John Sung Shang Chieh (traditional Chinese: 宋尚節; simplified Chinese: 宋尚节; pinyin: Sòng Shàng-Jíe; Wade-Giles: Sung4 Shang4-Chieh2) a.k.a. John Sung (29 September 1901 – 18 August 1944) was a renowned Chinese evangelist who played an instrumental role in the revival movement among the Chinese in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia during the 1920s and 1930s.
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Early life and education
Sung was born in Hinghwa (now Putian), Fukien Province in China. He grew up with a Christian upbringing. His father was a member of the American Wesleyan Methodist Church. Since his father was a pastor of the local church, Sung also helped in church duties. On certain evenings when his father was either too busy or was too ill, Sung would have to lead the sermons as a substitute instead. Because of his early contributions to the church work, many church members referred to him as “Little Pastor”. However, it took Sung some years of testing before he became the influential evangelist that many knew. In 1920 he was sent to America for his higher education. He studied at Wesleyan University of Ohio and Ohio State University. A brilliant student, he earned a doctorate in chemistry in five years. His chemistry essays and research documents can still be seen in the University library today. Despite the array of career opportunities in front of him, Sung believed that he was called by God to commit himself to work for Jesus Christ. In 1926 he went to Union Theological Seminary in New York for theological studies.
Transformation
During his period at the seminary (more specifically, on 10 February 1927) John Sung claimed to have received the gift of the Holy Spirit during a prayer, which was an amazing experience for him. He once exclaimed, “This my spiritual birthday! Although I already believed in Jesus since my early childhood days, this new experience is a life changing one for me ”. John Sung described that “The Holy Spirit poured onto me, just like water, on top of my head”, then “The Holy Spirit continuously poured onto me wave after wave”. After this experience John Sung now felt that he possessed more strength and fervently preached the Gospel to people he met. John became a radically changed man and began to preach fervently to his peers and lecturers in the seminary. It was such a drastic change in the man that his fellow liberal Theology students reckoned that he had gone out of his right mind, and the seminary authorities confined him in an insane asylum, where he stayed for 193 days. Despite this ‘Wandering in the wilderness’ period of isolation, John Sung set himself to read the Bible. It was during this stay that he read through the entire Bible 40 times and soon became very familiar and well versed in its teachings. This period of Scriptural reading and spiritual renewal laid the foundations for one of the greatest revivals of the 20th century.
Return to China and gospel ministry
The Chinese Consulate managed to arrange for Sung's release and he returned to China in November 1927, without graduating from Union Theological Seminary. Before stepping on Chinese soil after an almost eight-year absence, he threw all his academic awards into the sea, only keeping the doctorate diploma for his father. This action he intended to signify his full commitment to the Gospel. After his return to China, he began Gospel work, preaching in the Min-nan region for three years. His main topics at that time were “The Crucifix ” and “The Blood of Jesus”. His messages were not original ideas, but Bible teachings concerning "rebirth", "salvation", and "bearing the Cross". In 1930 (1931?), he joined Bethel Bible School of Shanghai, where, with other graduates, he formed a "Bethel Evangelistic Band" (伯特利佈道團). The topic of his sermons were now mainly about how to deal with sin. A summary of his teaching was:
- He reckoned that people admitting their sins is not enough, they must “repent of their sins”.
- After repentance comes “Correct your sins”, meaning that one must totally change and get rid of sinful behaviour.
- After one has changed sinful habits comes “Repay your sins”, one must repay the wrong or give a formal written apology to show that one is really sorry.
Sung also believed that by saying “Lord, forgive me for I am a sinner” is insufficient. He emphasized that during prayers, repentance should be made as a whole group and done step by step in minor detail. In fact, Sung listed twenty major categories of sins and if one had committed one of those sins listed within a category then one must admit and repent of that sin during a group prayer session. Sung was sometimes so excited that he often jumped onto the pulpit to preach; in the middle of the sermon he would always sing a hymn for up to twenty or thirty minutes. John Sung also made use of props during sermons. On one occasion during a sermon, he brought a coffin, placed it under the pulpit, and shouted, “Raise money, raise money, raise the coffin! (发财发财发棺材！) which meant that we should not put all our focus on gaining money. After exclaiming this statement, he then went and lay down in the coffin himself. The use of props made his sermons interesting and left many lasting impressions. Sung proved to be a hugely zealous and compelling preacher. His name spread throughout China and invitations soon poured in, requesting him to spread the gospel to other regions as well. By 1936, it was believed more than 100,000 Chinese were converted through his ministry. His missionary work spread beyond China and he was actively preaching to overseas Chinese population in Southeast Asia. Sung’s gospel message was Bible-centric and focused on the need for repentance. He took the issue of sin very seriously and often invited his audience to repent to a list of specific sins that he read out. He fearlessly spoke out against sin and hypocrisy, even at the ministers and pastoral staffs who were with him at the meetings. As such, he often offended many but his chief priority was God’s glory, not pleasing men. On a softer note, his sermons regularly moved his audience to tears with the message of Christ’s love. Outside of preaching, Sung was a man of prayer. He actively complied a list of prayer requests given by fellow Christians and would spend many hours praying for them. Sung defined faith as "watching God work while on your knees".
Last years and legacy
Towards the last years of his life, intestinal tuberculosis plagued him and deeply affected his gospel work. Despite this, he continued to preach and even had to preach in a leaning position to lessen the pain. He succumbed to the disease at the premature age of 43. John Sung was the most influential Chinese evangelist during the 1930s and his ministry had a profound impact on Christianity especially in the Chinese-speaking world in China and Southeast Asia. He also helped found the Church Assembly Hall along with Watchman Nee and others. Countless Chinese were converted and revived through his ministry and they would play a significant role in the growth of Christianity in the region.
References
- Smithers, Dave John Sung - Apostle of Revival, retrieved from: [1]
- Sng, Bobby E.K. In His Good Time: The Story of the Church in Singapore 1819-2002, (3rd ed.), Singapore Bible Society, Singapore 2003, pp. 172-179.
- Tow, Timothy John Sung - My Teacher, Christian Life Publishers, Singapore 1985.
Further reading
- Sung, Shang-chieh. (1995.) The diaries of John Sung: An autobiography (Unknown Binding). Luke H. Sheng, Stephen L. Sheng.ASIN: B0006QUQ2U
- Leslie T Lyall (1964). John Sung: Flame for God in the Far East. Moody Press.ASIN: B0007FDM0I
See also
Well-known early Chinese Christian Evangelists:
