Suffering is universal in human existence, but Christians suffer in particular ways in their calling to be separate from the world. Missionaries may not suffer more than other Christians, but they need a robust theology of suffering for themselves and for those they evangelize and disciple to remain faithful and fruitful. Missionary training manuals do not expound in enough detail or provide a robust theology of suffering.
Matthew Rhodes’ “Persecution in Missions: A Practical Theology” (Crossway, 2026) can help missionaries develop that robust framework. The point of the book is to examine how suffering and persecution are obstacles to the church’s missionary efforts and how missionaries can counteract this fear through a biblical understanding of suffering.
In chapter one, Rhodes lays the groundwork and explains the need among missionaries for a theology of suffering. The book is not focused on theodicy (how a good God can allow suffering), but on joy in suffering. Suffering is the norm, not the exception.
In chapter two, Rhodes points out that suffering in the world shows the reality of the evil brought about by the fall. Satan uses the tools of suffering and death. Human wickedness and natural disasters are sometimes the causes, but whether directly or indirectly, Satan is the author of human suffering. This causation does not deny God’s sovereignty, but neither does it deny human sinfulness. Acknowledging these dimensions of suffering helps us understand how God works in the midst of suffering.
Scripture often ascribes evil plans and suffering to Satan even when human agency is behind it. One powerful tool Satan uses to incite the denial of one’s faith in believers is the fear of death. This is the essence of the spiritual battle. Referencing Hebrews 2:15, Rhodes says that Satan enslaves people “through fear of death;” the author of Hebrews is “speaking about the terror of death by persecution that can enslave people and leave them unable to follow Christ” (pg. 26).
Rhodes artfully connects our sufferings and trials in the here and now to Israel’s suffering as adopted sons, particularly the Exodus out of bondage into the Promised Land. God works through our suffering and death to bring us into glory, the ultimate Promised Land. Missionaries have a priestly role that connects with Christ’s priestly role to usher us into that promised holy place through the means of his blood. The missionary’s role is to offer up their bodies as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) by suffering various forms of persecution or trials. The purpose is to usher others into that glory but never a way that appropriates Christ’s glory as their own.
Rhodes then shows how all believers, not just missionaries, will suffer. No matter how great or small those sufferings are, believers must offer them to God as a living sacrifice for his glory. Rhodes emphasizes his view that suffering is for God’s glory and the good of the church, not necessarily personal character development.
In chapter four, he addresses the topic of “reward.” Christians are promised that their suffering in this life will pale in comparison to the rewards promised to us in Christ. These rewards are not merely individual but corporate, and, as C.S. Lewis puts it, they have “no natural connection with the things you do to earn [them] and [are] quite foreign to the desires that ought to accompany those things.” Rhodes argues that desiring these rewards is no mere selfish pursuit but rather a desire for “an eternally glorious existence together with God” and his people (pg. 67).
Rhodes focuses on practical applications in chapter five. Through personal experience and scriptural guidance, he shows us that avoiding suffering is not necessarily a bad thing, especially for those who are discerning whether they feel called to missions:
It’s important to avoid unnecessary suffering not only when deciding if we belong in overseas ministry but also once we arrive on the field. This assertion may seem counterintuitive since I’ve spent two chapters arguing that God uses suffering to redeem the world. That’s true, but sin, war, and cancer also play a role in God’s plan to redeem the world, and yet God expects us to avoid them if possible. The fact that God has greater purposes for the evils he allows doesn’t negate the fact that they are evil. We are not called to seek suffering itself but the redemption of suffering (pg. 86).
This statement succinctly summarizes the chapter and is immensely helpful in understanding Rhodes’ theology of suffering.
He balances this statement by later saying, “The Scriptures teach us to avoid unhealthy suffering, but they don’t give us room to avoid suffering altogether” (pg. 90). The key to discerning whether one is rightly enduring suffering is to reflect and ask ourselves if God has given us the grace we need to endure such suffering.
Rhodes ends chapter five with a strong cautionary note about movements that promote quick church growth. He carries this caution into chapter 6, emphasizing the need to de-prioritize growth when persecution arises and church leaders need to focus more on survival.
