A Man Who Wouldn’t Back Down: Jim Elliot and the Call of the Wild
A real man isn’t measured by the size of his paycheck, the weight on his shoulders, or the power in his hands. He’s measured by what he’s willing to sacrifice. By his courage to step beyond comfort. By his refusal to let fear dictate his path. The world is full of men who hoard their time, their safety, their lives—thinking that keeping it all means they’ve won. But the truth? A man who never risks anything, never truly lives.
That’s where Jim Elliot comes in.
He had everything a man could ask for—a sharp mind, a solid education, a path to success laid out in front of him. But he didn’t buy into the world’s definition of success. He saw something deeper. He believed that life wasn’t meant to be gripped with white knuckles—it was meant to be spent, given away for something greater. And that belief took him far from the comforts of home, into the heart of Ecuador, to a tribe known for their violence—the Waodani.
These men weren’t just set in their ways—they were warriors, a people who met outsiders with spears instead of words. Everyone else saw them as unreachable, too dangerous, too wild. Jim saw them as men worth dying for.
So, he and his friends spent months trying to build trust, dropping gifts from a small plane, showing patience, showing peace. And when the time came, they landed, stepping onto unfamiliar soil with nothing but faith and conviction. Days later, their bodies were found on the riverbank—speared by the very people they came to reach.
Most would call it a waste. But Jim had already settled the question long before he ever set foot in the jungle. He once wrote:
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
That wasn’t just a thought—it was a way of life. Jim understood something most men never grasp: playing it safe is an illusion. You can cling to your life, your security, your control—but in the end, you lose it all anyway. The only thing that lasts is what you’re willing to give up for something greater.
And here’s the thing—his story didn’t end in the river. Years later, his wife and the other widows returned to that same tribe. And this time? The Waodani listened. The same men who had raised their spears in violence laid them down in surrender to Christ. The mission Jim Elliot died for wasn’t in vain—it was just getting started.
Jesus put it plainly in Matthew 16:25:
“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
So now it’s your turn. What are you holding onto? What’s keeping you from stepping beyond comfort, beyond fear, beyond the limits of what the world tells you is safe? Because in the end, the only men who truly live are the ones who aren’t afraid to lay it all down.
Welcome to Outlaw Faith! If you’re here wondering, “Why are we mixing faith and politics?” — you’re not alone. Most of us grew up hearing about the “separation of church and state,” like it’s a brick wall between God and government. But here’s the twist: that’s not what the Founders intended.
The Danbury Letter — Where the Phrase Came From
Thomas Jefferson’s famous “wall of separation” was meant to protect the church from state interference, not to kick God out of the public square. He wrote it to reassure a group of Baptists that the government wouldn’t meddle in their worship.
“I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.’”
Why the Wall Isn’t What You Think
The Founders believed faith was a bedrock for a healthy society. They didn’t want a national church like England, but they absolutely saw faith as essential for freedom. John Adams even said:
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
What’s Coming This Week
This week, we’re unpacking how the Founders wove faith into their vision for America — and why that matters for us today. Each day, we’ll look at a Founder and a Biblical figure, side-by-side, to see how faith fuels freedom.
There’s a love so profound, so scandalously generous, it offends our sense of justice. It steps boldly into the broken, messy places of our hearts and whispers, “You are worth it.”
The love of Jesus is not polite, reserved, or conditional. It doesn’t wait for perfection or even improvement. Instead, this love seeks out the broken, the overlooked, and the forgotten. It embraces the prodigal in his rebellion, touches the untouchable leper, and invites the despised prostitute and tax collector to share a meal. It shatters social norms and defies religious expectations, always moving toward those society chooses to push aside.
Maybe today you’re feeling the sting of rejection, the shame of failure, or the aching void of loneliness. Perhaps you’re hiding wounds too deep to speak aloud, fearing they’ll drive others away. But it’s exactly here—in this raw, vulnerable space—that Jesus meets us. His love sees every secret, every flaw, every regret, and yet He chooses to move closer, not further away. He doesn’t merely tolerate our imperfections; He passionately seeks to heal, restore, and redeem every broken part of us.
This radical love doesn’t make sense by the world’s standards. It’s offensive to those who think love should be earned or deserved. But Jesus’ love declares something revolutionary: you cannot lose His affection. You cannot diminish His compassion. Your darkest moments cannot overshadow His relentless pursuit of you. In fact, the darker your night, the more brightly His love shines, relentlessly reminding you of your intrinsic worth.
