Deciphering the Hostility Surrounding Missionary, John Allen Chau

An instant tsunami of emotion flooded the internet, after missionary John Allen Chau was reportedly killed by a Sentinelese tribe. Some believe the Sentinelese are the last pre-Neolithic tribe in the world.

This small collection a hunters-gatherers, were unreached, yet recognized as a hostile people, living on an island in the north Indian Ocean.

Both Christians and non-Christians slung their spears on social media, like those once shoved at John Chau, going straight through the Bible he was holding at the moment.

Even the government feared for their life, refusing to go anywhere near this tribe to retrieve Chau’s body. So, why did Chau approach these same people willingly?

Chau was a 26 year old, from Washington State; a man half Chinese, have Caucasian.

The Sentinelese wore loincloth and were a fiercely isolated people, having a reputation for murdering anyone who came near them.

Still, Chau felt a deep, passionate call to approach this dangerous people with the message of Christ. Chau was the son of a Psychiatrist. Chau traveled often and was an avid outdoorsman who loved people. He especially burned to reach those others refused to go near, such as the Sentinelese.

Even after fishermen reportedly witnessed Chau’s lifeless body dragged onto a beach by his murderers, social media has been in an uproar.

Many have become “experts” at jabbing eachother with spears of strong emotion regarding the motivation behind Chau’s stepping onto a region protected by the Indian government, almost guaranteeing his fate.

Some of the responses I have seen on Twitter?

“Missionary work is just modern day colonialization. It’s a selfish attempt to destroy culture that you think is inferior to your own. Keep your fairy tales to yourself. I have absolutely no sympathy for John Allen Chau.”

“John Allen Chau was a genocidal bigot.”

“Why would you go to an island of a remote primitive tribe that has no idea what anything from he modern world is? They don’t want u or ur god.”

I would share more, but many of those in opposition to the mission work of Chau spew their “truth” through cuss words and hate.

Worse yet, even so-called Christians show distaste, saying “just leave these people alone” or suggest “seeker-sensitive” ways to reach these remote people.

Yet, these are the questions pounding in my head…

• When has the real, authentic gospel ever NOT been offensive?
• Why has there become this “gospel”, growing ever-increasingly in America, that doesn’t require any kind of sacrifice or obedience?
• Why have so many made the message of Jesus timid, cowardly, passive, or unnecessary?
• Why have the waters of deep thought and shallow perspectives lingered together in a not-so-welcomed melting pot of ambiguity and disagreements?

Then, there was the instant rages on social media where many just assumed Chau worked independently, without any training or experience. People initially jolted off emotions, concluding Chau was some self-centered, ignorant hot head, putting others in jeapordy for His own selfish ambitions.

Eventually truth revealed; Chau was educated at a University, trained by a missions organization and well-prepared (as much as anyone can be) to face a people his heart longed for, years prior to attempting to reach this remote region of 50 – 150 people.

Many commenters say we should have waited to “get the facts” before slaying opinions about whether Chau’s mission to a dangerous island was wise or not. I disagree.

In fact, I think the opposite is true.

Why not let our emotions spew from our heart? Aren’t words often the well-spring, exposing what’s truly inside us? And facts or no facts, either we agree with Chau’s attempt to reach a remote people for Christ…or we don’t. 

Whether Chau was educated or not, is secondary. Whether Chau went willingly or independently is irrelevant to the fact that this mission was something Chau knew he could die for.

And although there seems to be no clear lines, Christian’s and non-Christians concretely either agree or disagree about reaching others for Christ in such a bold manner…

Our ideations likely are unwavering, depending on our core belief about a gospel. Time or fact, won’t change that.

Jim Elliot

In 1956, another man faced a similar spear, on a similar beached island, confronted by an unreached population also eager to kill, wearing loin-cloth.

This man, and his four friends were speared to death. Yet, the world touted about His bravery and heroism, faith and dedication to love a similar unreached people. (You can find a movie made about it, here)

Missionaries were birthed as a result of this man’s sacrifice and people’s faith began to blaze after watching Jim Elliot’s conviction to evangelize a people He too had prepared for and deeply loved.

If reports about Sau’s death are true:

• Both men were left dead on a beach for their faith.
• Both men were almost exactly the same age.
• Both men had studied at the same missionary society and had a call to a specific people group years before actually reaching them.

Death, based-on-love has never been cursed, clawed at, or distained so much as it has been now. In fact, in any other context, Romeo and Juliet for instance, we as a society even idealize it, lift it up as theatrics, or crown it as art; decades, if not centuries later.

So, why has our culture so quickly lashed out hate at a man like Chau, who mist don’t know, simply because they don’t agree with Him?

Why have the murderers been so widely defended?

Why was Jesus crucified, pierced also, yet similarly people chanted for an ex-murder to go free, while persecuting the innocent?

Chau was described by his friends as a man of great humility, someone people could talk with easily. One friend said, it was like he put his hand on their heart when they talked; he heard and saw them.

Chau’s friends also say he was a really open person, filled with so much love and light.

And yet, something behind all those cuss words on Twitter, persecutes, not just motives, but attacks the character and heart behind the person of Chau.

What is it in people that find joy at excusing the guilty, while attacking the innocent? If we are Christians, shouldn’t the condemnation of an innocent man and loyalty to a murderer, disgust us?

