In 1787, British abolitionist Thomas Clarkson enlisted a young parliamentarian named William Wilberforce into the cause. After his conversion to Christ three years earlier, Wilberforce had become friends with John Newton, a former slave trader turned pastor and abolitionist. Convinced of the evils of slavery, Wilberforce agreed to fight it in Parliament. 

Illness kept Wilberforce from introducing his anti-slavery bills until 1789. Unsurprisingly, his opponents put up procedural hurdles which prevented a vote. Wilberforce persisted and, year after year, continued to reintroduce bills to abolish the slave trade. He and a network of other abolitionists also launched a massive campaign to build public support for the cause, and in the process pioneered almost every tactic still used in campaigns today, including boycotts, posters, slogans, petitions, and cameos, the eighteenth century equivalent of bumper stickers. 

In 1796, after six years of failure, it looked as if Wilberforce and his allies could have the votes to pass the bill, but it came up short, 74 to 70. Because his opponents bought tickets for a comic opera and gave them to lukewarm supporters of the bill, they were not present for the vote. Facing both dirty tricks of the opposition as well as so-called supporters who chose a show over human lives was infuriating and demoralizing.  

In response, Wilberforce reintroduced the bill the following year. It failed again. … And again, the year after that. … And again, the year after that. … And again, the year after that. 

Wilberforce’s efforts epitomize a phrase coined by, of all people, Friedrich Nietzsche, the nineteenth century atheist who proclaimed the death of God. Eugene Peterson, the Christian devotional writer, later reclaimed and redeemed the phrase, proving that all truth ultimately belongs to God, even if uttered by an atheist in a terribly dangerous book. In Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche wrote:  

The essential thing “in heaven and earth” is that there should be long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living.

In the Christian and correct understanding of this truth, our obedience is ultimately to Christ, not a cause. He infuses life with meaning. Meaning is not created by adventure or altruism or anything else.  

Wilberforce believed that the abolition of the slave trade was one of “the great objects” set before him by God. He also knew there was no guarantee of success. Still, despite failure year after year, he persevered. Thus, his public life also epitomized another phrase, one which Chuck Colson kept on a sign on his desk: “Faithfulness, not success.”  

This is a difficult truth to remember in this day of immediate success through elections, executive orders, and Artificial Intelligence. More often than not, what this president or Congress gives, the next president or Congress can take away. For decades, Wilberforce and his allies worked to change public opinion on slavery, while also putting forward the right legislation to abolish it. When a law was finally passed, it was because people’s hearts and minds were changed. Also, the law helped continue to change hearts and minds about slavery. 

The closest example today of fighting for a cause, losing year after year for decades, but persisting, is the pro-life movement. Unfortunately, too many believe that pushing the issue back to the states “where it belongs” ends the fight, as if human dignity is a matter of jurisdiction. Meanwhile, pro-abortion states like Colorado and New York find new, creatively evil ways to take innocent pre-born life. And even in so-called pro-life states, abortion rights are expanding. The pro-life cause remains what it always has been, to make abortion unthinkable in hearts and minds, as well as the law. Like slavery.  

In March of 1807, nearly two decades after first introducing his bill to end the slave trade, it finally passed, 283 to 16. The movement then turned to the abolition of slavery itself. That battle took another 26 years. By that time, the abolitionist forces were no longer led by William Wilberforce. Forced to leave Parliament due to a significant decline in his health, Wilberforce was on his death bed when the bill abolishing slavery was passed. He received the news three days before he died.  

God graciously allowed him to see success in the cause to which he had dedicated so much of his life, success that he did not see after more than a decade of faithfulness to that cause. We might join a fight if we knew, eventually, we’d be successful. But we don’t know. Neither did Wilberforce. Thus, it is about faithfulness, not success. Life is best lived in a long obedience to Christ.