by John Piper
“You’ll Be Eaten by Cannibals”
An aging Christian once objected to John G. Paton’s plan to go as a missionary to the South Sea Islands with the words, “You’ll be eaten by Cannibals!” Paton responded:
Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or worms; and in the Great Day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.29
When the world sees millions of “retired” Christians pouring out the last drops of their lives with joy for the sake of the unreached peoples and with a view toward heaven, then the supremacy of God will shine. He does not shine as brightly in the posh, leisure-soaked luxury condos on the outer rings of our cities.
Let There Be No Talk of Ultimate Self-Denial
From the youngest to the oldest, Christ is calling his church to a radical, wartime engagement in world missions. He is making it plain that it will not happen without pain. But let there be no Christian self-pity, no talk of ultimate self-denial. It is simply amazing how consistent are the testimonies of missionaries who have suffered for the gospel. Virtually all of them bear witness of the abundant joy and overriding compensations. Those who have suffered most often speak in the most lavish terms of the supreme blessing and joy of giving their lives away for others.
Lottie Moon said, “Surely there is no greater joy than saving souls.” Sherwood Eddy said of Amy Carmichael, “Her life was the most fragrant, the most joyfully sacrificial, that I ever knew.” Samuel Zwemer, after fifty years of labor (and the loss of two young children), said “The sheer joy of it all comes back. Gladly would I do it all over again.” And both Hudson Taylor and David Livingstone, after lives of extraordinary hardship and loss said, “I never made a sacrifice.”30
From this discovery I have learned that the way of love is both the way of self-denial and the way of ultimate joy. We deny ourselves the fleeting pleasures of sin and luxury and self-absorption in order to seek the kingdom above all things. In doing so we bring the greatest good to others, we magnify the worth of Christ as a treasure chest of joy, and we find our greatest satisfaction.
God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. And the supremacy of that glory shines most brightly when the satisfaction that we have in him endures in spite of suffering and pain in the mission of love.
1. All the quotes in this account are from Henry Martyn, Journal and Letters of Henry Martyn (New York: Protestant Episcopal Society for the Promotion of Evangelical Knowledge, 1851).
2. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (New York: Macmillan, 1963), 99.
3. David Barrett, “Annual Statistical Table on Global Mission: 2002,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 26, no. 1 (January 2002): 23.
4. David Barrett, George T. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Survey of Churches and Religions—AD 30 to 2200, vol. 1 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 11. Lest we think Christians are the only ones who endure martyrdom in huge numbers, Barrett compares Islam to Christianity: 80 million Muslim martyrs, 70 million Christian martyrs over the history of their two religions. He observes that there are 210 countries that have lengthy histories of martyrdom and are now fully evangelized (11).
5. Richard Wurmbrand, “Preparing the Underground Church,” Epiphany Journal 5, no. 4 (Summer 1985): 46–48.
6. Mission Frontiers 10, no. 1 (January 1988): 29.
7. Charles Wesley, Journal, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1980), 120–23.
8. Demons cannot even speak without the permission of Jesus: “He would not permit the demons to speak” (Mark 1:34). How much less may they do anything more harmful without permission, as Job 1:12, 21; 2:6–7, 10 makes plain. Nevertheless, Satan does persecute the church. “Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested”
(Rev. 2:10). For a more extensive treatment of this problem of how God’s sovereignty relates to the evil things men do, see John Piper, The Pleasures of God (Portland, Ore.: Multnomah, 2000), 66–75.
9. For a discussion of two different ways of talking about God’s will (his will of decree and his will of command), see John Piper, “Are There Two Wills in God? Divine Election and God’s Desire for All to Be Saved,” in The Pleasures of God: Meditations on God’s Delight in Being God (Sisters, Ore.: Multnomah, 2000), 313–40. (This essay is also found in Thomas R. Schreiner and Bruce A. Ware, eds., Still Sovereign: Contemporary Perspectives on Election, Foreknowledge, and Grace [Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000], 107–31.) The point is that when we think about the will of God, we must distinguish between actions that he commands to be done, such as “You shall not murder” (Exod. 20:13), and actions that he ordains in his sovereignty to come to pass, such as the death of his Son at the hands of murderers (Acts 2:23; 4:27–28). In other words, God sometimes ordains that things happen according to his will of decree that are against his will of command. That is surely the case in the crucifixion of his Son, which was planned from of old and yet necessarily involved the sins of men in the act of crucifixion. But most Christians have always believed that it is not sin in God to will that sin be. This is a difficult issue, and I only mention it here because it may trouble some readers that suffering is described as God’s will. It is in one sense, and it may not be in another. And yet man always remains responsible for it. I hope the troubled reader will seek help in the essay referred to above and in other parts of that same book, for example, chapter 2, “The Pleasure of God in All That He Does,” 47–75.
10. James Paton, ed., John G. Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides, an Autobiography (1889, 1898; reprint, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1965), 80.
