Four Mistakes I Hope You Don’t Make: Piper’s Advice for Our Generation

Three years ago John Piper gave a talk entitled “Four Mistakes I Hope You Don’t Make” to the graduating class of Bethlehem Institute’s INSIGHT program (a one year program for freshmen or sophomores).  Here are his four points:

Mistake #1: Big is better than small.

God uses little David-like people to accomplish huge Goliath-like things because he is jealous to get the credit.

Don’t worry about big. Worry about faithful.

Mistake #2: New is better than old.

Read old books. You need the wisdom of the ages to combat the folly of the present…

Mistake #3: Having is better than being.

There’s no correlation between the fullness of life and the muchness of having.

Don’t reduce your education to acquiring marketable skills. Study to become and behold, not to be rich.

Mistake #4: Visible is better than invisible.

The most important things are not visible. God is invisible and he is the greatest reality of all. If you structure your life around sight, it will be out of touch with reality.

Do not be much interested in outward appearance. Be interested in inner realities.

Piper concludes, “If God is God—and he is—small with him is better than big with anybody. His old things are better than anybody’s new things. Being his child is better than having the world. And better to be blind with the invisible God than to see everything without him.”

Listen to the talk here.

Caleb Gallifant

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