William Wilberforce is best known as leading the charge to end slavery. He served in the government of England as a member to Parliament, starting in 1783. In 1797, he wrote A Practical View of Real Christianity. The following quotes and excerpts come from a recent modernization of the text, completed in 2006 by Dr. Bob Beltz. For part one, please click here. For part two, click here. Part three was a few weeks ago, and you can find it here.
Faith and the success of one’s civilization, one’s country
When you put all these factors together, it becomes clear that when a country has been in a state of spiritual decline for as long as ours [England] has, true faith—already very rare—is in great danger of simply disappearing. Soon, all that will be left is a weak and impotent version of Christianity in which no one talks about their personal faith and religion itself is viewed as a sign of a weak mind. Unbelief itself will become fashionable. (p. 144)
Wow—to think that this was written in 1797, and yet accurately describes the USA in 2011 is amazing. I know that it’s not very popular to connect our overall decline with anything to do with Christianity, but the evidence is fairly compelling.
It would seem that the best view of patriotism recognizes that society and all its numerous elements are best served when the general welfare of the greatest number of people becomes the great objective of all its people, rather than the selfish pursuit of personal peace and affluence by each individual. A proper response to the call of Christ to love all men, even one’s enemies, should produce this outcome in a truly Christian culture. (p. 152)
Jesus came to call us to his side, but not to then run away to heaven, but rather to be “salt and light” within the world. We are shine brightly for God, lighting up the darkness. We are to improve the taste and preserve the good of society; in a tasteless society, Christians are to be making a difference. That kind of act is what drives many to share their resources and to volunteer their time through many agencies that focus on improving the world around them. If more people who claimed to be Christians would actually put their time and money into loving their neighbor, including those people who are NOT like them, the least and the lonely, the world would be a better place.
It is important to note that the requirement for all these benefits to occur is a real, deep, authentic faith. Nominal or superficial Christianity does not have the ability to create such outcomes. Political decay can thrive under cultural Christianity, but authentic faith will bring it to a sudden halt. As things stand at the present moment, we need authentic faith desperately. If we do not pursue such faith as a nation, not only will we not experience the great benefits that such faith brings, but we will also be in danger of losing the blessings we enjoy as a result of such faith in the past. We are headed toward a society that incurs the multitude of evils that result from living with no religion at all. (p. 156)
I highlighted that sentence for several reasons. First, while it still took a while, perhaps 50 years, by the late 1800s, England was in a desperate struggle for dominance with Germany. It should not go unnoticed that to stay on top, England had by that time come into possession of much of the world’s land. While they didn’t technically enslave anyone, and there was much good that did come out for some places due to the control of the British, in many respects one could argue that England practiced a type of slavery that Wilberforce had worked to stamp out. Decades later, England was only saved from Germany by the arrival of the USA; twenty years later it happened again and for all intents and purposes, England took a minority position in the world. Today, it is worth suggesting that if the USA had not declared England our closest friend, then the island nation would have long ago drifted into insignificance. Or, as Wilberforce put it, they lost “the blessings we enjoy as a result of such faith in the past” and became a “society that incurs the multitude of evils that result from living with no religion at all.”
Today the USA is seemingly hard on the heels of England.