How true worship compels us to go into the darkest corners of the world with the light of Jesus
Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” —John Piper
This is one of the most haunting and convicting quotes I have ever heard. I’m wrecked each time I hear it, and I’ve come to believe missions and worship cannot be separated from each other. It’s an unstoppable fusion of power and action: We are created to worship, but out of the overflow of our worship we are commanded to go.
If our worship doesn’t provoke motion in our lives to love the least of these and see true transformation explode, then we’re living out a tragic lie to the Name we say we represent.
Leonard Ravenhill said once, “The tragedy of this last hour is that we have too many dead men in the pulpits giving out too many dead sermons to too many dead people.” This generation is surrounded by dead things, and this world needs hope. Desolation surrounds us, yet Jesus came to make dead things beautiful, and He has made us His agents of hope. We possess the resurrection life inside of us. He has given us a mandate; it isn’t an option.
When missions and worship kiss, something ferocious happens. Demons tremble. Darkness flees. And true restoration is triumphant.
I believe God is looking for a lion generation—an army ready to roar in this culture and provoke change. Revival-like meetings are springing up all over, and it’s great to see thousands upon thousands of desperate people in need of a touch from God. But that should be just the start to the stirring.
When God shows Himself, true awakenings take place. He takes all that was dead and brings it to life. This is a phenomenon that touches the most wide-eyed believer and reaches the most lost wanderer. In such a movement, every disbelief bows down to worship the real Jesus, and there is a deafening roar so loud that miracles happen in an instant. Hearts searching for truth find the only answer through the love we display in our lives. Hope comes when we take our eyes off ourselves and surrender them to be and to go wherever He calls us.
I want my worship to roar and make the gates of hell tremble. I am in search of what I can do to live out my worship boldly. Whatever it may be, I want it to compel others to move.
We are ridiculously blessed and have much to be thankful for. May this freedom we’ve been given provoke us to never become satisfied with the average, and may it charge us to do something provocative in this world so that all eyes turn to the cross and join the song of the Lamb.
What is your worship in motion? Find it and live it!
Daniel Bashta is worship pastor at RiverStone Church in Kennesaw, Ga. In 2009, he launched GoMotion, a ministry that marries music, media and missions for global impact. His album, The Invisible, released in February.
