A Courageous Example from Adoniram Judson
This article comes from Dr. Matt James' session in the MissionLab training curriculum. Matt is one of the vice presidents at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College, and he teaches church history there. His session is part of Module 1, "Before You Arrive," which is all about getting your heart ready before you are sent. You can watch the full session on YouTube.
We're Not the First Ones
Look back and you will find a whole bunch of folks who gave their lives as servants of Jesus. A few of their names you would know. Most of them you have never heard of. Just humble people who wanted to tell somebody about Jesus. That is why Matt loves Christian history, and it is why he loves teaching it.
Looking back reminds us that we are not the first generation of Christians. Thousands of them, millions of them, have gone before us and devoted their lives to Christ. And when we look at their lives, we get to learn in two directions. We learn from what they did well. We also learn from their failures. Where did the church stumble? Where did the church mess up? And how do we keep from making those same mistakes in our own generation?
That is how church history helps us. Not by handing us heroes to be impressed by, but by teaching us from what was done well and from what was not.
A Letter That's Hard to Read
Matt tells one quick story that he thinks should spur us on to live for Jesus right now.
Back in the 1800s there was a man named Adoniram Judson. Judson wanted to be a missionary. He wanted to sail to Burma, which is modern-day Myanmar, and spend his life telling people there about Jesus. He also wanted to marry a girl named Ann.
So as he is getting ready for this journey, he realizes he needs to marry Ann. This is the girl of his dreams. This is the woman he wants to spend his life with. Fourteen days before he sets sail, Adoniram marries Ann Judson.
But first he had to write a letter to Ann's dad asking for her hand. The spirit in that letter is the same thing that would later push Judson to give his whole life to telling people about Jesus. Here is part of what he wrote to the man who was about to be his father-in-law:
"I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure for a heathen land, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this, for the sake of Him who left His heavenly home, and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls; for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God?"
Most of us have never written a letter like that. Very few of us have written anything like it to a guy who was about to be our father-in-law. It is frank. It is vulnerable. Honestly, it is hard to read.
Which raises the question Matt asks next. What in the world would make a man write a strange letter like that?
He Had Seen a Resurrection
Here is the answer. Adoniram Judson had seen a resurrection.
Not in real life. Not with his physical eyes. But spiritually speaking, he saw it. He saw Christ, the perfect one, come and live a perfect life and die in the place of sinners on the cross. He was buried in a tomb. And three days later He rose from the dead.
That resurrection changed everything about Judson's life. It changed it so much that he was willing to give the rest of his years to going across the world and sharing the gospel with people who had never once heard that good news. And not only that. He was willing to take his new bride with him, knowing full well what it might cost her. That is what put those words on the page to Ann's father.
That is what a clear view of the risen Jesus does to a person. It rearranges what you are willing to spend your life on.
You Don't Have to Wait for New Orleans
So here is the question for you.
What would it take for you to live that kind of radical life in your hometown? What would it look like for you to come down to New Orleans and live like that for a week, sharing the good news of Jesus with a broken city full of people who need to hear it?
Matt's answer is that it is the same thing. It is the same thing that got ahold of Judson. You would be captivated. You would be in awe that this Jesus would die in your place, that He would be raised to new life, that He would give you freedom from sin. When that mission and that vision get down into your heart and mind, it can change the world. That is what church history shows us. A long line of folks like Adoniram Judson who went before us on fire for Jesus, wanting to tell people about Him, because the resurrection had changed them.
And here is the good news. You do not have to wait until you get to New Orleans to do that.
You can do it right in your hometown. With your sports teams. With your classmates. With your relatives, your friends, every relationship the Lord has put in your life. You can start this semester. As you walk through these next few months at school, will you look for the people the Lord is leading you to?
He died in our place. More than that, He was raised, to give us new life and to show us He has conquered death. Will you go take that good news to somebody?
Key Takeaways
- Church history reminds us that God has always used ordinary people who were devoted to Jesus. Most of them have names we will never know.
- We learn in two directions: from the faithfulness of the people who went before us, and from their failures, so we do not repeat them.
- The resurrection of Jesus changes everything and fuels a life lived on mission.
- A clear view of who Jesus is leads to courage and sacrifice for the sake of the gospel.
- Mission does not start in New Orleans. It starts in your everyday relationships at home.
- God can use your obedience right now to impact people for eternity.
Watch the Full Session
You can watch Matt's full session on YouTube, or find it along with the rest of the MissionLab training curriculum on the Training page under Module 1, "Before You Arrive."
Images: "Adoniram Judson, Missionary to Burmah," lithograph published by J.R. Bigelow & Co., New York, 1846, Library of Congress. Portrait of Ann Hasseltine Judson engraved by R. Woodman, around 1826. "Judson in Prison at Oung-pen-la," nineteenth century engraving. All public domain.