Living for others

Karen and I went to see Amazing Grace last night.  We tried to convince the boys to come, but teenaged angst won out – guess an historical drama with lots of parliamentary scenes and men in wigs didn’t cut it next to 300 (the 14A version).  Our movie was great, loved it, saw it as church in action doing what it’s called to do.

Tying into this, today I ran across John Stackhouse’s blog posting entitled William Wilberforce as Evangelical Leftist? which compares Wilberforce’s perseverance in pushing for the end of slavery to a shift we are now seeing within evangelicalism’s growing concern and advocacy for AIDS, the environment, and use of torture.  

I prefer not to see this in terms of left and right, but in terms of selfishness and other-centredness.  Wilberforce sacrificed his own health to lobby for people unlike him and a continent away, but people he viewed as God’s children just as he was.   They were vulnerable, and he was in a position to make a difference for them.  He utilized the vast resources at hand and despite personal pain and suffering, brought them liberation.  That’s what good philanthropy is all about, no?  Sharing resources to better the lives of others.  It’s also interesting he chose not to pursue the revolutionary model which was the situation in America and France at the time. 

In this Easter season, think about what we live for.  Ourselves, or others?