NOTICE: The following
article is written by the author itself and not by me, I am not trying to
violate their copyright. I will give some information on them.
ARTICLE TITLE: Wilberforce:
Refusing To Give Up
DATE: January 1, 1994
AUTHOR: Randy Alcorn
AUTHOR
INFORMATION: Randy Alcorn (born 1954) is an American Protestant
author and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries, a non-profit Christian
organization dedicated to teaching an eternal viewpoint and helping the needy
of the world. He has written several novels, including Deadline, Dominion,
and Deception. He received a Gold Medallion Book Award in 2003 for his
novel Safely Home. He has also written a number of non-fiction books,
including Heaven, The Purity Principle, and The Treasure
Principle. Eternal Perspective Ministries owns the royalties to his books
and 100 percent of them are given away to support missions, famine relief,
pro-life work, and other ministries. He and his wife, Nanci, have two grown up
and married daughters, Karina and Angela, who assisted him in writing the novel
The Ishbane Conspiracy in 2001. Randy and Nanci have four grandsons.
They live in Gresham, Oregon. He wrote a book similar to The Screwtape
Letters called Lord Foulgrin's Letters. In Alcorn's book, references
are made to demons, known only as "ST" and "WW" (for it had
become a crime in Hell to even speak their real names), who had their letters
found by a human and were punished by Beelzebub for their incompetence. He has
also written a sequel to Lord Foulgrin's Letters entitled The Ishbane
Conspiracy in which Lord Foulgrin from the first book is put on probation
and is receiving letters from a senior demon named Prince Ishbane. In between
the letters actual scenes from the humans lives unfold. In November 2009,
Alcorn signed an ecumenical statement known as the Manhattan Declaration
calling on Evangelicals, Catholics and Orthodox not to comply with rules and
laws permitting abortion, same-sex marriage and other matters that go against
their religious consciences.
This article originally appeared in the January-February 1994 issue of
Eternal Perspectives, EPM's quarterly newsletter.
Shortly
after his conversion to Christ in 1784, British parliamentarian William
Wilberforce began his battle for the black man’s freedom.
Relentlessly,
year after year—in the face of apathy, scorn and all the opposition the bloody
slave industry could offer—this one man reintroduced to Parliament the motion
for the abolition of slavery.
Rejected
again and again, Wilberforce was encouraged by only a few, among them John
Wesley and John Newton, former slaveship captain and writer of “Amazing Grace.”
He said
to society, “we are all guilty” for tolerating the evil of slavery. Wilberforce
vowed, “Never, never will we desist till we . . . extinguish every trace of
this bloody traffic, of which our posterity, looking back to the history of
these enlightened times will scarce believe that it has been suffered to exist
so long a disgrace and dishonor to this country.”
Because
his colleagues refused to pay attention, Wilberforce would reach under his
chair in Parliament, and pull out long heavy chains. He draped them over
himself to symbolize the inhumanity of slavery.
His
fellow parliamentarians, who were pro-choice about slavery, would roll their
eyes, snicker, mock him, and call him a fool. But it is Wilberforce, not they,
who is remembered—by God and men—as the one who stood for justice and mercy for
society’s innocent victims.
Year
after year, while both nonchristians and Christians denied or ignored reality,
Wilberforce suffered sleepless nights, plagued by dreams of the suffering black
man. Finally, in 1807, against incredible odds, Wilberforce saw the slave trade
outlawed. But even then, he was to fight eighteen more years for the emancipation
of existing slaves. Wilberforce died in 1833—three days after the Bill for the
Abolition of Slavery passed its second reading in the House of Commons,
bringing slavery in England to its final end.
Wilberforce,
I am sure, did not enjoy opposing slavery. And though my sacrifices do not
begin to compare to Wilberforce’s, I know that I for one do not enjoy opposing
abortion. It is draining, time consuming, at times discouraging, and subjects
me to frequent criticism. It has resulted in lawsuits, loss of a ministry I
greatly valued, and loss of income. Of course, God has graciously used all of
this and has generously taken care of me and my family. But the truth is, my
life would be easier and more pleasant if I could pretend that babies aren’t
dying. But they are, and I can’t.
Not all
of us are Wilberforces. But had England been filled with people of conviction
who would have just done what they could for the suffering slaves,
Wilberforce’s job would have been much easier, and untold human suffering could
have been prevented.
Will we
succeed in our efforts to save women and children from the horrors of abortion?
It depends on how you define success. A famine relief poster asks the question,
“How do you help a billion hungry people?” The answer below is right on
target—”One at a time.” How do you save 1.5 million children and their mothers
from the tragedy of abortion? One at a time.
The
abortion issue is ultimately not decided in Washington, DC. It is decided in
our communities, our schools, our workplaces, our neighborhoods and our
churches. Everywhere there is a woman considering abortion there is a Christian
nearby who could influence her thinking and give her encouragement and support
to do the right thing.
Every
time God uses our efforts in personal intervention, opening our homes,
education, legislation—you name it—we have been successful. And even in those
sad cases when we are not successful, may we at least be found faithful. By all
means we should strive for success when it comes to saving the innocent. But,
as Mother Teresa has reminded us, “God does not call us to success, but
faithfulness.”
1
Corinthians 15:58 gives us the perspective we so desperately need: “Therefore,
my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully
to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in
vain.”
