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Deep Dive into Why Spread God’s Glory Among the Nations by Costi Hinn · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to the Deep dive. Today we're going to really get
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into a foundational topic for Christians, global missions.
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That's right, we're drawing heavily from a presentation by
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Kosti Hinn, which he titled Why Spread God's Glory Among the
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Nations? And our goal here really is to
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kind of distill the main arguments he makes.
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We want to look at the motivations, the practical side
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of proclaiming the gospel worldwide.
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Yeah, we'll be looking at the roots of it all, the role
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worship plays, which is huge, the reality of spiritual
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struggle and, well, that unavoidable call to obedience.
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And this isn't just theory, is it?
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Hen really pushes that understanding why we spread
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God's glory and fundamentally change your life.
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Absolutely. He connects it to everything.
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How you manage money, your calendar, how you raise your
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kids. Pray for the lost.
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Share the gospel. Even how you see your own
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church. So yeah, let's unpack this.
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It sounds like it goes deep. Yeah.
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Kosty Hen's vision for missions? A life altering question.
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So him kicks things off with this really direct question,
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doesn't he? Why spread God's glory among the
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nations? And he frames it as having a,
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well, life altering outcome. Right, He's saying the answer
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isn't just, you know, academic. It genuinely impacts how you
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handle your money, your schedule, how you parent.
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How you pray, how you share your faith, even how you view the
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local church itself. It's like a complete reframing
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of, well, everything. It really sets the stage.
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He's making it clear that missions aren't some secondary
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thing like a hobby for a few super keen people.
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No, definitely. Not It's positioned as
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absolutely central, something that should reshape how every
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believer lives day-to-day. It's not just about getting more
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information. It's about letting God's global
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purpose reorder your whole existence.
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Before we dig into his main arguments, maybe we should touch
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on his background, because his personal story gives quite a bit
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of context to where he's coming from now.
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Yeah, that's really helpful context.
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Han is very open about his past involvement in what he now calls
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the prosperity gospel. And he's quite blunt about it.
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He says it's not a gospel at all.
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Exactly. He describes it as believing God
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was like a like a magic genie. You know, if you had enough
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faith, gave enough money, made the right declarations, then God
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had to give you what you wanted. Like promotions, jobs, money,
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whatever you desired. Right.
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He even talks about demanding miracles, demanding a wife,
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demanding his personal dreams come true.
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He uses this really striking image of himself as the
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puppeteer and Jesus as a puppet on a string.
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Wow, that's a that's a powerful image.
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How self focused it was. It really highlights the shift.
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He contrasts that view starkly with where he is now.
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He describes that old view of God as twisted right and and go
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so far as to say the God he believed in then wasn't a real
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God at all. Yes, and consequently he says he
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is not saved but damned and on the road to hell.
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He's very clear that what he practiced wasn't just a slightly
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off version of Christianity. It's interesting you mentioned
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Apollo's earlier, how he was maybe a little off but
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teachable. Hinds sees his own past as
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something far more serious, a fundamentally full system.
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Precisely. It was a complete overhaul for
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him from a faith where, as he puts it, everything was about
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you and you and you to realizing.
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God does not exist for your glory, you exist for His.
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That's the core shift, he says. The gospel involves you, yes,
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but it's fundamentally all about him.
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And he admits he couldn't even grasp the concept of glory
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before because his faith had always been about himself.
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That personal experience, that journey from one extreme to the
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other, it definitely lends a certain weight to his teaching
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on this now. No doubt.
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And he also brings in experiences from his time as a
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pastor. He talks about trying to
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emphasize global missions in his local church.
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And getting pushback. Yeah, sometimes.
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Condescending reactions, people telling him to focus more about
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the local church, suggesting maybe he was getting a bit too
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carried away. Almost like he thought it was,
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you know, Jim Elliot or someone. Right, that kind of calm down,
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focus here attitude. Exactly, And that experience
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seems to inform his critique of what he sees as a false divide
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between the local and the global church.
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Focus Psalm 96, The biblical springboard for a global
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mandate. OK, so when him builds his case,
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he points specifically to Psalm 96.
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He says it impacted him so much he just had to preach it.
