Chris Tomlin - Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)

I watched this film on the plane from Singapore to London. The film is not, as one might suspect, about the writer of the hymn Amazing Grace, who was the reformed English slaver John Newton. Rather, it concerns the English parliamentarian William Wilberforce. An interesting write-up of William Wilberforce's life, which makes reference to John Newton's influence on William Wilberforce, can be found on wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wilberforce. I enjoyed the film tremendously, and I thought I might share three lessons I learned from it.

The first is this. Always persevere. William Wilberforce was an abolitionist in an age when slavery was widely accepted. He struggled for years, failure after failure, to champion a law abolishing the slave trade. After many years, and many failed attempts, he finally succeeded. Had he not persevered, human suffering would probably have been prolonged for much longer.

The second thing is this. He surrounded himself with like-minded people - a tiny group, as you might guess. But with that tiny group, he obtained support and encouragement to continue the otherwise lonely fight.

The third is this. The film depicts William Wilberforce as having his abolitionist ideals inspired by John Newton, who was his preacher. This speaks rather powerfully to me. John Newton, great man that he was, wrote that most beautiful hymn Amazing Grace. He repented of his ways as a slaver and became a pastor. But he did not abolish the slave trade. William Wilberforce did.

In the same way, our pastors in our churches can only speak powerfully to us. This is valuable. But to complete the equation, we must go out and do the job. Never despair of doing good, and surround yourself with like-minded Christians to spur you on. And fulfil the work God has prepared in advance for you to do. Not everyone is in the position of William Wilberforce to effect such great change, but we should aspire to be change agents where we are. And who knows what great plans God has for you?

Watch the movie when it comes out on DVD if you haven't already seen it, and see if you are similarly inspired. On second thoughts, don't wait for the DVD to start being inspired!

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