Isn’t such hostility the same hate that put a spear in another man’s side on a cross, who had done nothing but help the sick and love people; whether people accepted Him or not?

Have we joined the crowds, chatting, “Let’s crucify him”, swords in hand, lies in mouth, and eyes that only see part of the picture of one man or one culture’s story?

Just as the snapshot of the cross wasn’t the end of the story, Jim Elliot’s death also wasn’t in vain.

Jim’s wife and child returned, living face-to-face with the very same people who slain their dad and husband. They walked into and lived amongst this once feared tribe, for years.

Eventually, the very same man who held the spear that punctured their loved one’s side, accepted Jesus.

Furthmore, Jim’s wife, Elizabeth Elliot, traveled endlessly until her death, sharing with the world a message of this God of love who steps toward’s its enemies, carried a cross, not of shame, but humility and love.

Elizabeth shared of a God who loves all people so much so He died so they wouldn’t need to remain the same; isolated in fear, hiding behind screens, violantly spearing other people.

What if the story of John Chau hasn’t ended with futility and ignorance, or foolishness, like some think? What if the story of Chau’s death isn’t the end, but just the beginning?

• If a house is on fire, and one man has a bucket of water, does he hoard it, refusing to share it to put out the flames?
• If a room is filled with darkness, yet light is carried bright in an individual, do they plant it under a table and never give opportunity for anyone else to see?
• If one person has food and an entire tribe is starving, do they eat it in front of their enemies….or do they risk their life and share what they’ve been given so every stomach is full?

Love doesn’t back down, doesn’t make excuses, doesn’t hide and isolate, doesn’t let others suffer spiritual sickness, when they have hope and the promise of a cure.

Chau journaled personal accounts, before he died, of him singing Christian songs, encircled by the entire tribe of the Sentinelese. When he sang, everyone stopped, dead silent. Was their heart being sedated by love? Did they sense something deeper that only years from now many will understand?

When did we become a people who have inadvertantly hide in tribes of our own; isolating and attacking, flinging spears, and rejecting anything good that might benefit other people?

• If an entire population died physically, wouldn’t it be worth the cost to atleast save one soul eternally?
• Who watches a people burn with hate, self-harm and darkness and not at least offer some hope and love?
• Who says they care, but then sit idly by, letting those they love destroy themselves internally, killing anyone who approached them simotaneously?
• Who are those that take to social media attacking a man like Chau, while defending depravity, a people whose own government are afraid to approach them, to retrieve the body of a 27 year old Chau?

Have we as a culture, created our own islands of hate and self-loathing, living in a bubble of our own culture far too long, that we have become the very resemblance of the very tribe who ended up spearing Chau?

• How did so many become defensive, aggravated, angry, collectively refusing to let anyone close to them, spearing the first person that comes at them with anything other than what they have always known?
• When did love become so offensive to people?
• Why was the 28 year old, Jim Elliot hero-ized, famed, lifted up as a saint, while today, Chau has become demeaned, isulted, and humiliated?

Perhaps it’s not the message that has changed, but us.

Have we become a culture that spears away anyone that touches our self-created relativism, post-modern culture, collective cry of new age, live-and-let-live mentality, despite the reality that others are starving internally, burning eternally, or live in a darkness filled with so much fear, they spear anyone who gets near them.

If you are a Chritian, isn’t the message of Jesus Christ clear? “Go into all the world and preach the gospel?” And if you are not, doesn’t even the hint of what Jim Elliot cried not ring true in some part of your being…

“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Yet, so many on the internet are violently defending the flesh. They are enragged because the flesh of Chau was taken at what they say was “stupidity”.

But can what was given freely, really be something taken?

Jesus came as a ransom for many. The disciples died, willing martyrs. People world-wide, even today, die or are imprisoned frequently for not just any cause, but the unstoppable message that has remarkeably spanned thousands of melliniums.

Christian or not, can any of us guarantee tomorrow? Do we really believe a live-and-let-live culture can be sustainable; a society without morals, truths or any eternal perspective, without love and respect for people?

Isn’t it pride that refuses to help the needy, arrogance that says we have the right to let others suffer without giving a message that will free them?

Can’t we all agree, love is the great mediator, the even-ing playing ground, the measure on how we have grown, morally, as a people?

And yet, whether you agree or disagree with Chau’s decision to approach a people who did not know Christ….It is clear, love, not self-righteousness, ultimately drove Chau to His humble death.

The same message of the cross; love gives up, sacrifices, does everything it can to span, bridge, reach, and understand other people.

Love never hides, is limited, locks itself tight, or remains isolates behind screens, lashing out at other people.

• Love lays down it’s sword. Love unifies.
• Love takes into recognition and encompasses the heart of the person we are confronting.
• Love reaches wide, and spans souls and cultures, abides deep in those open, willing and transparent.

Love lives most in those humble enough to pursue others intentionally, even at their own risk to expense

• Hate closes off, boards, and stays isolated.
• Hate is self-seeking, pious, and looks down up others, from their tribal-like mentality.
• Hate disconnects, aims spears, and slays those who don’t look, sound, or act like them.

Look at the Sentinelese and then look at Chau. Which one looks more like love? Better yet, which one looks most like us?

(Please join me in reading letters from John Allen Chau hand-written from the island after getting shot by an arrow. He shares candidly, his thoughts on death and Jesus. Read HERE)