Jim Elliot (1927-56) was a man who understood his God-given responsibility to use his life and resources for the work of the Lord: sharing Jesus with others. Elliot was convinced that God was leading him to an exotic indian tribe known for killing any outsider who tried to approach them. These Indians, the Huaorani, had never heard the gospel. Elliot and a few other men believed it was their responsibility to take the gospel to the Huaorani people. Elliot and his friends were speared-through and killed by the Huaorani before they ever had a chance to tell them of the love of Jesus. In the days following the deaths, however, Elliot's wife would be a part of leading to Christ the very men who speared her husband. Since that day till now, the peace of Christ has come to reign in the Huaorani tribe. Jim Elliot's ultimate sacrifice made possible the salvation of natives who may have otherwise never heard the name of Jesus.
Many criticized Elliot's decision to travel to the Huaorani people because of their violent reputation. They encouraged him to just stay in America and minister there. Before embarking on his missionary journey, Elliot wrote in his journal:
"Surely those who know the great passionate heart of Jehovah must deny their own loves to share in the expression of His....So what if the well-fed church in the homeland needs stirring? They have the Scriptures, Moses, and the Prophets, and a whole lot more. Their condemnation is written on their bank books and in the dust on their Bible covers. American believers have sold their lives to the service of Mammom (materialism), and God has His rightful way of dealing with those who succumb to the spirit of Laodecia."
The spirit of Laodecia that Elliot spoke of comes from Revelation 3:16-17. In this passage, God is disgusted with the church because they are lukewarm in their faith. They are lukewarm partly because their trust and hope is fixed in their riches and their possessions. As a result they do not experience a burning hunger and need for the Lord. They are wealthy and materialistic. Their materialism separated them from the Lord and the work that He had for them to do.
Is your materialism separating you from the Lord? This is a question that I am asking myself very much lately.
Radical, by David Platt, is a book that God is absolutely using to pierce me to the core right now. Platt says, "The war against materialism in our hearts is exactly that: a war. It is a constant battle to resist the temptation to have more luxuries, to acquire more stuff, and to live more comfortably. It requires strong and steady resolve to live out the gospel in the middle of an American dream that identifies success as moving up the ladder, getting the bigger house, purchasing the nicer car, buying the better clothes, eating the finer food, and acquiring more things."
Yes, in the middle of immoral and materialistic America, you and I must choose to live out the gospel. That involves a forsaking of ourselves, our comfort, our possessions, and our finances in order to make disciples of Jesus Christ in all the world. That was Jesus' assignment to us. Many professing Christians will choose not to do this because of an attachment to their own comfort and luxury. And, as Elliot stated, "Their condemnation is written on their bank books."
In closing, consider the following from Radical:
"The mark of Christ followers is that their hearts are in heaven and their treasures are spent there... We can switch the channels on our mega-TVs and continue our comfortable, untroubled, ordinary, church-going lives as if the global poor don't exist...Or we can open our eyes and our lives to the realities that surround us... Why not begin selling and giving away luxuries for the sake of the poor outside our gates? Why not begin operating under the idea that God has given us excess, not so we could have more, but so we could give more?"
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