An Eternal Perspective - The Wesleyan Church

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Phil. 1:21)

Expanded Passage: Philippians 1:19-26

Jim Elliot’s death rocked the Christian world in 1956, after being savagely slaughtered on the bank of the Curaray River in Ecuador along with four other missionaries. The image of their plane along the water is iconic. Various documentaries and books capture the story, perhaps the best rendition being The End of the Spear feature film (2005). Jim’s widow, Elisabeth, wrote a bestselling devotional, Through Gates of Splendor, and also helped us to learn of Jim’s many inspiring quotes. Several reveal his eternal perspective like, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” And, “If we are the sheep of his pasture, remember that sheep are headed for the altar.”

In 2015, I happened to be in the lobby of the Hilton hotel near the Hobby Lobby headquarters when I realized the breakfast area was filled with the descendants of the five slain missionaries. They were in town for a ten-year reunion and celebration of The End of the Spear, which Hobby Lobby owners, the Greens, supported. The joy was contagious.

I couldn’t help but think of the legacy these martyrs left. Jim Elliot’s death was accented by the crystal-clear vision with which he lived. Do we have an eternal vision? Like Elliot, we should be able to echo Paul’s sentiment that “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).

Articulate your life commitment with an eternal perspective.

Jerry Pattengale is a professor at Indiana Wesleyan University and the codirector and cofounder of the Lumen Research Institute. He has authored and edited over forty books including Faith Made Real (WPH).