John Urquhart, part 14: Shipwrecked Missionaries

It is February 1826, and John Urquhart is in the middle of his final year at St. Andrews. He feels compelled toward foreign missions, yet faces opposition from friends and family. Even Dr. Chalmers has encouraged him to stay in England as a pastor so that he can raise up young men to be missionaries. But Urquhart cannot shake his conviction. He has written to several trusted friends for counsel, and on the 4th of February writes a response to one of them. In this letter he astutely observes that God may be using the opposition he has experienced to strip away false motives that may be driving him, and admits that it is the spiritual dangers of the mission field that concern him much more than the physical risks he might face.

St. Andrew’s, February 4, 1826.

My dear friend— I am greatly encouraged by your very kind letter. . .I am not sorry on the whole, that up to this point my friends have all opposed my desire to preach Christ among the heathen. Perhaps it is well that we should have to wade through a good deal of opposition, in making up our mind on a subject of such importance. There is an air of romance which surrounds the subject of missionary adventure, when first it is presented to the mind of the young disciple; (what Mr. Malan in writing to my friend Mr. Adam, calls ‘un trait de l’imagination;’) and it is well, perhaps, that this false fire should be damped by opposition. It is a principle, I believe, among the Moravians, ‘never to persuade any person to be a missionary.’ And perhaps we should still act in the spirit of this proverb, even if we took it so far as to repress, rather than encourage the zeal of the candidate for missionary service. For surely if our desire for the work cannot stand against the objections of our friends, we have every reason to think that it would soon be quenched amid the heavy and lengthened discouragements which we will encounter in the work itself. If the desire to serve my Saviour among the heathen were merely of myself, it is not like the fickleness of my natural disposition to have persevered in it till now, while meeting with so little encouragement. I do trust that the Spirit of the Lord has implanted this desire in my heart, and I know that he will perfect what he has begun.

You speak of the difficulties connected with the work of a missionary. I can assure you, my dear friend, they have thickened upon my view. It is not to the natural dangers and hardships of the missionary life that I refer. What bother me most is not the prospect of encountering the diseases of an unhealthy atmosphere, with a body that is not very strong. If we perish in such a cause, we perish gloriously, and in this respect we ‘conquer though we are slain.’ There is something sweet in the thought of suffering for Christ’s sake. ‘If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him.’ And ‘the more we toil and suffer here, the sweeter rest will be.’ [that second quote is the final line of a hymn by John Newton] These are not the difficulties that I fear. But, I confess, I do tremble when I think of the spiritual dangers, the temptations of a heathen land, where all the barriers are broken down. These barriers are often the only safe-guards of the boasted virtue of the great mass of our community; and these barriers serve, perhaps more strongly than he is aware, to restrain the sin and worldly lusts, which are temptations even to a Christian.

I have been very much depressed to find the instances of apostasy among missionaries, so very numerous; and that some, who, for a long time did run well, were afterwards hindered by ‘the lust of the flesh, or the lust of the eye, or the pride of life.’ While I look at this dark side of the picture, the only thing that gives me comfort is a complete reliance on the faithfulness of Him who has promised that as our day is, so shall our strength be. Oh, for a stronger faith in my Redeemer! a closer walk with my God! I see that spirituality of mind is the main qualification for the work of a missionary, and this is the very qualification which I feel that I most lack. But I believe that He who hath given the desire to serve him, will also give the ability to fulfil that desire. I know that though weak in myself, I am strong in him. And I will rest in the promises of his love. Christ, when he dwells in the heart by faith, can give from his own omnipotence to weakness itself; for through him, (may the weakest Christian say,) I can do all things.

I have been struck with the view you give of the pastoral office, as raising up labourers. It is a view of it which I had not sufficiently considered. When we look intently at one object, it is very probable that other most interesting objects may altogether escape our notice; and so when the mind is much occupied with the consideration of a single object, the very intensity of our attention to it may be the means of obscuring our perception of other objects equally important. Dr. Chalmers has lately given me many such arguments for remaining in this country. He tells me, ‘You might give the cause of missions, perhaps a greater service by raising up labourers through your preaching here.’ My reply to this, however, is just a reference to facts. Christianity has long been preached, and many converts have been made in our own land, and the cause of Christian charity, moreover, has been most ably pleaded; but in spite of it all, when labourers are called for, the best advocates of missions shrink back, and hardly any can be found to go.”