Some have asked me what path the church should take today. I answer: Unquestionably, the path of the apostles. That is, follow the footsteps of the apostles by imitating their courageous and firm stand, not being afraid of any threatenings, not holding life dear, being faithful unto death, not pleasing men. Even while meeting resistance, we should still preach the gospel and teach God’s words to people. The one who can do this will be blessed by God and used by God. He may indeed meet what the apostles met in persecution, but he will also accomplish what the apostles accomplished. Without doubt, God’s glory and great power will be manifested through him just as it was manifested in that day through the apostles.— Wang Ming-Dao, from A Call to the Church from Wang Ming-Dao
Persecution often has an effect opposite of what is planned by the persecutors. The church father Tertullian wrote that the martyrdom of faithful Christians actually spurred the growth of the early church: “The oftener we are mown down by you, the more in number we grow; the blood of Christians is seed” (The Apology). Stories of martyrs can be a great encouragement in the darkest points of ministry, when pastors feel attacked from all sides.
But some martyrdom accounts from Christian history give readers the sense that those who suffered faithfully for Christ experienced very little struggle with fear or temptation. According to Irenaeus, for example, when guards prepared to nail Polycarp to the stake, he said, “Leave me as I am, for the one who gives me strength to endure the fire will also give me strength to remain at the stake unmoved without being secured by nails.” While stories like Polycarp’s can be encouraging, they may also give pastors pangs of guilt when something as simple as a tense budget meeting leaves them questioning their calling.
When I’m tempted to believe that true faithfulness requires nothing less than a perfect resolve, it helps to remember the life of Chinese pastor Wang Ming-Dao. Though his faith endured through intense hardship, he also experienced moments of fear that resulted in compromise. Wang’s life and teachings remind me that Christ’s proclamation to “repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15, ESV) is for all people, pastors and laity alike.
Faithfulness, Compromise, and Restoration
Wang was raised attending a Christian church and school in Beijing, but he didn’t become a Christian until he was 14. During a serious illness, he promised God that, if he survived, he would abandon his intended career path in politics to go into full-time ministry.
Wang changed his name from Tie-Zi (“Iron Son”) to Ming-Dao (“Understanding the Word”) and started teaching at a Presbyterian academy before age 20. In 1923 he began a Bible study in his home that became the Beijing Christian Tabernacle in 1937.
His faithfulness to Christ was challenged by political forces during both the Japanese occupation of Beijing (beginning in 1937) and the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. In both seasons, the government sought to harness the local churches for the promotion of political goals, and under both governments Wang witnessed Christians capitulate to political pressure.
During the Japanese occupation, Wang refused to allow his Christian publication, Spiritual Food Quarterly, to be used as a propaganda tool by the Japanese government. Wang also refused to associate his church with the North China Christian Federation Promotion Committee—established in 1942—out of concern that the Japanese government was using it to influence Chinese churches. He received so many threats from the Japanese authorities that he purchased a coffin and kept it in his home.
The rise of communism in China was accompanied by the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, a state-sanctioned, interdenominational Protestant body seeking to tie Chinese Christians to Chinese nationalism. As pressure to join the Movement mounted for Christian leaders and churches, Wang refused to capitulate. His rationale was not so much political as it was doctrinal. Many who had joined the Movement denied core doctrines such as the inspiration of Scripture, the Virgin Birth, the Atonement, and Christ’s bodily resurrection, and Wang did not believe they were true Christians. How could he, with a good conscience, associate with them as if they were?
The leaders of the Three-Self Movement were incensed, and requests for Wang’s enrollment turned into threats and persecution. Wang’s opponents worked to isolate him by having those closest to him arrested.
On August 7, 1955, Wang delivered a sermon on Matthew 26:45 titled “The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.” He preached, “We shall make whatever sacrifice is required of us in being faithful to God. Regardless of how others may twist the truth and slander us, we because of our faith shall remain steadfast.” That same day he was arrested for being “counter-revolutionary,” along with his wife and 18 church associates. They were bound with ropes and led to prison, where for months cellmates—prompted by the authorities—shared horror stories of tortures Wang would endure if he refused to cooperate.
This strategy had its intended effect. Years of pressure and persecution took their toll on Wang, and he admitted to false charges. Wang was released on September 29, 1956, and the next day he read a confession of his “wrongdoings” at a gathering of the Three-Self Movement. Wang’s fall was neither minor nor private.
