Have Cheap Luggage, Will Travel

Inconvenient Faith

I would like to tell you a story about William Wilberforce. William was a British abolitionist that single-handedly banished the slave trade from the UK through his political work in the House of Commons. He spent his entire life tirelessly focused on making an impact on the world around him by ridding British society of slavery. It consumed his every thought, action, relationships, career… There was not an area of his life that was not affected. Amazing.

Now, I would love to tell you that William lived a life bursting with happiness and fulfillment. That he wrote stomped out a great evil and went on to write tons of bestsellers and give grand speeches to motivate the next generation. Instead he worked his entire life toward one goal that eventually took his health and he died a short three days after his bill to abolish slavery passed. Three days of celebration for a life of work. I wonder if he knew the end of his story if he would have still made that trade off.


But of course slavery is evil and its death is worth fighting for. However, in William’s day it was a common as peanut butter. So, why would a person drive himself to an early grave over such a widespread practice? Here is a quote that might shed some light on the origin of this kind of passion.

“I set out to find happiness and instead I think God has found me…Do you know how inconvenient that is?” -William Wilberforce

His faith compelled him to action despite his desire to pursue comfort or a life of fulfillment. Do we that proclaim to be followers of Christ consider it inconvenient that our souls have been rescued? I imagine instead that we think we have dodged the bullet.

We breathe a sigh of relief and slowly but surely we distance ourselves from the gutter that God first found us in. “Never again” we say and move on to pursue a life of safety, spring break mission trips and lame Christian tracts to fulfill our obligation to our Lord.

Learning about the life of William Wilberforce has made me consider some questions of myself.

* Am I a “real” Christian or am I submitting to the religious mantle laid on me by my parents?
* Has God grabbed my heart where I could not bear to ignore his pleadings to reach the gutter despite how inconvenient it might be to me?
* Would I tirelessly work to abolish evil if I knew a mere three days of celebration waited for me?
* Does my current work for justice for justice’s sake or for the warm fuzzy feelings it creates in me?

Yeah but we are no Martin Luther King or Gandhi you would say. I would counter that the smallest of choices can make more of a difference than you imagine. Choose to take 5 minutes to share the lunch with the homeless man instead of tossing him a couple of bucks. Choose to ask about your co-worker’s life instead of endlessly talking about the weather. Choose to … fill in the blank. You know which choices you are passing up that have the potential of making a difference. Life does not have to be packed to the brim with selfish pursuit.

Here is my point. To us slavery is an easy choice of right and wrong, but our daily lives are not usually that black and white. Life is more like a grey mush that will sucks us into complacency like quicksand…if we choose to let it.

William Wilberforce is absolutely inspiring. His pursuit of God was so real that it inconveniently molded his choices. A champion for justice because he believed in something bigger than himself. We all love to chase the next hero and beg for someone to inspire us out of our boredom. The first place to look is in the man in mirror.

Read: 2 Corinthians 5:13-14, Proverbs 14:12
Ask: Have you ever been faced with a decision that some people would question your intelligence about?

Read: Genesis 9:6-22
Ask: We all know the children’s story of Noah and the ark, however, if God told you today to build an ark in your back yard would you do it? Why or why not?


Read: Isaiah 45:19
Ask: One of our favorite excuses for action is to say that we are not sure if we are hearing from the Lord. What does this verse have to say about that? How will this verse affect future decisions for you?