The Life and Ministry of John Sung (2012) by Lim Ka-Tong, Book Review

 The Life and Ministry of John Sung (2012) by Lim Ka-Tong

When I read Roland H. Bainton's Here I Stand on the Life of Martin Luther the Reformer, I was amazed. Luther had done many great things for God, His Word, and His people. I admired him, and he is one of my heroes of faith. But Luther was far from being a saint on earth. I learned about the German Peasant's War, the hatred of the Jews (anti-Semitism), and other dark sides contributed by Luther and his writings. Of course, Sung Shangjie (nicknamed Tian-En) or John Sung does not have the same level of dark sides as Luther, but he does have lots of weaknesses, especially in his younger years. He was hot-tempered, headstrong, impatient, and hard to be with. He was very critical of Western and even local missionaries. Because he traveled long, far, and frequently, he missed all of his children's births. Although his family never complained (he was a good son, husband, and father), early in his ministry his absence contradicted his sermon on the importance of family worship. But due to God's immeasurable grace, He used John Sung - and Martin Luther - greatly. This reminds me of Samson in Judges 13–16, a problematic and flawed character, yet his name is listed in Hebrews 11's The Hall of Faith. John Sung was indeed among "a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith" (Hebrews 12:1), encouraging and cheering us through his life and dedication to run the race God has set before us. Let us imitate John Sung just as he imitated Christ!

I've read John Sung's biographies by Leslie T. Lyall, Timothy Tow, and William E. Schubert. They are amazing! But this one by Lim Ka-Tong is a very comprehensive, well-researched, and fair account of a very important (but sadly, less known) figure of Chinese Christianity not only in China but also in Southeast Asia. Sung is variously remembered as the "Wesley of China", the "Billy Sunday of China", the "Billy Graham of China", "the Apostle of China", "the greatest evangelist China has ever known", and the "bright star in the crown of Hinghwa." A man such as John Sung, powerfully used by God, is worthy of being remembered by Christians around the world, and this book gives him such honor. I was very fascinated by the interesting details and facts that Ka-Tong found about John Sung that I had never heard of before from other authors. The first chapter on sociopolitical and theological background in early twentieth-century China helped me to understand what shaped John Sung's mind, and chapter two on his formative years helped me to see why John Sung's faith was genuine, contagious, and bold. In summary, Ka-Tong wrote: "John Sung's ministry was based on his intensive reading of the Bible and his reliance on the Holy Spirit. His conservative evangelical faith exerted great influence on the Chinese church, even to this day. This is remarkable because John Sung was not a trained theologian, his life was so brief, and he never founded any organization to carry on his ministry."

Indeed, his brief 12 years of public ministry, were divided into 5 periods - The Water Period: Re-Immersion (1927-1930), The Door Period: Openings (1931-1933), The Dove Period: Time to Soar (1934-1936), The Blood Period: War-Time Spiritual Warrior (1937-1939), and The Tomb Period: Pastoral Years (1940-1944) - have had a great impact that has endured through the years until today. For example, during the Dove Period around 1936, John Sung went to Borneo: "Sung's only visit to Sarawak brought great awakening to the cities of Sibu and Sarikei. He held 10-day meetings in each city. In Sibu alone, 1,583 confession letters were received, and 464 committed themselves to sharing the Good News weekly. He likewise saw a wonderful response in Sarikei, although he had to compete against a circus that was in town. According to a researcher who studied the church and mission in Sarawak, Sung's ministry brought on 'a time for renewal' which provided 'fresh impetus for witness and church planting.'" In this book, John Sung's life is portrayed in very colorful and realistic ways. Here we can see his humanness, his struggles with spiritual warfare (the world, the flesh, and the Devil), and his reliance on God's Word and the Holy Spirit. Here also, we can learn about the power of fellowship, friendship, partnership (Sung tends to be a soloist, but don't forget about the contribution of the Bethel Evangelistic Band to his ministry!), forgiveness, discipleship, prayer, revivals, and the blood of Jesus to change lives!

I fully recommend this book, especially for full-time workers, pastors, teachers, and evangelists in Malaysia. It's time for us to NOT ONLY look at famous Western Christian leaders like Martin Luther or John Calvin but also at Asian Christian leaders like John Sung, Andrew Gih, Watchman Nee, Wang Mingdao, Leland Wang, Chu Ki-chol, Sadhu Sundar Singh, Petrus Octavianus, Thomas Chung, etc. They are what Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: "Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you" (1 Corinthians 1:26). What makes them great is not their wisdom, power, or wealth, but because God is great. Perhaps they would echo the Scripture, "If I want to boast, I will only boast about the LORD!" I think that is a fitting summary of John Sung's life. Amen.

#ServeToLead #LeadersAreReaders #JohnSung #Biography #HeroesOfFaith #AsianChristianLeaders #ChinaRevivals #GodOfTheBible #LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain

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To read my other book reviews on/about John Sung, CLICK HERE

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.