EMQ » April–June 2020 » Volume 56 Issue 2
By J. Wu
At the end of 2018, my attention was piqued by a news report covered by the mainstream media. Less than a week later, the incident was being reported in almost all international news outlets. A young American missionary had been murdered on a small remote island. I was a little surprised by the amount of attention given to a martyred missionary by the media—though their intentions seemed more hostile than benign.
Then something shocked me. As I looked at this young brother’s picture and read up more on his background, I realized that he closely resembled the son of a couple whom I had known more than ten years previously in a medium-sized Evangelical Chinese church in Vancouver, Washington. After contacting some former church friends, they confirmed that, indeed, John Allen Chau was the son of that couple.
Suddenly, I found myself impacted by this incident from three different perspectives. First, personally, because he was the son of my former church friends. Second, I related to him because my husband and I also serve in countries that are dominated by a worldview/religion that is hostile to the Gospel. It is not unusual for some to consider us crazy (or even foolish) to serve in such places. Third, in the past year, many of our fellow missionaries have experienced persecutions and sufferings in hostile contexts such as the Middle East and China.
The Problem of Suffering Missionaries
The death of John Allen Chau has provoked a variety of reactions from Christians. Some Christian pundits and missiologists have sought to analyze this incident, as well as the method and the approach of the martyred missionary, in order to figure out “what went wrong.” During the time of Jesus, when the disciples saw someone born blind sitting by the street, they were eager to figure out “what went wrong” or “who was to blame.” However, Jesus did not view tragedy and suffering as we often do. He answered,“Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3). Our Lord’s response reveals the tremendous difference between God’s perspective and a human perspective on tragedy and sufferings. God did not see it as “something that went wrong,” but as a way to display His work. Nothing surprises our Almighty God. In his book, The Messenger, the Message and the Community, Roland Muller sought for what made missionaries fruitful, and the one common quality that he found was that they all had a “cross experience.” This was an experience of personal suffering that brought “death to self” and forced these missionaries to “cast themselves onto God”.[i]
I have witnessed firsthand sufferings and persecutions of some of my fellow missionaries as well as new converts on the field, and how God manifested His glory through these sufferings. I have personally experienced God’s presence through sufferings in my own life and ministry. As Joseph told his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20). Suffering is a mystery beyond human comprehension.
Thus, I was deeply troubled when I saw the ridicule and insult toward John Allen Chau from the media and its readers. This unsettled me even more than the tragedy itself—especially when such ridicule came even from Christians. It reminds me of what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians, “We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!” (1 Corinthian 4:10). As some Christian writers have argued (for example, Stetzer[ii] and Kidd[iii]), this kind of negative, critical attitude from the media and public opinion may reflect how our culture has changed. To an extent, I agree. Yet as early as the 1970s, theologian J.I. Packer pointed out in his book Knowing God,
We are unlike the Christians of New Testament times. Our approach to life is conventional and static; theirs was not. The thought of “safety first” was not a drag on their enterprise as it is ours. By being exuberant, unconventional and uninhibited in living by the gospel they turned their world upside down, but you could not accuse us twentieth century Christians of doing anything like that.[iv]
If that is the case, then the negative response of some contemporary Christians to Chau’s martyrdom is not merely the influence of postmodern secular culture shifts. It may also come from a lack of biblical understanding of the nature of mission work and the inevitable persecutions and sufferings as we follow and witness for Jesus (see Matthew 5:11, Luke 21:12–19, John 15:18). Perhaps evangelical theology and missiology has not dealt with the topic of persecution and sufferings as deeply as it should have. If we wish to remedy this situation, there is no better place to look than the book of Revelation.
A Missiology of Persecution Based on Revelation
There is much that the book of Revelation teaches us about the sufferings and persecutions of believers as they carry the witness of the Gospel. In the letters to the seven churches, some are praised and some rebuked. What is remarkable is that most of the commendations to the churches are based on their perseverance in suffering:
To the church in Ephesus: “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance…. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.” (2:2–3)
To the church in Smyrna: “I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! … Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.” (2:9–10)
To the church in Pergamum: “I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.” (2:13)
To the church in Thyatira: “I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.” (2:19)
To the church in Philadelphia: “I know your deeds…. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name…. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.” (3:8–10)
In addition to perseverance in suffering, there is another important theme to observe. Revelation vividly portrays the nature of the expansion of the Kingdom of God as warfare, as a fierce battle between the darkness and the light. In Revelation 12 we can see the ferocity in this war. The chapter begins with a woman who gave birth to a child (12:1–6), and is followed by a war taking place in heaven (12:7–9). Then a loud voice in heaven says:
Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. (12:10–11)
The spiritual army triumphed over the enemy not by wealth, fame, political power, or even successful ministry, but by “the blood of the Lamb and by the word their testimony.” These brave warriors did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Every time I read this verse, the names or faces of martyred Christians come to my mind. In the book of Acts and in the history of mission, we see how God’s Kingdom expands through the blood of His witnesses.
This book foretells not only warfare and judgment, but also glory, honor and reward. In chapter 7, we see a “great multitude in white robes.” These people “have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (7:14). Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence” (7:15). Later, in chapter 20, we read:
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God.…They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years…. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. (20:4–6)
According to the clear wording of the text, those who are killed because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years! This shall be the greatest honor any human being can ever receive, and this honor is not given to the powerful, famous or wealthy. It is given to the martyrs.
An Ongoing War
As we rage in war against our enemy, there are going to be casualties. God’s mission is fundamentally an action of war against Satan to rescue souls and reclaim a lost world, and missionaries are among the frontline combatants.
