William Wilberforce was a British politician whom God used to help end the Commonwealth’s involvement in the slave trade. After his conversion to faith in Jesus Christ, well-meaning people urged him to leave Parliament and become a pastor.
Historians tell us that it was a pastor, John Newton, who persuaded Wilberforce that God wanted him to stay in politics as his ministry. Newton wrote to him, “It is hoped and believed that the Lord has raised you up for the good of the nation.”
After much thought and prayer, Wilberforce concluded that Newton was right. God was calling him to champion the liberation of oppressed enslaved people, by working in the vocation of politics. “My walk,” he wrote in his journal in 1788, “is a public one. My business is in the world, I must mix with the assemblies of men, or quit the post to which Providence seems to have assigned me.”
If Wilberforce had not remained in politics, he most likely would not have influenced the massive social changes that led to the end of the wicked practice of slavery in the British Commonwealth.
Does God call people to serve in politics? There are members of Congress, senators and representatives, who would say that they have been definitely led by the Lord to serve in government. There are politicians and staff members who gather weekly in small groups, to pray for divine guidance.
We ought to be skeptical of the claims of some politicians who try to use religion and “God-talk” to gain the endorsement of the faith community. But we should also appreciate the fact that there are those who humbly seek the Lord’s wisdom for the important work they do in the service of our nation.
Whatever a Christian’s vocation, it should be considered a ministry for God. Jesus is Lord of every aspect of life. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord . . .” (Colossians 3:23).
Pastor Randy Faulkner