11. Ibid., 200. For a brief overview of Paton’s life and ministry, refer to John Piper, “ ‘You Will Be Eaten by Cannibals!’ Courage in the Cause of World Missions: Lessons from the Life of John G. Paton” at www.DesiringGod.org.
12. Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 2 (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1974), 902. The parable of the workers in the vineyard who all made the same wage (Matt. 20:1–16) need not be in conflict with what Edwards (and the texts he cites!) teaches here. What that text may imply is that all of us are thrown into the same ocean of happiness. Another point of that parable is that God is free to give anyone any degree of blessing more than he deserves, and if there is anyone who is self-pitying or proud about his endurance, God is indeed free to exalt a person even above him so as to humble him and make him realize all of heaven is all of grace. I think Jonathan Edwards effectively answers Craig Blomberg’s question: “Is it not fundamentally self-contradictory to speak of degrees of perfection?” “Degrees of Reward in the Kingdom of Heaven,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 35, no. 2 (June 1992): 162–63. I do, however, want to side with Blomberg over against those who speak of “earning” rewards and who distort the conditional promises of heaven into promises of levels of reward in heaven.
13. Journal and Letters of Henry Martyn, 240, 326–28.
14. For their remarkable story, see the following resources: Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor, 40th ann. ed. (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1986); Elisabeth Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty:
The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1989); Elisabeth Elliot, The Savage My Kinsmen, 40th ann. ed. (Ann Arbor, Mich.: Servant, 1996); Steve Saint, “Did They Have to Die?” Christianity Today 40, no. 10 (16 September 1996): 20–27; and Russell T. Hitt, Jungle Pilot: The Gripping Story of the Life and Witness of Nate Saint, Martyred Missionary to Ecuador (Grand Rapids: Discovery House, 1997).
15. This is the name of the tribe formerly known as “Auca” [“savage”] by outsiders.
16. Quoted in Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor (New York: Harper & Row, 1957), 235–36.
18. See note 25 on the development of the Finishers Project devoted to helping people nearing retirement give their energy, skill, and heart to the cause of Christ. Part of their vision statement says, “We can either give them to Jesus to lay up as treasure in Heaven or lose them.”
19. Michael Card, “Wounded in the House of Friends,” Virtue (March/April 1991): 28–29, 69.
20. The Minneapolis Star Tribune carried an article on Friday, 3 May 1991, from which these data are taken.
21. Bill and Amy Stearns, Catch the Vision 2000 (Minneapolis: Bethany, 1991), 12–13.
22. Phyllis Thompson, Life out of Death in Mozambique (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1989), 111.
23. Herbert Schlossberg, Called to Suffer, Called to Triumph (Portland, Ore.: Multnomah, 1990), 230.
24. Norm Lewis, Priority One: What God Wants (Orange, Calif.: Promise Publishing, 1988), 120.
25. Since the first edition of this book in 1993, one of the significant advances in Christian mission strategy has been the emergence of ministries focused on mobilizing people in midlife for the cause of finishing the Great Commission. Paul’s words in Acts 20:24 have come alive for thousands as they contemplate a better way to finish their earthly lives than to throw them away golfing or fishing in the unbiblical dreamworld of wasted lives called “retirement.” Paul said, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” For information about this movement, see the website of the Finishers Project: www .finishers.gospelcom.net/. The Finishers Project is a service designed to provide adult Christians with information and challenge for processing and discovering ministry opportunities in the missions enterprise—short term, part term, or as a second career. The vision statement (2004) says, “The Finishers Project is a movement to provide information, challenge and pathways for people to join God in His passion for His glory among the nations. Boomers are and will be the healthiest and best educated generation of empty-nesters ever. This generation is skilled and resourced with a multitude of talents. We can either give them to Jesus to lay up as treasure in Heaven or lose them.”
26. Ralph D. Winter, “The Retirement Booby Trap,” Missions Frontiers 7 (July 1985): 25.
27. Handley C. G. Moule, Charles Simeon (1892; reprint, London: Inter-Varsity, 1948), 125. For a biographical sketch of Simeon’s life, see “Charles Simeon: The Ballast of Humiliation and the Sails of Adoration,” in John Piper, The Roots of Endurance: Invincible Perseverance in the Lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce (Wheaton: Crossway, 2002). An earlier version of this essay is found at www.DesiringGod.org.