During war, the first group of troops that land in occupied territory always suffer the severest casualties. I remember a scene from the new World War I documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old, where a large group of young soldiers are smiling at the camera as they prepare themselves to be the tip of the spear of a fierce battle. In a post-film segment, the director Peter Jackson explains that this scene may have captured one of the last moments of their lives, since all these young soldiers died in the action that followed. This explanation from the director was a sober moment for all of us in the theater to ponder the brutality and gravity of war. Yet none of us will condemn, ridicule or mock this group of young soldiers for their action of going to battle as “being foolish,” “lack of preparation,” or “stupid method approach.” They were simply obeying their commanders! They died because they were loyal to their country, faithful to their task, and submissive to their commanding officers. Only the fighters and citizens of hostile countries would mock these brave warriors. Attitudes toward fallen soldiers might reveal whether or not people are true allies.
Missionaries who work among people whose cultures or religions are hostile against Christianity or against foreigners, are in a war no less fierce than World War I and World War II. No missionary should be sent to this kind of field if they have not counted the cost of the Kingdom of Heaven. If missionaries die because of obedience to their Great Commander, they are faithful servants of our Lord.
Gregory E. Lamb wrote in his article about his careful study of John Allen Chau’s journals and his letters to his family, that he found evidence that John had fully counted the cost and was completely obedient to the Lord.[v] In the book, Effective Discipling in Muslim Communities: Scripture, History and Seasoned Practices, Don Little relates a story from when he and other young missionaries were preparing to go to the mission field. They had an opportunity to converse with Charles Marsh, who had served in Muslim countries for decades. This veteran missionary told them,
You have no right to even begin to speak to Muslims about Christ unless you have yourself first settled to die for the sake of Christ. I challenge everyone of you listening to me today, have you settled this with Christ? If you have not surrendered to him completely, then I repeat, you have no moral right to talk to Muslims about Christ, since your proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ to a Muslim may result in that person’s martyrdom. Only one who is willing to die for Christ has the right to ask someone else to die for Him too.[vi]
Indeed, there is a risk for those who bring Muslims to the Kingdom of Light as well as for Muslims themselves who change their faith. Yet if we truly believe every word of our Lord, we will not consider missionaries working among Muslims, nor believers from Muslims background, to be foolish, since they risk their lives to proclaim Jesus Christ as the Lord.
Reflections for Contemporary Culture
I am fascinated with how the Orthodox church honors martyrdom. Years ago, when touring Greece, my husband and I visited many Greek Orthodox churches and monasteries built between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, and I saw dozens of paintings which portrayed the detailed stories of martyrs. Once I heard a preacher say that in our culture the things we value and are proud of most are the things we post on social media. Through the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, there was no internet or social media, and so the church walls were probably the only place Christians could “post” those whom they honored and were most proud of. I cannot help wondering, if we lived in their time, what kind of things would Christians “post” on the church walls? Celebrity preachers? Megachurch leaders? Or political figures endorsed by Christians? I wonder which church’s “posts” agree more with the teaching of the Bible. As we study Revelation carefully—a book speaking of the final judgment of all human beings and all churches—we may be surprised that there is no mention of reward to those who build large congregations/organizations, or to those who possess great influence, fame, power or wealth. Actually, we find condemnation toward the latter, when the Lord rebukes the church in Laodicea: “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked” (3:17–18).
In recent days, I have often recalled the time when I was in the same fellowship group with brother John Chau’s parents. They seemed to have genuine love for God’s Word. I was most impressed by his mother’s gentle and submissive spirit. Their children were teenagers at that time, and I did not know them as well. But recently, when talking with the son of some old church friends, I learned that as a young adult John taught lessons in the youth Sunday School. Another church friend of mine shared a precious memory about John on social media, “…. Even then he was loving and humble as ever—when he spoke with the youth group he barely mentioned about his amazing adventures. He focused on how much Jesus loved those who haven’t heard about Him and encouraging the youth group teens to follow Christ.”
I believe God’s name will be glorified one day through John Allen Chau’s martyrdom. At least now, many Christians who had not heard of North Sentinel Island might start to pray for the salvation of the people group dwelling there. The Lord alone has the authority of our lives. He can use the life of missionaries as well as our death. As our Lord says,
Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:24–25)
On the last day, I look forward to greeting brother John along with many other martyrs in the New Heaven and New Earth and seeing them wear their white robes before of the throne of God.
J. Wu, PhD (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) and her husband are missionaries in the Middle East with Pioneers. She is author of Mission Through Diaspora: The Case of the Chinese Church in the USA (Langham, 2016) and a contributor to Refugee Diaspora: Missions amid the Greatest Humanitarian Crisis of the World (ed. George and Adeney, William Carey, 2018). She serves on the board of the US-based Chinese organization, Gospel Operation International.
[i] Roland Muller, The Messenger, the Message and the Community (CanBooks, 2013), 17.
[ii] Ed Stetzer, “Slain missionary John Chau prepared much more than we thought, but are missionaries still fools?” Washington Post, Nov 28, 2018.
[iii] Thomas Kidd, “Incomprehensible Evangelicals and the Death of John Allen Chau,” The Gospel Coalition, Nov 26, 2018.
[iv] J. I. Packer, Knowing God (InterVarsity Press 1973/ 1993), 269.
[v] Cf. Gregory E. Lamb, “The Art of Dying Well: Missions and the Reality of Martyrdom,” EMQ 55, no. 1 (January–March 2019).
[vi] Don Little, Effective Discipling in Muslim Communities: Scripture, History and Seasoned Practices (InterVarsity Press, 2015), 181–182.
