The Purpose of Missionary Suffering

The church at Corinth is about 5 years old, when Paul writes his first letter to them. A few months later, news reaches him that the believers have listened and obeyed. So he pulls out his pen again to encourage and comfort them. The first chapter of his second letter to the Corinthians uses the word “comfort” more than anywhere else in Scripture.

But this morning, I saw something surprising.

Paul is about 55 years old. He has planting churches for about 8 years and has seen 12 or more churches planted. But he has also suffered, and he tells us about it 4 times in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11; 4:8-11; 6:3-10; and 11:23-28. While he was in Corinth, sinners cursed him, took him to court, and beat one of his converts (Acts 18:1-17). And of course, he was greatly discouraged so much that he wanted to leave the city and perhaps mission work entirely.

When he writes 2 Corinthians, at the very beginning, he shows that all of his suffering as a missionary is intended by God to produce true faith in the hearts of those on his mission field.

And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: 2 Corinthians 1:6

The purpose that should motivate a missionary to go through his pain and hardship is the spiritual comfort and ultimately the salvation of the natives to whom he is bringing the gospel. And when the missionary sees the new converts taking strength from his example, that produces even more ability to endure on and on.

What does a missionary suffer?

1. Learning an undeveloped language—Many missionaries experience some or all of these: no language school, no Bible, no dictionary, no internet videos, no songs, no vast vocabulary.
2. Increased crime—Paul the apostle experienced crime because he was a churchplanter, and many missionaries put themselves in higher risk areas because of their calling.
3. Being lied to over and over resulting in wasted time, temptations to bitterness and anger, and sometimes theft or injury.
4. Working with governments for visas and land ownership—Unfeeling bureaucrats make life very stressful for missionaries often by their simple incompetence and apathy.
5. Very small ministries—A church might meet for years with less than 10 people, for example: 2 grandmas, 4 youth, 2 women, and 1 man with no husband and wife units.
6. Rejection and apathy in evangelism—The despair that comes from being constantly rejected, mocked, or ignored feels like staying awake for a week without sleep.
7. Unusual diseases and inferior medical care—This can be a very heavy weight especially for the mother.
8. Living far from family—help with child birth, phone calls in the same time zone, more frequent visits, sympathy of shared cultural experiences.
9. Unique conflicts with other Christians—From supporters, to converts, to friends, interpersonal tension can be very stressful.

The list does not include beating, poverty, and famine like Paul because those are not so common in the modern world though some certainly experience this as well.

The great insight that struck me today was that all these hardships endured with manly grace and kindness show to the new converts the nature of Christianity in such warm and lively colors that they too find faith kindled in their hearts. We suffer for their salvation, not to remove the Father’s wrath, but our suffering persuades them to the truth of the doctrines we have preached.

Sixteen days ago, I received a voice note from a first generation Tsonga believer saying that after watching the life of a missionary he had learned what true Christianity is. I think that is what Paul is saying, and I had never seen it before.

In other words, Missionaries endure every hardship for the sake of the elect so that they might be saved.