28. Samuel Zwemer, Raymond Lull: First Missionary to the Moslems (New York: Revell, 1902), 132–45.
29. Paton, John G. Paton, 56.
30. See John Piper, “The Battle Cry of Christian Hedonism,” in Desiring God (Sisters, Ore.: Multnomah, 1996), 189–211.
PART 2
MAKING GOD
SUPREME
IN MISSIONS
THE NECESSITY AND
NATURE OF THE TASK
4
The Supremacy of Christ as the
Conscious Focus of All Saving Faith
The supremacy of God in missions is affirmed biblically by affirming the supremacy of his Son, Jesus Christ. It is a stunning New Testament truth that since the incarnation of the Son of God, all saving faith must henceforth fix consciously on him. This was not always true, and those times were called the “times of ignorance” (Acts 17:30). But now it is true, and Christ is the conscious center of the mission of the church. The aim of missions is to “bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations” (Rom. 1:5). This was a new thing with the coming of Christ. God’s will is to glorify his Son by making him the conscious focus of all saving faith.
Posing the Question
The general question posed in this chapter is whether the supremacy of Christ means that he is the only way to salvation. But that general question really contains three questions, and they are crucial for the missionary task of the Christian church. The three questions emerge as different people answer and qualify the main question.
Will Anyone Experience Eternal Conscious Torment under God’s Wrath?
Many people today affirm that Christ is man’s only hope but deny that there is eternal punishment for not believing in him.1 Some would say that everyone is going to be saved whether they hear about Christ in this life or not. For example, even though he has been dead since 1905, the preacher-novelist George MacDonald is being published and read as never before in America and is extending the influence of his brand of universalism. He makes hell into an extended means of self-atonement and sanctification. In hell, the justice of God will eventually destroy all sin in his creatures. In this way, God will bring everyone to glory.2 Everyone will be saved. Hell is not eternal.
Others would say that while not everyone is saved, there is still no eternal punishment because the fire of judgment annihilates those who reject Christ. Thus, unbelievers cease to exist and experience no conscious punishment. Hell is not a place of eternal punishment but an event of annihilation. This is the direction that Clark Pinnock, John Stott, Edward Fudge, and others have gone.3
Therefore, the question we must ask includes this one: Is eternal punishment at stake? That is, will anyone be eternally cut off from Christ and experience eternal conscious torment under the wrath of God?
Is the Work of Christ Necessary?
Other people today would deny that Christ is man’s only hope. They may believe that Christ is the provision that God has made for Christians, but for other religions, there are other ways of getting right with God and gaining eternal bliss. The work of Christ is useful for Christians but not necessary for non-Christians.
For example, British theologian John Hick argues that different religions are “equals, though they each may have different emphases.” Christianity is not superior but merely one partner in the quest for salvation. We are not to seek one world religion but rather should look to the day when “the ecumenical spirit which has so largely transformed Christianity will increasingly affect relations between the world faiths.”4
This means that the question we are asking must include: Is the work of Christ the necessary means provided by God for eternal salvation—not just for Christians, but for all people?
Is Conscious Faith in Christ Necessary?
Some evangelicals say they just don’t know if conscious faith in Christ is necessary.5 Others, without denying the reality of eternal judgment or the necessity of Christ’s saving work, would say, “Yes, Christ is man’s only hope, but he saves some of those who never hear of him through faith that does not have Christ for its conscious object.” For example, Millard Erickson represents some evangelicals6 who argue that, similar to the saints in the Old Testament, some unevangelized persons today may “receive the benefit of Christ’s death without conscious knowledge-belief in the name of Jesus.”7
So we must make clear what we are really asking: Is it necessary for people to hear of Christ in order to be eternally saved? That is, can a person today be saved by the work of Christ even if he does not have an opportunity to hear about it?
Therefore, when we ask, Is Jesus Christ humanity’s only hope for salvation? we are really asking three questions:
1. Will anyone experience eternal conscious torment under God’s wrath?
2. Is the work of Christ the necessary means provided by God for eternal salvation?
3. Is it necessary for people to hear of Christ in order to be eternally saved?
A Nerve of Urgency
Biblical answers to these three questions are crucial because in each case a negative answer would seem to cut a nerve of urgency in the missionary cause. Evangelicals such as Erickson do not intend to cut t
hat nerve, and their view is certainly not in the same category as that of Hick or Mac-Donald. They insist that the salvation of anyone apart from the preaching of Christ is the exception rather than the rule and that preaching Christ to all is utterly important.
Nevertheless, there is a felt difference in the urgency when one believes that hearing the gospel is the only hope that anyone has of escaping the penalty of sin and living forever in happiness to the glory of God’s grace. It does not ring true when William Crockett and James Sigountos argue that the existence of “implicit Christians” (saved through general revelation without hearing of Christ) actually “should increase motivation” for missions. They say that these unevangelized converts are “waiting eagerly to hear more about [God].” If we would reach them, “a strong church would spring to life, giving glory to God and evangelizing their pagan neighbors.”8 I cannot escape the impression that this is a futile attempt to make a weakness look like a strength. On the contrary, common sense presses another truth on us: The more likely it is that people can be saved without missions, the less urgency there is for missions.
So with regard to all three of these questions, there is much at stake. Nevertheless, in the end, the most crucial matter is not our desire to maintain the urgency of the missionary cause but to answer, What do the Scriptures teach?
