We Died Before We Came
CONSECRATED No. 80 - 1 Thought. 2 Quotes. 3 Verses.
1 THOUGHT
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than one's fear.”
- Ambrose Redmoon
In 1838, the missionary James Calvert, his wife Mary, and his partner John Hunt set out from the United Kingdom as missionaries to the Pacific Islands. Beyond the general dangers of such an expedition, the people group to which they were headed were known for one notorious trait–cannibalism.
As they approached the islands, the ship’s captain attempted to dissuade them saying, “You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages.” Calvert responded, “We died before we came.”
In 1956, the 28-year-old missionary Jim Elliot was speared to death alongside his four companions–Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and Ed McCully–as they attempted to bring the gospel to the Auca tribe in the Amazon regions of Ecuador
Not long before his death, Jim Elliot penned these famous words in his journal, “God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you Lord Jesus.”
Decades later, the children of those five men would lead to Christ the very Auca men who speared their fathers to death. Only Jesus.
Perhaps it’s a gruesome question, but as I write I can’t help but wonder what thoughts ran through those men’s minds as they lay on that beach–pierced by spears–gasping for their final breaths. Was it regret? Supernatural peace? Anger? Fear?
I imagine they felt many things–fear among them. But, as A Time Magazine article from 1951 recounts, one of them tore pages from his Bible and wrapped them around the spear that pierced him as he breathed his final breaths. Almost as if to say, “My life has, and always will, belong to Christ.” Somewhere deep inside was the resolve: “We died before we came.”
I think of the words of the Apostle Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
Stories like these beg the question, where did they get such courage? From what inner chamber of the soul could they find such resolve?
I think the answer is best found in Paul’s words which he wrote as he sat imprisoned, with a death sentence hanging over him, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). Their courage came from a deep, undying, burning love for God.
These are not the words of reluctant soldiers, but rather hearts ablaze with love.
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the presence of a greater motivation. In our case, it must be love. Love for God. Love for the lost. Love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Love is the fuel of courage.
PRAYER:
Oh God, we want to love You more. Give us a greater revelation of Your love for us and, in turn, deepen our love for You. Give us a greater love for the lost and for Your people. We need it desperately. Amen.
2 QUOTES
We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with. But we are "harmless," and therefore unharmed. We are spiritual pacifists, non-militants, conscientious objectors in this battle-to-the-death with principalities and powers in high places. Meekness must be had for contact with men, but brass, outspoken boldness is required to take part in the comradeship of the Cross. We are "sideliners" — coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. The world cannot hate us, we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!”
- Jim Elliot
“The primary qualification for a missionary is not love for souls, as we so often hear, but love for Christ.”
- Vance Havner
3 VERSES
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Philippians 1:21
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:17-19
A RESOURCE
Great For God by Dr. David Shibley is a great book about some of the great Christian leaders of the past few hundred years. It will inspire your faith.
