Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper

Week 9: Chapter 9 — The Majesty of Christ in Missions and Mercy

Read Chapter 9 of Don't Waste Your Life. Key passages: Matthew 28:18–20; Romans 15:20–21; Isaiah 61:1–2.

Piper brings his argument to its global climax, arguing that a life not wasted is ultimately a life poured out for the spread of Christ's glory to the ends of the earth — through both proclamation and compassionate action. These questions invite you to consider your own role in that global mission.

Discussion Questions

7 questions

1.Piper argues that missions — taking the gospel to unreached peoples — is not one option among many for the serious Christian, but the inevitable overflow of a heart that is genuinely captivated by the glory of Christ. Do you feel that overflow in your own life? What might be blocking it?

2.He draws on Paul's ambition in Romans 15:20 to preach the gospel 'where Christ has not been named,' and holds this up as one of the purest examples of a life not wasted. What is the difference between admiring this ambition in Paul and actually letting it shape your own life decisions?

3.Piper is insistent that mercy and justice — caring for the poor, the sick, the oppressed — are not alternatives to gospel proclamation but partners with it, flowing from the same love for God and neighbor. How do you hold these two impulses together in your own sense of calling?

a.Is there a danger of mercy work that becomes disconnected from gospel proclamation? What does that danger look like?

b.Is there a danger of gospel proclamation that is disconnected from mercy? What does that look like?

4.Piper challenges every believer to ask whether they are called to cross-cultural missions — not assuming the answer is no, but actually wrestling with the question before God. Have you genuinely wrestled with this? What did that process look like, and what did you sense God saying?

5.He argues that those who are not called to go are called to send — through prayer, giving, and mobilizing others. What would it mean to take your 'sending' role as seriously as missionaries take their 'going' role? What would change in your prayer life, your giving, and your church involvement?

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Closing Prayer

Full guide

Lord of all nations, forgive us for shrinking Your mission down to the size of our comfort zones. Thank You that You are worthy of worship from every tribe and tongue and people and nation — and that You have given us the extraordinary privilege of being part of bringing it about. Break our hearts for what breaks Yours. Stir us to go, to give, to pray, and to send with the urgency of people who believe that the glory of Christ is the greatest treasure in the universe and that the world desperately needs to see it. Amen.

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