The average American’s attention span has become as short as their memory. Patience and perseverance are not virtues Americans are willing to grant when it comes to any endeavor that requires sacrifice. What America needs is another William Wilberforce.
Tony BeamWilliam Wilberforce, inspired by the preaching and his personal encounters with John Newton (who penned the words to the hymn “Amazing Grace”), stood virtually alone against England’s abominable slave trade.
In 1787, Wilberforce was persuaded by Thomas Clarkson and Sir Charles and Lady Middleton to become the leader of the parliamentary campaign to end slavery. However, Wilberforce didn’t get his first vote to abolish slavery until April of 1791. The measure was soundly defeated 163 to 88.
Most men would have wrapped themselves in the warm and fuzzy thought that at least they had tried. But Wilberforce refused to give up in the face of initial defeat. He brought the measure again and again while Thomas Clarkson traveled across England speaking and writing about the horrors of the trade.
Finally, after multiple failures and untold disappointments in the midst of which Wilberforce refused to yield his principles, the British Parliament passed his bill on Feb. 23, 1807 – 20 years after it was first introduced.
How many men would have endured 20 years of failure because of their passion for what is right? Today, we can’t wait five minutes for our frozen dinners to defrost without complaining. Wilberforce waited 20 years for his vision of morality to become the law of the land. America needs William Wilberforce – we desperately need “men with chests” who aren’t afraid to persevere until right prevails.
In 1953, a team of six men tried to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Four of the men pressed from the final camp to reach the summit before a huge storm arrived. Their bodies lie buried in a nameless grave as a testimony to their failure to reach their goal. But one of the other two men, upon learning of their death, shook his fist at the mountain and said, “We will conquer you yet because you cannot get any bigger but we will continue to grow!”
Where are the leaders who look at the problems in the world and realize the power of evil is fixed while the power of God will continue to grow? All that is needed is a heart like Wilberforce which will beat for God with a passion for what is right, until what is right wins the day.