why we work so hard now. We can’t allow this hope to be hidden from the world. We are the light in a very dark place. To hide that light means there is a lack of worship in our hearts. If we step back and take a good, hard look at God, how could we sit on our hands and do nothing? People are lost, and they desperately need what we have for them.
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:13–16
It’s not our “good works” that save us. Our “good works”, however, can save others. As disciples ourselves, we need to remember that someone took the time to show us Christ. It was the greatest gift you or I have been given, and it came from a place of worship. If our service is the vehicle by which disciples can be made, then worship is our fuel. So let’s gas up the tank and get to work.
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2024
January
What Is Prayer?AdorationConfessionThanksgivingSupplicationScripture Is The Word Of GodGod’s Word Guides UsGod’s Word Convicts UsGod’s Word Connects UsGod’s Word Encourages UsWhat Is Worship?Worship In Our WorkWorship In Our FamilySunday WorshipWorship Even When You Don't Want ToWhat is Fasting All About?Giving God Our Meal TimesEmptied of Ourselves and Filled with ChristFasting Develops FocusFood Is OverratedGod Is NOT In The FireJesus Sneaks OffWe Make Our Own Noise
February
We All Need SpaceGod Is Not Santa ClausWith Great Blessing Comes Great ResponsibilityCan Stewardship Be Scary?Filling the Need When We See ItIt's All His AnywayTime Is NOT On My SideWe Need Each OtherDevoted To The WordBreaking Bread TogetherGroup Conversations With GodFour Hands Are Better Than TwoLet’s Keep It SimpleOnly Take What You NeedSlow DownThe Great PurgeA Simple MessageGod’s Word Is A WeaponDo You Have A Game Plan?What You Remember Most Matters MostStart With the Basics
March
April
Sin Is RealDistraction Leads to Cover-UpWandering In DisobediencePride Comes Before the FallI Do What I HateThe Beauty of RedemptionRedemption Has A PriceWe Need To Claim Our PrizeYou Gotta Have FaithEven When You Look Like a Fool….God Will ProvideTrust the ProcessI Forgive YouGrace Is Free, But It Isn't CheapI Was Wrong, You Were RightThe Mob
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