Book Review: Adoniram Judson by John Piper

          

     I have to admit that Adoniram Judson would not feature in a list of ‘famous’ missionaries I’ve heard about, but to be fair, I certainly do not know enough ‘famous’ missionaries. So, seeing that John Piper decided to write a short book about him piqued my interest. (You can download the ebook for free here.)

     Piper is passionate about God’s glory. In his writing, interviews and preaching, you can feel his energy and passion for God’s glory to be magnified. One of the ways God gets glory is through global mission when the nations turn in repentance and faith to Christ. In this book, he challenges readers to seriously contemplate heading for overseas mission. However, his vision is not for the faint-hearted.

     These are the main points Piper makes in his book:
1. God purposes for the gospel to spread to all peoples.
2. God plans to make suffering a crucial means to accomplish this purpose.
3. We are in a historical position that cries for tremendous missionary effort and sacrifice.
4. The pain of Adoniram Judson illustrates the purpose of suffering.
5. I [Piper] plead for you to be a part of what Judson and Christ died for. 

     He states in the opening pages that ‘… God designs that the suffering of his ministers and missionaries is one essential means in the joyful, triumphant spread of the gospel among all the peoples of the world.’ Suffering is not a word we generally like to hear. We do not want life to be difficult because we are quite at ease wherever we are: good family, studies (or work) is going alright, good friends, comfortable church. This book jolts us and confronts us afresh with what mission looks like and why.

     But why read another book, albeit a short one about a topic Evangelicals seem to be very familiar with? From the life of Adoniram, Piper wants to show that we cannot be apathetic anymore – and to be honest, I think we are – towards global mission. Yet Piper does not present mission in an appealing way. He especially highlights the suffering that Adoniram underwent as he served in Myanmar for the sake of the gospel. He strips any ‘glamour’ (we tend to assign) off mission and shows us that it is painful and ugly. He notes that one of Adoniram’s final sentence was: “How few there are who … who die so hard!” And yet, Piper argues, it is worth it. It is worth it because the evangelisation of the nations is the mission God has given the church. And this missional effort will lead to meaningful, God-purposed suffering for the Christians who are involved.

     However, I should mention that Piper is primarily challenging Christians to leave our comfortable homes for overseas mission. Thus, travelling overseas is certainly not the only way to do mission. Interestingly though, Piper does not call Christians to blindly head into unknown lands for the Gospel; instead he wants us to calculate the cost, but also know that suffering for Christ as we share the Gospel is ultimately for God’s glory.

     I should say that this book is not a complete biography of Adoniram Judson's life. It is a book primarily written to spur us for mission. Hence Piper closes the book with a gentle but firm summons 'The question for us is not whether we die, but whether we will die in a way that bears much fruit.' It is a stirring message to remind us of the commission the risen Christ gave to his followers to 'make disciples of all nations' (Matthew 28:19).