Amazing Grace opened on Friday, so of course I dragged my roommates along to see it that night.
I’m so glad I did. I was pleasantly surprised at the size of the audience – and their reaction at the end.
The story focuses on William Wilberforce’s tireless effort to end the slave trade in England.
It’s not an overtly Christian film, though it is clear that Wilberforce’s faith drives what he does. At the beginning of the film, right after his conversion, he struggles with the direction his life should take. He’s involved in politics already, but at this point he questions if he should remain there. He can’t figure out if he should praise the Lord all the time or still work to make the world a better place. One of the greatest lines in the movie is when someone tells him, “I humbly suggest you do both.”
I think that phrase was the catalyst behind all of the conviction I felt at watching this movie. Wilberforce had a dream; a dream to make the world a better place. I share that dream; I’m just too lazy to do anything about it.
Throughout the movie, I found myself wanting to do something worthwhile. I want to make a difference. Wilberforce labored for more than fifteen years before he saw the results of that work. But what a reward it was when he finally accomplished what he’d been working for!
I love the way Brent described his reaction to the movie and the convictions stirred in him:
The portrayal of William Wilberforce (and John Newton) convicted me personally of how little diligence I truly have in the Christian life. I claim allegiance to the kingdom of Christ yet fight so little for it. Instead, I try to smuggle my scraps of contraband sin in through the back door and pretend that they’re really not so bad. I hold my words when I know that I should speak because I don’t feel like a conflict that day or I pretend that sin isn’t really all that bad. At least my sin isn’t. After all, I’m still better than that guy over there.Wilbeforce represents a life so gripped by the power of the Gospel that there is no choice but to act because even our dreams will convict us when we do not. Modern American Christians often worry about the perceived persecution we believe is coming our way, but we rarely stop to think that it could actually be more dangerous to the church if the persecution doesn’t come. We don’t live radical lives of faith because we feel as though we don’t have to.
Wilberforce stands as a larger-than-life reminder that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:14) and a rebuke that so few of us have the discipline or diligence to make a difference for the kingdom. Though we may argue that we don’t face such blatant societal evils as slavery, ceratinly abortion is no less hideous. How is it that so many of us are willing to do so little? Such was the case in Wilberforce’s day and we stand as testimony that there is indeed nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
I also loved John Newton’s journey of faith throughout the movie. At this point, he’s already written the well known hymn, but he’s still unable to recount what he saw during his days as a slave trader. He laments that he lives with 20,000 ghosts. By the end of the movie, he can finally put together his “confession” and he utters one of the most profoundly simple lines:
Although my memory’s fading, I remember two things very clearly. I’m a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.
Wilberforce labored for more than fifteen years before he saw the results of that work. But what a reward it was when he finally accomplished what he’d been working for!
Watch out for the trap there. It’s tempting to get caught up in the grandeur of stories like this and come to believe that the best way to fight a cause is at a national scale. Hence the million-and-one special interest groups in Washington. Hence the demagogues who feel they’ve failed if they haven’t “converted” ten people before breakfast.
To me, the real heroes aren’t the people who fight the exalted causes. Their reward may be 15 years away, but they know that glory awaits if they pull it off. The real heroes are the people who fight the lowly causes – the guy at the soup kitchen, the family who adopts a traumatised teenager, the single mother who works her ass off just to keep her kids fed.
There’s no glory for these people, no glittering medal of honour, but still they soldier on. And thus they’re the people who really impress me.
Incidentally, does anyone else get really annoyed at the way Blogger #2 alternates between asking you for a password and for a word verification, and seems to forget the one faster than you can type in the other?
I understand what you’re saying, but I’m going to say that it depends on the issue.
With an issue like slavery, it had to be fought at a national level. If it hadn’t been, the slave trade would still be going on.*
For a lot of issues, you need fighters both on the individual level AND the national level.
*I’m fully aware that slavery is not dead in this world, I’m referring specifically to the widespread legal slavery that was prominent in the world.
I had a similar reaction when I watched “Amazing Grace”. I was touched by Wilberforce’s patient faith and perseverence.
I, too, am an old man now, and these two things I remember – that I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.