Today, let your weary heart absorb this truth: Jesus loves you fiercely, fully, and unconditionally. His love is scandalous precisely because it’s given freely, recklessly, and without reservation. This love is powerful enough to change hearts, rewrite stories, and bring life from the ruins of our deepest failures.
Breathe deeply and rest in this truth—He is for you, always.
Paul says to his friends in the city of Ephesus, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” —Ephesians 3:14-21 (ESV)
Isn’t it interesting that Paul wants us to know the love of Jesus that “surpasses knowledge”? To know something beyond our capacity to fully understand!
A boy who grows up weak has two choices—stay weak or do something about it. Theodore Roosevelt? He did something about it.
He wasn’t born tough. He was sickly, frail, stuck in bed with asthma so bad he could barely breathe some nights. But he had something that mattered far more than natural strength—he had fire. His father told him straight: “You have the mind but not the body, and without the help of the body, the mind cannot go as far as it should. You must make your body.”
Most people today would crumble at that kind of talk. But Teddy? He didn’t make excuses. He made himself into a man. He built a gym in his house, learned how to box, and forced his lungs to fight through the asthma. The boy who couldn’t breathe became the man who charged up mountains, hunted in the badlands, and took bullets without flinching.
Roosevelt didn’t just push himself physically—he pushed against every limitation society tried to put on him. When his wife and mother died on the same day, most men would have given up. He disappeared into the wilderness, not to escape, but to rebuild. He became a cowboy, a rancher, a fighter. And when he came back? He didn’t just survive—he thrived.
The man took on corrupt politicians, led soldiers into battle, and transformed the nation, all because he refused to let weakness—physical or moral—define him.
Here’s the truth: society today is raising weak men. Soft, timid, afraid to take risks, afraid to fight for something that matters. But Roosevelt showed what happens when a man chooses to harden himself for the right reasons—to become someone God can use. His life reflects 2 Timothy 1:7:
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
You don’t have to be born strong. You don’t have to come from the right background. What you do have to do? Refuse to let weakness win.
So, what’s holding you back? What’s keeping you soft? More importantly—what are you going to do about it?
Happy Friday, outlaws — and congrats. You’ve survived Common Sense week without throwing your phone across the room (probably). Now for the hard part: doing something with all of this.
Paine didn’t write his mic-drop pamphlet just to vent. He wrote it to launch a revolution — the kind where people actually left their farms, grabbed their neighbors, and built something new from scratch. Today, I’m not asking you to fight the Redcoats (unless you see some at Walmart), but the call to build still stands.
What Are You Building?
We love to rant about the government, the culture, the media — but what are we actually building? Complaining is easy. Building is where men are made.
“He who is not a supporter of independence, is the same as a traitor.” — Thomas Paine
Updated version: If all you do is post memes and complain about taxes, you’re just making noise. Freedom takes builders— men who put their hands to the work, not just their thumbs to their phones.
What to Build in 2025 (Pick One — or All)
Your Faith: Build a prayer life that doesn’t need WiFi.
Your Family: Build a home where the Bible actually gets opened — not just on Easter.
Your Skills: Build a skillset so you’re not helpless if the grid hiccups.
Your Community: Build a crew of men who know the Constitution and can change a tire.
Your Backbone: Build a habit of saying “no” when the world says “just go along.”
This is what real outlaws do. We don’t wait for permission, and we don’t wait for perfect conditions. We build now, with what we have, where we are.
Jesus Said It First (Paine Was Just Catching Up)
“The wise man built his house on the rock.” — Matthew 7:24
That’s the whole playbook right there. You build on truth — not trends. You build for the long haul — not just the next election. And you build something that stands when storms hit — not if, but when.
What Happens If We Don’t?
Paine warned that if they ignored the moment, future generations would curse them for it. Same deal today. If we leave our kids a nation that’s broke, lost, and ashamed of its own history — that’s on us.
So build something.
A family with roots.
A church that’s fearless.
A business that’s honest.
A life that makes the enemy nervous.
That’s Outlaw Faith. That’s what Paine was pointing to — and what Jesus called us to long before that.
Next Week:Â Why are you blending religion and politics?
