The film Amazing Grace is about William Wilberforce, an 18th-century member of Parliament. Meeting with Christian leaders who were fighting to end the slave trade, he asks if he should give up Parliament to enter full-time church ministry.
They respond: “You’re having problems choosing whether to do the work of God or the work of Parliament? We humbly suggest you can do both.”
Wilberforce continued to fight slavery—always compelled by God’s call. Finally, in 1807, Parliament abolished the slave trade that Wilberforce had fought against for twenty years.
This is Howard Butt Jr. of Laity Lodge. For William Wilberforce, faith and work were not mutually exclusive. Christian faith informs and shapes our professions—in the high calling of our daily work.
“Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.”
1 Peter 2:16
