Better Acquainted with Jim Elliot

Last Friday I went down to Jewett to visit some friends of mine from high school before moving back up here to the STL. After lunch we went down to the St. Francois River to swim--well, they went down to swim; I opted to stay on the bank and read. As I read more of Shadow of the Almighty, the Lord showed me something of which I did not know I was guilty. The first paragraph in full of one of Jim Elliot's letters:

"He was ready to throw Christianity overboard and turn modernist, terrifically confused because of all he saw pawned off in the name of Christ. Well, I happened to run into this fellow last Tuesday, and, sensing a little of his trouble, made a date to talk with him yesterday. He thinks now that he and I are the only heretics around here, and is glad he has found such a liberal as I am who believes that a man does not have to come all at once into the family of God with a jolt and accompanying spinal exhilarations. Personally, I wasn't 'saved' all at once, but took some years coming into my present settled convictions about the truth of God. So why should I demand the conversion be immediate in all others? Christ healed men differently. Some, in absentia--He spoke a word, and there was a lightning-fast reaction. Others He touched, spat upon, made clay, spoke to and questioned, then when they saw men 'as trees walking' He went through the whole process again. Let not him who accepts light in an instant despise him who gropes months in shadows. It took the Twelve three years to apprehend what was being shown them. The natural, so often illustrative of the spiritual, teaches that healing and growth, yea, even birth, are processes, and I think we altar-callers often perform abortions in our haste to see 'results.'" (Elliot 78)

I identified with Elliot's process of conversion; it wasn't instantaneous for me either. Because of this, I was shocked and amazed to read the question, "So why should I demand the conversion be immediate in all others?" I suddenly understood. My general perspective was that people need to hear the Gospel, repent, and be saved, and that all in short increments of each other. I failed to consider that other people's conversion might take much time like mine. When I think over how the Lord's led me to Himself, it seems like slow motion.

In summary, I--and you--must remember that people are men, women, and children with minds, emotions, personalities, et cetera. The Lord will work in them as He pleases.

Source: Elliot, Elisabeth. Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot. New York: HarperCollins, 1958.