Worship Is the Fuel and Goal of Missions. Everything Else Is Secondary.
Why do we go to the nations? Because people need the gospel. Because God commands it. Because lives and eternities are at stake. All of this is true. But John Piper argues that beneath all of these reasons lies a deeper one — one that changes everything about how we understand and pursue the missionary task.
Missions exists because worship doesn't.
Where people do not know God, do not treasure Christ, and do not glorify him as the supreme joy of their lives, missions is necessary. The goal is not simply that people would be saved — though that is glorious. The goal is that they would worship. That every tribe and tongue and people and nation would be gathered around the throne, ascribing worth to the Lamb who was slain. Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. And it is proper worship — a deep, genuine delight in the supremacy of God — that fuels missionary outreach.
Let the Nations Be Glad! is John Piper's landmark work on missions — now in its third edition, revised and expanded with new material on the prosperity gospel. It has become a modern missions classic, trusted by thousands of missionaries, pastors, church leaders, and laypeople around the world as one of the most biblically grounded and practically galvanising treatments of the missionary task available anywhere.
Whether you are preparing for the mission field, supporting those who are, or simply wanting to connect your labours to God's global purposes, this book will reshape how you think about worship, prayer, suffering, and the unreached peoples of the world.
What This Book Covers
John Piper works through the biblical foundations of missions with theological depth and missionary passion:
- The ultimate goal of missions — Why worship is the goal and fuel of missions — and how this conviction reshapes everything about how we approach the missionary task
- The biblical basis for missions — A careful, comprehensive account of what the Bible teaches about God's global purposes — from Genesis to Revelation
- Prayer and missions — Why prayer is not a supplement to missions strategy but its indispensable foundation — and what the Bible says about praying for the nations
- Suffering and missions — What the Bible teaches about suffering in missionary work — why it is to be expected, what it accomplishes, and how it is sustained
- People groups and the Great Commission — What Jesus meant by making disciples of all nations — and why reaching every people group, not just every country, is the biblical goal
- The prosperity gospel — New material in this third edition addressing the prosperity gospel and its devastating impact on the missionary enterprise
- Unreached peoples — The urgent reality of the peoples who have still not heard the gospel — and why God's heart for them must shape the church's priorities
- Worship as the goal — How every aspect of missions — evangelism, church planting, suffering, prayer — is oriented toward and sustained by the worship of God
What Readers Will Learn
- Why missions exists because worship doesn't — and how this insight transforms the vision and motivation of every Christian engaged in or supporting the missionary task
- The comprehensive biblical basis for missions — from the promises to Abraham, through the Psalms and the prophets, to the Great Commission and the vision of Revelation
- Why prayer is not peripheral to missions but one of its most essential and powerful weapons
- What the Bible teaches about suffering in missionary work — and how this prepares and sustains those who go
- What Jesus means by all nations in the Great Commission — and why the unreached peoples of the world must be a central concern of the church
- How the prosperity gospel distorts and damages the missionary enterprise — and why a theologically sound missions theology is essential
- How to connect every Christian's labours — whatever they are — to God's great global purpose of gathering worshippers from every tribe and tongue
How to Use This Book
Let the Nations Be Glad! is essential, foundational, and immediately applicable:
- Missionaries and mission candidates — Essential reading for anyone preparing for or engaged in cross-cultural missionary work — providing the theological foundation and motivational fuel for a lifetime of service
- Pastors and church leaders — A foundational resource for building a church culture that is genuinely oriented toward God's global purposes
- College and seminary students — One of the most important books a theology or ministry student can read — providing a biblical and theological framework for understanding the missionary task
- Youth workers and campus ministers — A powerful resource for helping young Christians understand and embrace God's global purposes for their lives
- Laypeople — Essential reading for any Christian who wants to understand how their prayers, giving, and daily work connect to God's great global mission
- Missions committees and sending churches — A reliable, biblically grounded resource for churches wanting to think carefully about how they support and send missionaries
Who Should Read This Book
This book is for you if you are:
- A missionary or mission candidate wanting a comprehensive, biblically grounded foundation for the work you are called to
- A pastor or church leader wanting to build a congregation that is genuinely passionate about and engaged with God's global missionary purposes
- A student at college or seminary wanting to understand what the Bible says about missions — and how worship, prayer, and suffering all connect to the missionary task
- A Christian who wants to connect their life to God's global purposes — whether through prayer, giving, sending, or going
- Anyone who has ever asked: What is missions ultimately for — and why does it matter so much?
About the Author
John Piper is the founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and Chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary. He served as Pastor for Preaching and Vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for thirty-three years. He is the author of more than fifty books and is widely regarded as one of the most influential Christian thinkers, preachers, and authors of the past half century. His ministry has been defined by a singular passion: that God would be glorified in everything, by everyone, everywhere. Let the Nations Be Glad! is one of the fullest expressions of that passion — a book that has shaped the missionary vision of countless individuals, churches, and organisations around the world, and that continues to be one of the most trusted and galvanising treatments of the missionary task in print.
