A little bit like Adoniram Judson

200 years ago this very day (July 13, 1813), Adoniram Judson arrived in Rangoon, Burma (what today is called Yangon, Myanmar). So here we sit, a little like the great missionary who brought the Gospel to this nation. Even today, the translation he wrote of the Bible into Burmese is considered by some of my students as the best translation available. (Apparently there is one other translation that was made from an English paraphrase.) The Judsons were here, in the midst of heat and disease and opposition, for six years before their first convert. In the midst of his service here, Adoniram experienced the deaths of many of his children as well as both his first and second wife, as well as never seeing his mother, father, and brother again.

Here we sit in an air conditioned room, with WiFi that lets us talk with and see family and watch Major League Baseball, encouraged by many local Christians who boldly share the Gospel in spite of difficulties, with medicines to keep us well, with relative security and comfort.

Okay, so I am not much like Adoniram. It is amazing to read of his story. I encourage you to check out John Piper’s description of his life at http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/books/adoniram-judson.

So what do I believe about the truth of the Gospel, including both the bad news of the final judgment for sin and the Good News of adoption by the Father to live with Him forever? And what is the significance for the great number of people in this country, and in other countries, who may have heard the name of Jesus (as many in Myanmar have) but have never understood the real meaning of the Gospel (as most in Myanmar do not)? It is one thing to know the right answer. It is another thing to be gripped by the right answer, and to live it out.

I am put to shame by the boldness, the courage, and the sacrifice of people like Judson. May God be gracious to me, and may He change me, so that I also would take up my cross and follow, that others would know and submit to the great good news of the Gospel in Christ. And may He show us the place He has for us in seeking first His kingdom, that we might be tools in His hands for His glory.