FOR THE REST OF THE STORY: Eric Liddell
Yesterday here on HillFaith, my tribute to the great Scots gold medalist Eric Liddell appeared on these pages to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of his remarkable performance and witness during the 1924 Olympics.
The great Scots Olympian Eric Liddell crosses the finish line in another victory.
There is of course much more to Liddell’s story than his winning the gold medal. In fact, the most important and instructive part of this man’s life came in the years after the race that made him famous.
Like his parents before him, Liddell went to China as a Christian missionary in 1925. China was in a state of turmoil as rival factions, including that of the communist revolutionary Mao Tse Sung, battled for territory and dominance.
Then in 1937, the Japanese Army invaded Northern China, including the area where Liddell’s mission was based. It wasn’t long before Liddell and hundreds of others who were missionaries and the families of missionaries in the area were rounded up and put into Japanese-run internment camps. Many orphaned Chinese children were also put in the camp.
And so it was in those years that Liddell’s mission in life was most completely fulfilled and it is from his difficult times that we can learn the most from his example about following Jesus Christ in our own lives.
It is remarked in the wonderful documentary from TubiTV — Eric Liddell: Champion of Conviction — on Liddell’s life that he “lived better than he preached.” The documentary, which is just short of an hour long, provides abundant evidence of the truth of that observation. I guarantee your time watching this documentary will be time well-spent.