Rhodes tells a story of Adoniram Judson delaying the baptism of several converts to make sure they were counting the cost of discipleship. Today, believers often speak of persecution in positive terms, but Rhodes argues we should always see it as an evil that God often uses for his purposes including the growth of the church. However, there is not always a positive correlation between suffering and numerical growth in the church. He has words of wisdom to guard against a triumphalist view of suffering that equates suffering with church growth. Navigating the line between when to stay and endure suffering (or for missionaries, when to encourage locals to stay) versus when to flee or advocate for extraction requires biblical wisdom from the Holy Spirit. Rhodes offers some helpful guidelines.
Rhodes also warns against viewing extraction (missionaries leaving the field for safety concerns) as a kind of failure. He notes that some literature that discourages extracting missionaries from persecution focuses more on how extraction disrupts the missionaries’ ministry and may neglect the well-being of the local believer. Discouraging extraction may incentivize “insider movement” thinking where new converts are given license to act in idolatrous ways for the purpose of remaining in the community. This thinking blurs the lines of distinction between those who follow Christ and those whose religious allegiance is with other faith communities. Rhodes goes to great lengths to explain why this approach is fraught with problems and ultimately does not align with God’s design for his people.
After discussing extraction, Rhodes turns to the topic of wealth. Having worldly wealth is not a sin, but relying on it is a snare that Scripture warns us to avoid. Rhodes offers advice to missionaries who come from affluent countries and minister in less wealthy or even impoverished areas of the world. There are real and potential dangers in this arrangement, and Rhodes covers the very practical considerations to avoid making the missionary’s wealth a stumbling block to locals receiving the gospel or growing in their faith. Rhodes demonstrates his years of experience when he advises missionaries to live at an economic level that fits in with the local context and being careful to resist the urge to alleviate local problems through immediate financial solutions.
Rhodes offers sage advice to missionaries living in patronage cultures where a patron-client cultural dynamic dominates. While this dynamic creates a unique obstacle that requires wisdom to navigate, the missionary need not despair. Missionaries have and must apply wisdom from the Holy Spirit.
In conclusion, Rhodes reiterates that the greatest obstacle to missionary activity is suffering and persecution, two hardships fueled by the fear of death. The gospel offers a reward that, understood properly, addresses that fear. Missionaries that seek to be faithful to the gospel message offer this by preaching the message faithfully, understanding and living out a life that embodies a right view of suffering and persecution. They live out this message by utterly depending on Christ’s suffering and his finished work on the cross.
As a missionary myself, I found Rhodes’ work very helpful not just for personal application to bolster my own theology of suffering, but as a resource to help as I minister to others. It is one of the best books I have read on the subject in the practical advice it offers and the range of topics it addresses. So helpful were his insights that I immediately put some of his content into a sermon I was writing.
While the book is aimed at missionaries, it offers application to the broader Christian community. There is something in this book for all Christians, particularly those who seek to build a better theology of suffering.
I also sensed a strong corrective push against the pervasively individualistic reading of Scripture that is prevalent in much of the Western and North American evangelical church. I deeply appreciate this push, which the Western missionary community and the whole church need.
Having said this, my only critique of “Persecution in Missions” lies in this area. There were a few places in chapter 3 and other portions where Rhodes’ zeal to emphasize a view of suffering that points us toward a more corporate understanding may mislead.
“So far, as I have explained the role of suffering in the Christian life, I have paid little attention to the ways God uses it to grow our individual character. This isn’t because I don’t think God uses suffering to grow us as individuals, but because the heavy emphasis of Scripture is on us sharing in Christ’s sufferings. Christ had no personal needs or character shortcomings to address when he suffered. His sufferings were for the sake of others” (pg. 53).
The balance to portray the corporate and the individual perspective in Scripture sometimes feels like a tightrope walk, but we cannot deny that both are there. Rhodes could have included more material on suffering as part of our sanctification and how it is important, not just for the sake of others but for the sake of the individual believer.
In the final analysis, Rhodes’ book is a brilliant work that I will recommend to many of the missionaries that I supervise and wish to help in their understanding of suffering. The richness of theology and personal experience permeate his writing.
Timothy Mountfort is the East Asia regional director for Mission to the World and a teaching elder in Potomac Presbytery.