Book Review: Shadow Of The Almighty

I think a lot of us have a "to-read" list of great books that we never get round to reading. Shadow Of The Almighty was at the top of mine for years. Then someone smarter, better-looking and altogether more American suggested we read it, and I finally finished it earlier this month.

What a book! What a servant Jim Elliot was. Reading of his life and faith was such a rebuke, challenge, example. I only wish I'd read it in my first year of university rather than my last. Elliot was a young guy who, like Daniel, recognised the infinite value of disciplining yourself in daily Bible study and prayer. He didn't view his college days as a time to waste on trivial, pointless pursuits; he used it as a time to immerse himself in the Word of God, to know it intimately, to memorise it, and to turn to it before anything or anyone else in hard times.

Jim Elliot is perhaps most well-known for how he died - at the hands of savage indians in Ecuador, people he had determined years before to bring the Gospel to. But it is his knowledge of the Scriptures, the sheer effort and determination he put in to learning them and understanding them, that will stay with me. One has to ask: if he hadn't put in all that time and effort when he was younger, would he have been able to do what he did in Ecuador, to evangelise to those who could barely read or write let alone hold a Bible? Would he have been able to obey God's will as whole-heartedly and unfalteringly as he did? Jim Elliot refused to see things as everyone else did. Sport, girls, holidays, parties, even college work had no significance for him unless it was viewed from a biblical perspective, unless he could reconcile it with his understanding of Christ and the Scriptures. Some of his views on Christmas, family and marriage might seem a bit extreme even to Christians today (though he did mellow in some of these areas), but before we rush to criticise, surely we should ask if we know our Bibles as well as Jim Elliot knew his?! If we did, maybe we would view these things differently too!

Of course, Jim's work as a missionary in Ecuador leaves the reader fairly gob-smacked and soul-searched as well. We may not all be called to the same work, but will we find a burden for something the way he found a burden for South America? He faced death, disease and hard-ship on a regular basis; he got discouraged at the lack of fruit his work seemed to bare; he waited patiently for years to marry Elisabeth for the good of the minsitry. Above all, of course, he realised the infinite wisdom of giving what he could not keep to gain what he could not lose. He asked God to let him live a full life rather than a long life. And he was willing to go where his Master pointed.

Often I wonder how we can have a more heavenly, eternal perspective. How do we view life on earth through the eyes of Jesus, through the eyes of people storing treasures in Heaven? Jim Elliot was someone who, I think, lived with such a perspective. He spoke and acted like someone assured of the pleasures of Heaven, not Earth. He worked for eternal reward, not temporal gain or significance. What a challenge that is to us.

Jim Elliot isn't the only hero in this book. Its author, Elisabeth Elliot, is just as wonderful an example as her husband. She knew him better than anyone and she sought to learn from him, help him, support him and share with him all she could. She too had to sacrifice much for the sake of her calling, not least her husband, who left her behind to raise their young daughter. Their marriage was short, but the example of their relationship from beginning to end is one that we should all seek to imitate. They shared their faith and everything else they had entirely, but before they gave to each other they gave to God. He was at the centre of all they did and all the decisions they made.

This certainly won't be the last time I turn to this book; it would probably be well worth copying out the epilogue and carrying it around or sticking it above the desk! It's a collection of extracts from his journal, written over the course of his life. Reading through them, it almost seems like Jim was expecting to lay down his life for Jesus the way he did. Whether God had clearly revealed that to him or not I don't know; what is obvious though, is that Jim's love for the Scriptures had him prepared for whatever end God had in store for him.

Jim Elliot valued the Gospel more than life itself. Do I? Do you? Read Shadow Of The Almighty if you need help answering that question.