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Yes, he reads the whole Psalm, all 13 verses, and points out
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the connections to 1st Chronicle 16 David dedicating the ark.
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He really anchors his argument there.
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And he sees it as a sort of missionary Psalm.
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That's the idea. It's a call that goes beyond
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just, you know, worship within the community.
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It actively pushes God's people to declare His greatness to the
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nation. 'S like a wake up call as he
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puts it, taking us out of our small story into God's bigger
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one. Precisely a story centered on
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God's glory being known among all peoples, not just us, it
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provides the sweeping God centered global vision that
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challenges any kind of inward focus.
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So if we look closely at Psalm 96, what are the key themes him
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pulls out as drivers for this global mission?
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Well. First and foremost, it's the
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glory of God itself. Him argues God's character, His
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worth, His works. They inherently demand global
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proclamation. His greatness just can't be
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contained. So the mission isn't primarily
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about us, or even about the needs of people.
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Ultimately, it's about God himself.
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That's his starting point. The gospel is all about Him.
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We as believers are byproducts of what Christ accomplished.
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Our existence serves His glory, not the other way around.
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And that connects to the universal scope in the Psalm
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too, right? The call isn't just to Israel.
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Exactly. The invitation to worship is
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explicitly for all nations, the families of the peoples.
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It's not limited to 1 ethnicity, one language group.
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It's a global call for everyone to give God the honor He
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deserves. Which really stands against any
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kind of narrow view of God's plan.
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Definitely. And then there's the stark
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contrast with idols. The Psalm says all the gods of
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the peoples are worthless idols. And Hen points out the Hebrew
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word means like nothingness, emptiness.
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It's a powerful declaration. These aren't just lesser gods,
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they are non entities. This highlights the absolute
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necessity of proclaiming the one true and living God because
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every alternative is fundamentally empty.
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It underscores the desperate need people have.
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And the final theme from the Psalm, he emphasizes, is
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imminent judgement. Yes, the idea that God will
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judge the earth. He's coming to judge the world
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in righteousness. This isn't some abstract future
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event. It gives the mission a real
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sense of urgency. Because time is limited, there's
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a timer as he says. A timer on life on this world,
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and crucially, a timer on the opportunity to choose this day
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whom you will serve. It makes the mission time
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sensitive. 3 The four driving truths of global missions.
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OK, so building on that foundation in Psalm 96, hen then
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boils down the why of missions into 4 core truths.
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These are like the engines driving at all.
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Right. And these aren't just isolated
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points. They form a biblical basis that
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he argues should really direct how every Christian thinks about
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their life and purpose. So.
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The first one circles back to what we just discussed.
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The glory of God is the driving force and aim.
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Everything serves to magnify Him.
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Exactly. His character, his worth, his
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works. They demand global proclamation.
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It's all about him. We are the byproducts.
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He won't share his. He uses that story from First
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Samuel 5, doesn't he? With Dagon falling before the
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Ark. Yeah, it's such a vivid picture.
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The Philistines put the captured ark next to their idol, Dagon,
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and the next morning, Dagon's face down.
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They set him up and the next morning he's down again, head
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and hands broken off. A clear message.
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Hin uses it to show that every idol must fall and only Yahweh
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stands. All other gods are worthless
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idols. Nothingness.
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And this is so central for him given his own past.
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Moving from that, it's all about you, prosperity of you.
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Two, God does not exist for your glory, You exist for His, that
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fundamental shift. That's the bedrock for him.
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OK, so the second truth. The worship of God is the goal
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of missions. The ultimate end isn't just
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conversions or churches planted, or even social good, as
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important as those are. It's about gathering worshippers
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from every nation, tribe and tongue.
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Building God's Kingdom of worshippers, not human ones.
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Right. And this raises that key
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question, what's the link between worship and witness?
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Hinn says worship breeds witness, that one flows from the
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other. Yes, worship always overflows
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into witness. He suggests that if a church or
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an individual has a missions problem, it might actually
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indicate A deeper worship problem.
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That's interesting. How does that work?
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Well, when someone is genuinely transformed by the gospel, when
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they really grasped who they were before Christ, maybe
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looking in that BC mirror he talks about and understand what
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he's done for them purely by grace.
