Joyful Suffering

"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,"

Philippians 1:29

During group bible study today in Philippians 1, the leader/facilitator made a comment that the above verse is one of the first verses new Chinese Christians memorize. Can you imagine if we asked new Christians or new church members in the West to memorize that? (Maybe many would refuse and leave the church.) But perhaps we should do that. The saying goes, "Salvation is free, but discipleship is not." Bonhoeffer also said in The Cost of Discipleship, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." Ultimately, if you look at the Great Commission from Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20, he does not call us to make converts. He calls us to make disciples.

It was very sobering in training today as we discussed about countries that are closed or restricted for missionaries to proclaim the gospel. There is always the possibility of imprisonment. There is always the possibility of death. Yet Philippians 1:21 says, "To live is Christ and to die is gain." We memorize it. We sing it in our praise songs. But do we really believe it? If I was honest with myself, I must say that I am not there yet. Why? Because when I think of suffering, I think of how awful a 28-hour plane ride with layovers feel (yet it took Hudson Taylor and other missionaries 7-9 months to travel by boat to China). I think of how awful it is to deal with humidity and that feeling of always being sticky. I think of not having my favorite foods around. I think of not having convenient appliances to use. I think of what the bathroom "conditions" will be like. But there are people who die for the gospel. That is suffering.

Now, I am not saying that I should deny how I am feeling or the culture shock that I will be going through when adjusting to a new place overseas.  I do believe that God wants us to be completely honest with how we feel before him (which is good for our emotional health as well!). But the point is that I simply don't have a good grasp on the theology of suffering and perseverance (and I don't believe that most churches in the West do either). If we did have a good grasp, I believe we wouldn't be dealing with issues like the prosperity gospel, but rather, we would be figuring out how to effectively mobilize God's people because every person who becomes a Christian would desire to undertake joyful suffering.

I just want to end by sharing about a newfound person I have come to admire. His name was George Stott. He had applied with CIM to go to China as a missionary but his application was turned down. He sought an audience with Hudson Taylor (who founded CIM) but Hudson Taylor turned him down as well. Why? The reason was because at age 19 Stott had an accident which necessitated the amputation of his left leg (and so he literally hobbled just to walk around). No mission agency saw him as physically fit to go into the field. In his final petition to Taylor, he said, "I do not see those with two legs going, so I must." That apparently persuaded Taylor, and so by faith he accepted Stott and allowed him to go to China.

Because the locals in the area he was trying to minister in were threatened by him, they at one point began to stone him and yell for him to run away. In response, he yelled out something like, "Look at my leg! I cannot run even if I wanted to!", at which the locals broke out in laughter. This was the beginning of a relationship that eventually led to a legacy. You see, the place in China where George Stott ministered in became the place which today can boast of the most Christians in China (10% of the 6 million inhabitants in the city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang province are Christians). Can you imagine if George Stott was not willing to joyfully suffer for the name of Jesus Christ?

Photo of George Stott