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. Part four was earlier this month. This is the last reflection of mine based on Wilberforce’s book. If you have not seen the movie, Amazing Grace, you should rent it immediately and get better acquainted with the man.
True faith and skepticism
If it is true that the USA has slid in its faith and values, the point I made in part 4 of this series, and a position I have taken in many of my writings and when I speak, then perhaps the issue comes down to a debate about true faith. Wilberforce’s entire book was aimed at people who claimed Christianity, yet never really lived out that faith. Note, he wasn’t trying to raise attendance at some church or help with getting more money for some pastor somewhere; his hope was that true Christians would be outraged to live in a society that is perpetuated by slavery. He wanted these people to serve God by challenging the system, not becoming satisfied with the system.
Cultural Christians view service to God as something to be avoided or, at best, endured. They think it must be some boring and negative exercise. They don’t know what they are missing. They always ask the wrong questions. They want to know how little they have to give. They want to know how close to the line they can get. They don’t want their actions to be challenged. In other words, they only know a negative substitute for authentic faith. For them, Christianity is nothing but a set of rules telling them what they can’t do.
True Christians have an entirely different outlook on their faith. It is a joy for them to serve the Lord. They don’t live lives of obedience out of some heartless obligation to a punitive deity. They life joyfully in the blessing of the life God designed. They aren’t looking for a boundary line to push to the limits. They are far away, seeking to get as close as possible to Christ. They seek out like-minded friends with whom they can make this journey together. They look forward to times of devotion and worship. Such times infuse their faith with renewed vigor. This kind of faith is filled with happiness. (p. 178, both paragraphs)
Of course Wilberforce knew what many Christians have figured out for themselves—it’s not that people decline to pursue faith because of something inherently wrong with the theology, though they’ll make that claim. No, at its root, people reject Christiantiy (and indeed, many other religions as well) because the faith demands something from them.
It would appear that unbelief is much more a matter of prejudice against Christian faith than intellectual rejection of what it believes and teaches. It is a matter of morality, not intellect. Where you find a society that is marked by unbelief, you will find that it was not the product of careful investigations, that led to such a mass rejection. Instead, it is often the product of a culture in which morality has been allowed to decline over a great many years. Belief declines as morals decline. (p. 190)
God is not merely trying to fill heaven with people. Instead, the expectation is that real life change will happen, and well, to be honest, most people don’t want to change things. Oh sure, at times a person will identify an area, a habit that they should change, but God’s view of our lives, of the things that we do or believe, is very different than ours. Thus, what He wants to change may indeed be some favorite thing we do or believe. In the end, for most, it’s just too hard to contemplate.
G. K. Chesterton said it best–“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”