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That realization that you didn't save yourself.
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Exactly. That awareness makes it
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impossible to just keep quiet. It overflows into wanting to
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declare God's goodness. So a life laid down in worship
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naturally leads to witness. It's not forced, it's an
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outflow. OK, that makes sense.
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What's the third truth? The judgement of God is the
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urgency of missions. This brings back that sense of
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immediacy we saw in the Psalm. The King is coming to judge.
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He is coming to judge the earth in righteousness and
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faithfulness. Right.
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And this means there's that timer on this life, a timer on
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this world, and a timer on Choose this day whom you will
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serve. It forces the ultimate question.
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Are people going to meet him as savior or as judge?
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That's the stark reality that fuels the urgency.
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And Hinn specifically calls out those cynical voices who dismiss
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this urgency, saying things like, oh, people have always
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been saying that. Implying it's not really urgent
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because it hasn't happened yet. Yeah, but Hen counters that the
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consistency of the promise doesn't negate it, it confirms
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it. The time to act is now.
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OK. And the fourth driving truth.
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Yeah, this one seems to be about our role.
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Yes, our obedience to God is the agency of missions.
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God chooses to use, as Him puts it, sinful, puny, finicky humans
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as His Plan A. There is no Plan B.
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So our response, our obedience, is how God actually gets His
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mission done. That's the argument.
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Obedience to God is the agency of missions.
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He really pushes back against the idea that missions is
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something weird or odd or. Wild, He calls it a normal
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mandate for the church. Normal.
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He even says the Bible does not even entertain push back on
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global missions. It's assumed it's just part of
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what the church is. Any challenges that idea?
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Waiting around for some special mystical calling, doesn't he?
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Very much so. He looks at figures like
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Adonaram Judson or William Carey and says fundamentally, they
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weren't waiting for a feeling, they were simply obedient
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people. Just doing what God commanded.
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Right. Obedience comes first, then God
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clarifies how, whether it's by going or sending others through
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support and prayer or giving financially.
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But the action starts with obedience to the command that's
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already there. 4 The challenge of comfortable Christianity.
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Now Hint spends a good bit of time critiquing what he calls
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comfortable Christian life, especially in the West in the
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American First World context. Yeah, he sees this comfort,
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which seems harmless on the surface, as a real danger of
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potential hindrance to gospel outreach.
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How so? How does comfort get in the way?
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He argues it can breed a kind of small, safe, self focused faith.
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When life is generally comfortable, the idea of God's
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heart for, say, unreached people groups can feel distant,
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foreign, or even optional. Your faith goals might become
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more about like my personal growth, my good church, my kids
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having Christian friends. Exactly.
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All good things in themselves, but potentially self focused
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rather than focused on God's global renown.
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Comfort can lead to routines and priorities that unintentionally
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sideline God's bigger mission. Personal ease gets prioritized
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over His glory among the nations.
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And this comfort, he says, can create a false dichotomy.
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Yes, particularly the false dichotomy between focusing on
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the local church versus the global church.
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He sees this as a misguided separation.
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Where being really invested locally somehow excuses a lack
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of global vision. That's the danger, he points
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out. He insists the local church must
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always have a vision for the global.
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The Great Commission isn't just another program.
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It's normal and obvious to what the church is supposed to be.
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But it's easy to get caught up in local stuff.
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Events, budgets, internal dynamics.
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Very easy and hint says when local comfort becomes the main
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priority, the casualty is missions and the casualty is the
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global church. He uses that analogy of Peter on
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the mountain Transfiguration right?
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Wanting to just stay there in the glory.
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Yeah, Peter's reaction. Let's build shelters and just
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stay right here. Hin sees that as representing A
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reluctance to engage globally, wanting the comfort of the
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mountaintop instead of going down into the messy work of
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Mission and he. Contrasts that with his own
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efforts as a pastor trying to model a global vision locally.
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Right. And he shares those anecdotes
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about the pushback he got, like people saying, oh, I know.
