Rejected and Scorned

“The stone that the builders rejected ​has become the cornerstone…” Matthew 21:42

Just as Jesus was rejected and scorned, many missionaries through the ages have been tortured, mistreated and even murdered. There is John and Betty Stam who passed out tracts and held meetings in the small city of Tsingteh, China. Although they were assured that there was no threat of Communist activity in the area, soldiers invaded the area and took John, Betty and their baby Helen Priscilla hostage. The husband and wife were paraded through the village and killed. Their baby was saved.

Many Catholics had been arrested, tortured, and made to step on crucifixes or images of Mary and Jesus when Christianity was suppressed and Catholicism driven underground. On February 5, 1597 26 missionary and convert martyrs were marched across villages in Japan, then impaled by spears and hung on a cross just like Jesus. In 1862, they were canonized by Pope Pius IX. 

In 2018, the news was filled with the story of an American missionary, John Allen Chau, who was killed by the Sentinelese, an indigenous tribe in North Sentinel Island, India, whom he was trying to convert. Last year, the Vatican reported that 18 Catholic missionaries were killed for their faith. 

In spite of the danger, men and women still go out of their comfort zones to evangelize. Usually, they feel God calling them to preach the good news, they are impelled by an urge bigger than themselves, stronger than their fear. How about us? We are also instructed by Jesus to “go out into the world and preach the good news” (Mark 16:15). We need not fear being tortured or mutilated or boiled in oil. But are we able to obey Jesus even if we will be rejected or ridiculed?