#36 - A Hero’s Legacy

By Chuck Colson, August 24, 2009

[NOTE: (1) Yesterday, the government’s “Cash for Clunkers” program finally ended. I can’t understand why I only heard on conservative talk radio what was so obvious about the whole thing: it was a government giveaway of our tax dollars. In other words, all of those huge discounts that people got for trading in their old cars came out of the pocket of every tax payer. It was simply more “stimulus” money that the government spent to help the auto industry (assuming of course that the auto dealers do finally get the money that’s owed them). If the free market was allowed to work, the AUTO DEALERS would have been required to give their customers the deals to get rid of their 2009 models (as they usually do anyway) to clear their lots for the 2010 models. (Isn’t the timing of this program interesting?) Furthermore, you have to ask how many of those getting those new cars are actually able to buy them without using credit and going into further debt. Is having Americans go into greater personal debt really going to help them in the long run when people buying homes and other consumer goods they could not afford part of the problem that got us into the economic mess we are in? Did you hear that soon the government will be offering “Cash for Clunker Appliances?” Isn’t the government so cleaver in distributing the money of many into the pockets of a few? Hmm, sounds like …. ;(2) I want to take this time to comment on the President’s involving himself into that incident of the African-American professor being arrested by the white police officer, what the President called a “teachable moment.” So, just what did that incident teach all of us: (a) the entire incident had nothing to do with racial profiling, as any citizen who acted as belligerently as that professor did to any police officer should expect he might be arrested, (b) the professor saying “don’t you know who I am” spoke of elitism and an appeal to being shown favor is something we definitely need to discourage, (c) the President admitting that he didn’t know all the facts and then saying the police officer “acted stupidly” illustrates how we shouldn’t prejudge people as he did, and (d) the President’s excusing himself by saying in effect that he merely chose the wrong words is a good example of how we don’t admit a wrong by defending or trying to explain away our actions. (I find it noteworthy that the same man who had a hard time admitting his own mistakes is always quick to admit the mistakes of the United States when he is visiting other counties – whether those in Europe or South America.)] ; and (3) I agree in this article with Mr. Colson. If I had to pick one foreign leader - past or present- that I hold in highest regard, it is William Wilberforce. It speaks volumes about our media and our public education that I doubt if very few Americans have ever heard of this great man. I encourage you to read anything you can about William Wilberforce, some material of which Mr. Colson lists at the end of this article.]

Today marks the 250th birthday of William Wilberforce, the Christian statesman who, for 18 arduous years, led the crusade against the abominable British slave trade. And I can think of no better gift I could give my listeners than to tell you about some of the traits that made Wilberforce a man who profoundly changed history—and whose legacy so profoundly shaped my life.To speak of Wilberforce is to speak of biblical worldview in action. When Wilberforce, one of the youngest members of Parliament, came to Christ, he contemplated leaving office and becoming a clergyman. Thankfully, William Pitt, who went on to be Great Britain’s youngest prime minister, convinced him otherwise. In a letter to his dear friend, Pitt wrote: “Surely the principles as well as the practice of Christianity are simple and lead not to meditation only, but to action.”

And indeed, for Wilberforce, Christian faith meant action. He could not stand idly by and see the imago Dei of each person, the image of God, abused. His fiercely unpopular crusade against the slave trade ravaged his health and cost him politically. He endured verbal assaults and was even challenged to a duel by an angry slave-ship captain. And when the French Revolution began, what had been merely an unpopular position became a dangerous one. As cries of liberty, equality, and fraternity erupted across the Channel, Wilberforce and his fellow abolitionists who believed so strongly in human equality were suddenly viewed with suspicion by the British people. Nonetheless, Wilberforce persevered year after year. Writing about whether to give up the fight, Wilberforce notes, “a man who fears God is not at liberty” to do so.

But Wilberforce’s worldview led him to engage in more than just the issue of slavery. He fought for prison reform. He founded or participated in 60 charities. He convinced King George III to issue a proclamation encouraging virtue, and reinstated The Proclamation Society to help see such virtue encouraged. He cared for God’s creation, founding the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. And he championed missionary efforts, like founding the British and Foreign Bible Society.

I believe that as we come to understand the depth of our own Christian worldview, it forces us not into a life merely of contemplation, but to one of action. We cannot know God more without being moved to love others more—and to care passionately about justice, mercy, and truth.That’s one reason I’m so eager to tell you about a new initiative we’ll be launching in the spirit of Wilberforce this September: The Colson Center for Christian Worldview. This online center will be a dynamic, searchable database not only of my works, but of the writings of history’s great Christian thinkers. With audio, video, curricula, and communities, it will help believers dig deeper into their faith—and, like William Wilberforce, develop and live out a more robust Christian worldview.I’ll be talking more about The Colson Center for Christian Worldview in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, visit BreakPoint.org for more information and links to resources about my hero, William Wilberforce.

Further Reading and Information:
A Practical View of Christianity - William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce: A Hero for Humanity - Kevin Belmonte
Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery - Eric Metaxas
Amazing Grace (DVD)
Who Was William Wilberforce?: Finding Real Christianity - Kevin Belmonte | BreakPoint Online | August 1, 2006
A Model for Engagement: Wilberforce and 'The Better Hour' - Chuck Colson | BreakPoint Commentary | February 19, 2008
The Spirit of Wilberforce: Worldview in Action - Chuck Colson | BreakPoint