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Your buddy Brooks sort of dismissing his passion as just
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echoing his friend. Who is this Brooks friend he
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mentions? Hin clearly respects him a lot,
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sees him as someone who lives out missions as just normal.
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He even tells that funny story, maybe slightly embellished he
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admits, about Brooks and a pig, just to illustrate his friend's
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very practical, hands on, maybe even slightly wild approach to
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ministry. It shows a dedication that maybe
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makes comfortable people nervous.
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So this comfort doesn't just create a false dichotomy, it
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also seems to diminish the motivation for actually sharing
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the gospel personally. That's another key point.
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Him thinks apathy towards evangelism often comes from
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forgetting our own transformation, forgetting to
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look in that BC mirror before Christ's mirror to see who we
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were. And forgetting what God has done
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for us purely by grace. Exactly.
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He pushes back against self improvement thinking like from
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David Goggins or others saying true change isn't about
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willpower, it's God's grace. If we lose sight of the
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magnitude of our own rescue, the urgency to share that rescue
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fades. He also warns about other
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Christians, maybe well meaning but forgetful ones, who might
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dampen that initial zeal. Yeah, the ones who say things
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like, oh, that's cute, you'll calm down.
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Or what do you think you are, Jamelliot?
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Trying to pull people back into a more sensible, comfortable
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routine. Like just join a small group,
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tithe, attend regularly, behave yourself, but don't get too
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radical about this mission stuff.
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Right. His response is passionate.
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When Jesus saves you and you know that it's him and it wasn't
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you, you stop caring about what everybody else thinks and you
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declare it from the rooftops to the nation's.
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It's a God centered boldness that overrides social pressure.
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He uses another image too, the hamster on a wheel in church.
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Yeah, people feeling busy with church activities, classes,
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committees, but ultimately distracted by, as he puts it,
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arguments over the Church committee budget for the filing
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cabinet or internal church drama and plays for power.
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All while the main mission, spreading the glory of God to
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the nations gets ignored. Exactly.
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He notes the irony of Christians reading biographies of figures
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like George Mueller or David Brainard, admiring their faith
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but then not actually doing anything differently.
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It becomes passive admiration, not active emulation.
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OK. And this ties into his
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understanding of spiritual struggle as well, doesn't it?
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Especially how it plays out in comfortable settings.
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Yes, this is crucial. He calls spiritual struggle, the
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Battle for the Mind and the Battle for Souls, the greatest
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battle and greatest mission, but he's careful to define what it
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is and isn't. It's not about like blaming
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demons for your car troubles. Right, he jokes.
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That's often just self-inflicted consequence, and it's not a
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constant shouting match of I rebuke you Devil, though he
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affirms Satan has no ultimate power over true believers.
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So what is the battle, especially comparing different
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contexts? He contrasts international
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settings where spiritual opposition might be more overt,
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more obviously demonic, perhaps linked to visible idolatry.
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Yeah, with the American context where he says the strategy is
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more covert. Yes, the devil laborers
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diligently to be more covert. The goal is to make demonic
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activity seem not real or it's a little weird.
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Keep things normal copacetic. Why so believers don't take the
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battle seriously? Exactly.
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So they don't go, oh, this is real, let's go to war.
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Instead. This covert strategy lulls
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believers into distraction and comfort, arguing about filing
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cabinets getting caught in church politics.
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Instead of engaging in the urgent work of spreading the
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glory of God to the nations, comfort becomes the enemy's tool
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V The normalcy of missions going, sending, giving.
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So despite the challenges of comfort and covert spiritual
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struggle, him keeps hammering this idea that missions
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involvement is just normal. Not we are not optional, but
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normal Christian living. Absolutely normal.
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And this connects back to his point about calling.
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While God certainly sets people apart, the baseline isn't
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waiting for a unique feeling. It's obedience.
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Like Judson, like Kerry, they were obedient people first and
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foremost. That's his emphasis.
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Don't use the lack of some dramatic ethereal call as an
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excuse for inaction. Obey the command.
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That's already clear. And God will then show you your
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part, whether it's actually going or sending by supporting
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those who go or giving financially.
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Right. He points again to Psalm 96.3,
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tell of His glory among the nations.
