Amazing Grace

A couple of weeks ago I saw the movie "Amazing Grace" with a group of people from church. I highly recommend this movie - it's the story of William Wilberforce's dedication to abolishing slave trade in Britian. His life is an incredible testimony to the way in which God uses people to accomplish His purposes.

I've also just started reading the book "Amazing Grace" by Eric Metaxas, which was written in conjunction with the movie. I've only finished the first chapter, but am already struck by the way God ordained seemingly innocent events in this man's life in order to allow him to be a voice against injustice. For example, Wilberforce grew up in a weathly family near the Hull river. Much of this port city's revenues came from the goods that came through that harbor. The author notes: "Though Hull was the fourth-largest port in England, it was the only one that did not participate in the slave trade. It was this happy detail that would enable Wilberforce to remain in political office in years hence. Any member of Parliment from Bristol or Liverpool, whose economies depended on the slave trade, would not have been able to get away with leading the abolitionist movement for long."

So Wilberforce "just happened" to come from a certain part of England that would give him the freedom to fight for slavery's end. I love how seemingly minor details like this point to God's hand in the working of history!

I think it would be a great tragedy for someone to see this movie or read this book and assume that, now that we're in the 21st century, slavery is no longer a evil that must be confronted. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, there are more slaves in the world now, than there ever were during the time of Wilberforce. Hundreds of thousands of these slaves are women - and young girls - who are sold into sexual bondage. On the one hand it's hard to believe that such a thing could happen in our "modern" world...on the other hand, evil will continue to present itself until that time when the Lord of Hosts says "enough" and returns to reclaim this fallen world.

In the meantime, there are passionately dedicated men and women - like those of the International Justice Mission - who fighting for the freedom of these modern-day slaves, and are also more eloquent than I in describing what's happening in the world today. (I'd also recommend the book "Good News About Injustice" by Gary Haugen - the director of the International Justice Mission.)