Holy Ambition

John Piper identifies the apostle Paul’s passion in Romans 15:20, “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known” as a holy ambition. Paul’s heart burned not merely to strengthen existing churches, but to bring the name of Jesus to those who had never heard. His ambition was not driven by adventure, achievement, or personal calling alone, but was rooted in the very purposes of God: His desire that all people be saved (1 Timothy 2:4).

That same need remains urgent today.

• An estimated 4.8 billion people belong to unreached people groups, where less than 2% identify as evangelical Christians. This represents more than 40% of the world’s population.

• Among them are nearly 1 billion frontier peoples, with less than 0.1% Christian presence. Almost 1 out of every 8 people on earth.

• Even more sobering is the reality that 81% of unbelievers do not personally know a single Christian.

Source: International Mission Board (2024), Joshua Project (June 2025), Clarifying the Remaining Frontier Mission Task (International Journal of Frontier Missiology 2018) & Center for Study of Global Christianity (2025).

These are not merely statistics. They represent men and women made in the image of God, living and dying with little or no access to the good news of Jesus Christ. They remind us that the missionary task is not yet complete.

Paul’s holy ambition was shaped by Isaiah’s vision of God’s saving purposes for the nations. Quoting Isaiah 52:15, he writes: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand” (Romans 15:21). In its wider context, Isaiah calls God’s people to “go” (5 times) and “go out” (3 times) as heralds of good news: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news” (Isaiah 52:7).

Yet the confidence to go does not rest in the strength of the messenger, but in the certainty of God’s promise and the sufficiency of God’s Servant, the Messiah. The One who is “high and lifted up, and shall be exalted” is also the One whose appearance was “marred beyond human semblance.” Through His suffering, death, and exaltation, the Messiah would startle many nations. Kings would shut their mouths because of Him. And those who had never been told would see; those who had never heard would understand.

This is the great encouragement for missions. We do not go into the nations hoping that God might work. We go because Christ has already accomplished redemption, and God is gathering worshippers from every tribe, language, people, and nation. The Lord goes before His people. He is already at work opening blind eyes, softening hard hearts, and drawing people to Himself. As Christ has proclaimed, “the fields are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35).

Our task is simple, though never easy: to go where Christ has not yet been named and to faithfully proclaim Him.

May God give us this same holy ambition. May He make us faithful witnesses where we are, and may He raise up from among our churches men and women willing to go where the gospel is least known, so that peoples from every nation may come to know You and worship You.

Written by Daniel Liu.