Special thanks again to Caitlin of Baker Books for a review copy of the DVD and Study Guide. See my previous post for my review of the 3rd Edition of the book.
Along with publishing a 3rd edition of John Piper’s Let the Nations Be Glad, Baker has released, a helpful complement in the DVD and DVD Study Guide. I for one applaud the attempt at a multimedia approach, as different media reach different people. While some may be put off by long chapters (see my review) and extended footnotes, Piper’s passionate preaching and pleading (which is often what he does) with his listeners to pursue and support missions may speak to them. The content of the actual sermons is largely the same as the book itself, so I won’t spend as much time reviewing that as I will the quality and character of the sermons on the DVD and the helpfulness of the accompanying Study Guide.
The DVDs are divided into 6 talks of approximately 30 minutes. I think they were originally 2 talks when they were given (I read somewhere they were given in NC). I’m not entirely sure, but it seems they were given to a group of pastors, presumably under the label of “missional,” since Piper consistently makes the point (especially in the first sermon) “you are not biblically missional unless you pursue missions.” In the third sermon he also does a Mark Driscoll impersonation, so I’d imagine he was involved in the conference at which these messages were originally given.
The titles of the 6 talks are:
- Defining Missions and Defining Peoples
- The Urgency of Missions: The Reality of Hell and the Work of Christ
- The Urgency of Missions: Preaching, Hearing, and Believing
- The Goal and Fuel of Missions
- Prayer: the Power of Missions
- Suffering: The Cost of Missions
Interestingly, while the content is mostly the same as the book, the order is slightly different. I say this because after hearing the second sermon, specifically the section on the urgency of missions because of the reality of the eternal nature of hell, I thought, “he really needs to balance this with chapter 1 from his book.” This came in the fourth sermon (which is why I need to learn to look ahead!). Without going into all the details (and the book lays out the exegesis for his conclusions), I agree with Piper that the glory due the name of Jesus is the primary motivation for missions, not the fear of hell or anything else. God is the center of our missiology, not people.
Piper’s preaching is passionate and powerful. If I had to pick one sermon for anyone to listen to, I’d probably pick sermon four, “The Goal and Fuel of Missions.” I think this lays out the basis of missions in a way that anyone interested in the subject can learn and be blessed by. But none of these sermons stand out as much lower in quality. In fact, the listener/viewer will find themselves challenged by any and all of these.
The Study Guide contains 8 Lessons for 8 weeks geared toward a small group, with the sermons coming in weeks 2-7 (though it has suggestions for how to do this in a 6 week time frame). There are questions for people to read 5 days in the week prior to watching the DVD. They also ask people to read sermons available for free on desiringgod.org, so it isn’t simply watching the DVD and answering some questions. The advantage to this is that it gets the small group members thinking about God’s plan for the nations of the world throughout the week rather than succumbing to the “once a week” bare minimum that so many groups are built on.
The questions, by and large, do a good job getting to the heart of each week’s focus. In my opinion, the success of small groups comes less from the quality of the study guide and more from the discussion leader’s ability to facilitate the discussion. It seems the folks at Desiring God know this as well and offer simple advice for small group leaders at the end of the Study Guide, a wonderful feature I hope doesn’t slip by because of its location.
I really only have two caveats to make in my praise of the DVD and Study Guide. First, if you are leading a group of people who are already convinced of the necessity and value of cross-cultural missions to unreached people groups, you will find yourself nodding in agreement more than feeling the conviction of what Piper says. It seems to me that he is trying to convince those who are not convinced. So, if you’re group falls into the “already convinced and active” camp, then use the book and DVD as refreshers and support. The Study Guide will be less helpful for this group, though I suggest using it as a basic guide for asking good questions. But if you are a pastor and/or a small group leader and you are looking for a way to introduce missions to your church or group, this will be a wonderful tool to do this.
The second caveat is this: it is very John Piper heavy. This will naturally be the case with a Study Guide based on a DVD of John Piper sermons, which are based on a book by John Piper. But each week’s discussion also has you read a sermon or article also written by John Piper on desiringgod.org. I understand the logic behind this: all the items on this website are free for download and reading, and they can control the permanence of this material unlike those which appear on other sites.
However, John Piper is not the only one who has written on missions. There are many helpful writings online from missiologists and missionaries that could be used in a small group setting. Again, I understand why the Study Guide is set up the way it is. My suggestion for group leaders is that they research and add some supplementary material as they see fit.
Other than those caveats, and they are admittedly small, I highly recommend these materials, especially for those who are on the fence regarding world missions. Piper’s biblical and passionate preaching stirred my heart and confirmed what God has speaking to me over the years. I pray that we heed the call to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to those who have never heard and see the Lord worshipped as He alone is worthy to be worshipped.