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It's a command. It implies you either go send or
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give so others can go. He repeats that the Bible just
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assumes this. There's no room for pushback.
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And he makes this really practical, doesn't he, Bringing
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down to everyday life. Very practical evangelism is
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normal. Making a big deal about missions
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is normal. Raising up missionaries is
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normal. He talks about finances, about
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parenting. Yeah, he mentions his own kids,
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his son Titus wanting to be a missionary pilot like they'd St.
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even though his wife might prefer him closer to home.
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Right, and a little aside about checking Paul Washer's clothes
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on social media because his wife warned him.
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It just shows how these big missional ideas weave into the
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fabric of real family life. It's not abstract.
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He also talks about money specifically, especially for
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those who have more resources. Yes, he encourages them to be
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gospel patrons. He uses that passage from First
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Timothy 6 telling the wealthy not just to avoid pride, but to
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be rich. This works generous, ready to
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share. Using their wealth as Kingdom
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funding advancement tools. Exactly.
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He contrasts this with maybe focusing only on secular
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financial advice like from Dave Ramsey.
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Good advice in its place, perhaps, but Kingdom funding
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should be just as normal, just as central to financial thinking
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for a believer. He's really trying to redefine
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what normal looks like for a Christian.
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Completely. He contrasts this missional
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normalcy with what he sees as the weird priorities of getting
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bogged down in Church committee budgets or internal power plays.
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That's the distraction. Whereas caring about other
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cultures normal. Being excited to reach people
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who don't look like us, normal. That's the vision he's casting.
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6 The urgency of God's judgement, meeting Christ as
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Savior or judge, and driving all this normalcy, all this
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obedience, is that recurring theme of Regency rooted in God's
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coming judgement. Yes, the King is coming.
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Psalm 96 says creation itself will rejoice because he comes.
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He comes to judge the earth. This isn't just about
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punishment. It's about God setting things
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right, abolishing wickedness, making all things new.
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The new creation, new heavens, new earth.
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It's the ultimate hope. But it also means that timer is
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ticking. The timer on life, on sin, on
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death, and on the chance to choose Christ.
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Which brings us back to that stark choice.
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Savior or judge, How will people need him?
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That reality gives gospel ministry its compelling edge.
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It answers the why bother question decisively.
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Because as Paul asks, how can they hear without someone
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preaching? How can they preach unless they
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are sent? We need those beautiful feet
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bringing the good news. And Hinn offers that humbling
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picture of our role. We're just the paintbrush.
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Nobody focuses on the brush. They admire the painting and the
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artist. Right.
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It keeps the focus on God and His work, not on us.
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It frees us to be used knowing the outcome and the glory belong
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to Him. He brings up Adoniram Judson
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again here, doesn't he, despite all the suffering, prison,
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losing family? Judson could still write The
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future is as bright as the promises of God.
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That kind of endurance comes from knowing the why, knowing
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God's sovereign plan and His ultimate victory.
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It stands in sharp contrast to those cynical voices just
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playing the waiting game, dismissing the urgency.
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Exactly. Trusting God's promises,
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understanding His timeline. That's what fuels persistent,
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faithful mission work, regardless of the immediate
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circumstances or apparent lack of results.
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Outro So wrapping this up, Costa hand makes a really strong case
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that spreading God's glory isn't just one option among many for
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Christians, its core. Yeah, it flows directly from His
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glory, aims at His worship, is compelled by his coming
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judgment, and happens through our, well, simple obedience.
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It really challenges that comfortable, inward looking
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faith we can sometimes slip into.
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It does, which leads to a thought for you, the listener,
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if this global mission is truly normal, if it flows naturally
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from a heart captivated by God in worship.
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What might one small practical step look like for you this
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week? Just one thing to align your
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life a little more with God's big global story.
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It doesn't have to be dramatic. Maybe it's praying specifically
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for a missionary or an unreached people group.
21:30
Maybe it's giving a little extra to a mission's cause.
21:33
Maybe it's just starting a conversation about faith with a
21:35
neighbor. Something practical.
21:37
Definitely something to consider.
21:38
Oh well, thank you for joining us for this Dee dive.
21:41
We look forward to our next session together.