How to Make a Difference in the World
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - The following sermon excerpt may be the most spread excerpt
00:00:07.860 | in all of John Piper's preaching legacy.
00:00:11.280 | It contains phrases and sentences and images
00:00:14.240 | that have become emblems of his ministry.
00:00:17.360 | The clip is taken from a message titled,
00:00:19.520 | "Boasting Only in the Cross," which he preached outdoors
00:00:23.000 | to about 20,000 college students
00:00:25.840 | at Passion's One Day Conference on May 20th, 2000.
00:00:30.120 | Here's what John Piper said.
00:00:31.520 | - You don't have to know a lot of things
00:00:36.080 | in order to make a huge difference
00:00:38.880 | for the Lord in the world.
00:00:41.300 | But you do need to know a few things that are great
00:00:48.160 | and be willing to live for them and die for them.
00:00:55.540 | People that make a difference in the world
00:00:58.140 | are not people who have mastered a lot of things.
00:01:03.080 | They are people who have been mastered by a very few things
00:01:09.620 | that are very, very great.
00:01:12.580 | If you want your life to count,
00:01:17.700 | you don't have to have a high IQ
00:01:21.180 | and you don't have to have a high EQ.
00:01:24.500 | You don't have to be smart.
00:01:29.140 | You don't have to have good looks.
00:01:30.620 | You don't have to be from a good family
00:01:34.180 | or from a good school.
00:01:36.180 | You just have to know a few basic,
00:01:42.000 | simple, glorious, majestic,
00:01:47.600 | obvious, unchanging, eternal things
00:01:52.400 | and be gripped by them
00:01:54.260 | and be willing to lay down your life for them,
00:01:57.340 | which is why anybody in this crowd
00:02:00.300 | can make a worldwide difference,
00:02:03.760 | 'cause it isn't you.
00:02:05.200 | It's what you're gripped with.
00:02:08.760 | But one of the really sad things
00:02:13.940 | about this moment right now
00:02:15.440 | is that there are hundreds of you in this crowd
00:02:17.940 | who do not want your life to make a difference.
00:02:23.860 | All you want is to be liked.
00:02:31.520 | Maybe finish school,
00:02:39.020 | get a good job,
00:02:43.980 | find a husband or a wife,
00:02:47.380 | a nice house, a nice car,
00:02:49.500 | good vacations,
00:02:51.380 | grow old healthy,
00:02:54.140 | have a fun retirement,
00:02:55.660 | die easy, no hell,
00:02:58.220 | and that's all you want.
00:02:59.540 | You don't give a rip
00:03:03.820 | whether your life counts on this earth for eternity.
00:03:08.480 | That's a tragedy in the making.
00:03:13.760 | That is a tragedy in the making.
00:03:16.720 | About three weeks ago,
00:03:18.520 | we got news at our church
00:03:20.840 | that Ruby Eliason
00:03:25.440 | and Laura Edwards were killed in Cameroon.
00:03:31.320 | Ruby Eliason,
00:03:36.600 | over 80,
00:03:40.720 | single all her life,
00:03:43.080 | a nurse,
00:03:46.480 | poured her life out for one thing,
00:03:50.040 | to make Jesus Christ known
00:03:54.760 | among the sick and the poor
00:03:57.600 | in the hardest and most unreached places.
00:04:00.800 | Laura Edwards,
00:04:04.320 | a medical doctor in the Twin Cities
00:04:07.360 | and then in retirement,
00:04:10.160 | partnering up with Ruby,
00:04:12.320 | also pushing 80,
00:04:14.120 | and going from village to village in Cameroon.
00:04:19.440 | And the brakes give way.
00:04:21.280 | Over a cliff they go,
00:04:25.480 | and they're dead instantly.
00:04:27.880 | And I asked my people,
00:04:29.680 | is this a tragedy?
00:04:32.160 | Two women,
00:04:39.960 | in their 80s,
00:04:42.920 | a whole life devoted to one idea,
00:04:48.240 | Jesus Christ magnified
00:04:51.400 | among the poor and the sick
00:04:54.560 | in the hardest places.
00:04:56.640 | And 20 years after most of their American counterparts
00:05:04.200 | had begun to throw their lives away
00:05:07.000 | on trivialities in Florida and New Mexico,
00:05:10.400 | fly into eternity with a death in a moment,
00:05:14.400 | is this a tragedy, I asked.
00:05:16.520 | It is not a tragedy.
00:05:21.520 | I'll read you what a tragedy is.
00:05:24.600 | I've got a little article here from Reader's Digest.
00:05:29.180 | You don't read Reader's Digest, I know that.
00:05:31.600 | Title of the article,
00:05:35.400 | Start Now, Retire Early,
00:05:37.480 | February 1998.
00:05:41.720 | Bob and Penny took early retirement
00:05:46.120 | from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago
00:05:49.000 | when he was 59 and she was 51.
00:05:52.840 | Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida,
00:05:58.480 | where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler,
00:06:02.960 | play softball, and collect shells.
00:06:07.960 | (congregation laughing)
00:06:11.840 | That's a tragedy.
00:06:13.160 | That's a tragedy and there are people in this country
00:06:19.600 | that are spending billions of dollars
00:06:22.480 | to get you to buy it.
00:06:24.920 | And I get 40 minutes to plead with you,
00:06:30.960 | don't buy it.
00:06:33.360 | With all my heart, I plead with you,
00:06:36.600 | don't buy that dream.
00:06:39.480 | The American dream.
00:06:43.560 | A nice house, a nice car,
00:06:48.400 | a nice job, a nice family,
00:06:51.240 | a nice retirement, collecting shells.
00:06:57.760 | As the last chapter,
00:06:59.800 | before you stand before the creator of the universe
00:07:04.200 | to give an account with what you did,
00:07:07.960 | here it is, Lord, my shell collection.
00:07:12.100 | Look, Lord, my shell collection.
00:07:17.960 | And I've got a good swing.
00:07:20.120 | And look at my boat.
00:07:25.400 | God, look at my boat, God.
00:07:29.840 | Well, not for Ruby and not for Laura.
00:07:38.360 | Don't waste your life, don't waste it.
00:07:42.380 | - Classic, that was a clip from John Piper's message,
00:07:46.480 | boasting only in the cross at Passions One Day Conference,
00:07:50.440 | recorded outdoors on May 20th, 2000.
00:07:54.160 | You can find the entire message on our website.
00:07:56.240 | In fact, you can now see the entire video
00:07:58.360 | of the message as well.
00:08:00.120 | And on a related note, check out John Piper's book,
00:08:02.680 | "Don't Waste Your Life."
00:08:04.320 | You can download it free of charge
00:08:05.720 | from our website, desiringgod.org.
00:08:08.480 | He looks at a number of these similar themes.
00:08:11.400 | Click on the Books tab at the top of our homepage
00:08:13.720 | and then click on the title, "Don't Waste Your Life."
00:08:17.560 | We're back tomorrow and I'll ask John Piper,
00:08:19.280 | "What are the dangers of being overly nostalgic?
00:08:22.720 | "How do we rightly or wrongly prioritize the past?"
00:08:26.640 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.
00:08:27.760 | We'll see you tomorrow.
00:08:28.920 | (upbeat music)
00:08:31.520 | (upbeat music)
00:08:34.120 | [BLANK_AUDIO]