But Wang’s release from prison did not end his torture; it merely shifted it from external to internal. He came to realize what he had sacrificed for his apparent freedom, and, according to David Aikman, many people reported seeing Wang wander the streets of Beijing repeating, “I am Peter, I am Peter.”
Upon release, Wang was supposed to join the Three-Self church and preach its government-sanctioned messages, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. Eventually, with the encouragement of his wife, he recanted his signed confession. Wang was imprisoned once again, where he remained for 22 years. Due to growing international pressure, he was released in 1979. He had lost all of his teeth and most of his hearing and eyesight, but his faith remained intact. He and his wife taught groups of Christians in their apartment until Wang’s death in 1991.
‘I Am Peter’
In 1983, only four years after his release from prison, Wang wrote,
Some have asked me what path the church should take today. I answer: Unquestionably, the path of the apostles. That is, follow the footsteps of the apostles by imitating their courageous and firm stand, not being afraid of any threatenings, not holding life dear, being faithful unto death, not pleasing men.
After experiencing such a notable moment of compromise, Wang called others to unyielding faithfulness. How could he ask others to persevere through suffering when he hadn’t done so? A lesson can be learned from his refrain: “I am Peter, I am Peter.”
Wang called followers of Christ to faithfulness in “the footsteps of the apostles.” His long years of faithful endurance resembled the apostles’ courageous proclamation of Christ’s message in Acts, and his compromise to avoid persecution reflected the disciples’ abandonment of Christ before his crucifixion. Any call to walk the path of the apostles must make room for the reality of human weakness. The need to seek forgiveness and experience redemption is part of the call to uncompromising faith.
Even before his imprisonment, Wang showed sensitivity to believers who might surrender to temptation. He preached,
There are many saints like Peter. In a moment of weakness they stumble and fall; they are guilty of giving offence to their Lord. … At such a time their greatest need is to be aware of the Lord’s forgiveness and pardon; to become conscious of the Lord’s compassion and love.
Wang likely didn’t realize these words would eventually apply to him, but his example in seeking forgiveness and eventually returning to prison reveals the full implications of his earlier teaching.
Ironically for Wang, his compromise placed him in a position of potential prominence in society, while his subsequent repentance returned him to prison. In contrast, when we see Christian ministers caught in some serious, public sin today, it is not uncommon to witness those same pastors attempt to regain their public platforms after only a short time away from ministry.
Wang’s example shows us that a lifelong calling to ministry is not the same as a lifelong calling to platform. He was restored by God’s forgiveness, not to freedom or fame but to 22 more years of captivity and torture. Though imprisoned—and perhaps because of it—he was still able to reveal “God’s glory and great power.”
The apostle Peter’s life serves as a template for faithful restoration. Though he denied Christ three times before the Crucifixion, his Lord later reinstated him to ministry. Three times Christ asked him,
“Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” (John 21:17–19)
Peter went on to do great things in the early church, but he did so under regular threat, and, as Jesus predicted, his faithful ministry resulted in martyrdom. True restoration of a Christian leader is not measured by reclaiming celebrity or the pastoral office but by reclaiming a life marked by repentance and faith.
Ministry as an Imperfect Human
Shepherding the church has led me to face my own limitations in ways no other responsibility has done. Personal sins, shortcomings, and inabilities have a way of floating to the surface. If ever I have felt the need for personal humility and God’s grace, it has been in pastoral ministry.
No Christian, not even a pastor, is a stranger to sin. To regularly recognize, confess, and turn away from sin in repentance is a necessary part of faithful pastoral work. As discouraging as a pastor’s public failure may be, Jesus Christ is no less a shepherd to the pastor than to the layperson. He is the Chief Shepherd, and all true believers are a part of his flock. I find it helpful to remind myself regularly that, though God has called me to be a shepherd, I also will never cease being a sheep.
Navigating pastoral ministry as an imperfect person in the midst of temptation and suffering is a challenging endeavor. I find Wang’s story to be especially clear in conveying both the necessity of radical faithfulness to Christ in the face of hardship and the reality of our human frailty. As a pastor called to uncompromising faith, I will never outgrow my need for the Lord’s grace.
John Gill is associate professor of Christian Studies at California Baptist University and pastor of discipleship at Redeemer Baptist Church in Riverside, California.
