Mission or Worship, Which is ultimate?

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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.” John Piper, Let the nations be glad 

Here’s what Mercy Simson has to say about the quote above: 

Define “worship.”

If worship is to sacrifice your future before God and die to self, then yes! God lives, self dies! 

The first time the term worship is used int eh Bible is in Ge 22:5-8 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” 

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 

Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” 

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. 

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 

Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

Worship is always to do with burnt offering. In the New Testament, Worship is again defined as the act of sacrifice: Ro 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

This again means death to self, so that Christ can live in me. Paul was able to say this: Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me!

If worship is defined as music, (singing, good band, fog, and lights, air-conditioned hall) that lifts up our spirits as it speaks to our emotions (If the music is fast, then your spirits are high; if the music is slow, then your spirits are soft and mellow), then it is a definite NO!

This seems to come from someone who is still churchy. Because the argument seems to be around the ultimate goal of the church. If he would ask differently, what is the ultimate goal of Jesus Christ, the King? Then we are talking about His Kingdom and not the church as we know it with music, fog and lights.

Jesus com”mission”ed us to go and make disciples of all nations. He did not commision us to worship in the sense to sing fast and slow rythmic songs.

Until mission is no more, we are commissioned to go and make disciples. Celebration comes later at the wedding of the lamb.

What I pick up in this statement is what man can do for God outside of God; and not what man should do for God because God commanded so.