It’s not secret that no living person has had a greater influence on my relationship with God than John Piper. I know I am not alone in this confession, but I don’t hesitate to join the ranks of many who are indebted for Piper’s fatherly outreach to my generation. Yesterday, Mark Dever shared a tribute to him in the penultimate to his series called “Where’d All These Calvinists Come From?” While acknowledging the sovereignty and providence of God as the ultimate cause and source for the fruitfulness and blessing of Piper’s ministry, Dever shares what he believes are reasons why God has chosen to use Piper as a powerful tool to reach a generation and touch the world with a passion for the supremacy of Christ.
Dever explains,
Theological precision meeting up with spiritual, life-consuming passion. A profound hope imparting a serious joy leading to satisfying sacrifice.
The starkness of John’s statements, the uncompromising nature of his sermons’ calls and claims have captivated this supposedly word-weary generation. John may have turned 60 not too long ago, but his discipleship, his Bible reading, and his preaching and writing have more of the freshness of the young convert’s “anything, God, anything you ask of me” than they do of professorial overstuffed leather chairs with a retirement account to protect.
While this is not all that Dever said about Piper, I felt it touched on something I recently read, been meditating on, and am praying for my life. Below is a quote that I have been stuck with all week. It won’t leave me, and I am not ready to leave it. I share with you here because when I think of what an earnest minister looks like today, I am grateful that God has given us one in John Piper–a man whose gravitas is grounded in the greatness and grandeur of God. It is also what I desire to be for the glory of Christ who called me and entrusted me with His gladdening gospel.
“There is something in the aspect and power of earnestness, whatever be its object, that is impressive and commanding. A man who has selected some one object of pursuit, and then yielded up himself to the desire of its attainment, with a devotion admitting of no reserve, a steadiness of aim allowing of no diversion, a diligence consenting neither to rest nor intermission; and who ever retains this purpose so far uppermost in his heart as to fill his conversation, and so entirely and constantly before his mind as to throw into its broad shadow over every other subject of consideration; such an instance of decision, amounting to a ruling passion, gains a strange fascination over the feelings of others, and exerts over us, while witnessing it, an influence which we feel to be contagious. We involuntarily sympathise with a man who is thus carried away by his fervour; and if all his earnestness is for the promotion of our interests, its effect is irresistible.”
– John Angell James, An Earnest Ministry: The Want of Our Times, 29-30.
(I hope to share more from this book as I work though it in the future . . .)
I will gladly affirm the work of Christ in my life through the ministry of Johh Piper as well. I am deeply indebted to him.
I have recently discovered John Piper and have been blown away. Truly an inspiration to all of us.
Man, that is a great quote by James. Ditto on Piper.
I too have been profoundy blessed by John Piper. And your quote from John James is right on the mark. Thanks.