Many political observers agree that at no other time in the past thirty years have Christians enjoyed so much political influence, yet suffered so much political frustration. Religious conservatives, who went to great lengths to secure a "place at the table," now feel disappointed in the results and betrayed by those with whom they sit. James Dobson, for example, has seriously considered leaving the Republican party and taking his four million listeners with him. Despite the church's vast investments in the political arena, Dobson and his cobelligerents say, our culture continues to spiral downward. Meanwhile, activists on the religious Left are dismayed that increased access to the White House kaffeeklatsch has brought few concrete results for their own agenda.

Perhaps this paradoxical state of access without success can draw our attention to a 28-year-old Member of Parliament who wrote in his diary: "God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners [morals]." The year was 1787, and the young parliamentarian was William Wilberforce. His success in these "two great objects" is perhaps the most remarkable achievement of any single statesman.

In 1787, the odds of Wilberforce, or anyone, abolishing the slave trade seemed miniscule. Public opinion and the economic self-interest of his own nation were overwhelmingly against him. The typical citizen considered slaves to be nothing more than property, and the trade was as entrenched in the economy of the British Empire as the military-industrial complex is in ours. To detach the British economy from slavery, thus cutting off the economic lifeblood of his constituents, would have seemed to pundits in 1787 a perfect way to commit political suicide. Ten days before his death, an elderly John Wesley wrote to the young Wilberforce: "Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you who can be against you." God was indeed with him. Wilberforce persisted through vicious insults and physical assaults before miraculously succeeded in his crusade 46 years later, only three days before his own death.

Wilberforce's success in reforming the "manners" of England was equally astonishing. English culture in 1787 was similar to postmodern America in its callousness, indifference, and hedonism. The Empire's cultural elite had made great strides in normalizing debauchery. Yet, somehow, Wilberforce made goodness fashionable through a series of imaginative efforts toward cultural renewal. His biographer, John Pollock, credits him with establishing the Victorian virtues of character, morality and justice.

Wilberforce's success can, in part, be credited to his enormous talents: his brilliance, wit and soaring oratory. He could have become prime minister had he "preferred party to mankind," notes one historian. However, another vital component to Wilberforce's success was the support provided by his community of friends in the Clapham Fellowship. If Wilberforce was the arrow that pierced the heart of the slave trade, the Clapham Fellowship was the bow that propelled him. As Pollock writes, "Wilberforce proves that one man can change his times, but he cannot do it alone."

In Clapham, a town a few miles south of London, Wilberforce and his closest friends lived together in community. Among those who lived in Clapham were spiritual advisors and colleagues in Parliament such as John Newton, author of "Amazing Grace," George Whitefield, John Wesley, Henry Thornton and their families. Their houses were joined by a garden that none of the families bothered to divide. Each family lived by an open-door policy and often strolled into one another's homes uninvited. The families often shared meals together, housed guests, and watched their children play with  ne another.

Overflowing joy marked their community life. The nephew of Henry Venn, one of the spiritual elders at Clapham, recalled his upbringing: "These wise men never endeavored to mould our uninformed opinions into any particular mould. Indeed, it was needless for them to preach to us. Their lives spoke far more plainly and convincingly than any words. We saw their patience, cheerfulness, generosity, wisdom and activity daily before us, and we knew and felt that all this was only the natural expression of hearts given to the service of God."

There were at least three qualities of the Clapham Fellowship that contributed to their incredible success.

First, they were radically committed to, and unified in, the person of Jesus Christ. Doug Holladay, former Reagan advisor and Wilberforce expert, notes how this principle set Wilberforce apart from his religious contemporaries: "Rather than ascribing to lifeless dogma or dull, conventional religious thinking, Wilberforce and his colleagues were motivated by a robust personal belief in a living God who is concerned with individual human lives, justice, and the transformation of societies."

Their intense focus on Jesus Christ also prevented denominational differences, not to mention personal ambition and ego, from dividing the community. The Clapham fellowship lived by Wesley's maxim: "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity." And this was no mere slogan: tensions developed in their relationship that would have splintered most associations, even Christian associations, had they not been so radically centered on Christ.

Second, their intentional relationships with one another were their greatest resource. Their colleagues in Parliament described Wilberforce and his cohort as "The Saints," a term that mixed derision and respect. The Saints--once described as "a meeting that never adjourned"--provided one another strength, accountability and vision. Though they brought tremendous individual passion to their political causes, The Saints did not pursue their projects at the expense of their friendships. Former United States Senator Mark Hatfield writes that Wilberforce inspired him to reevaluate his career:

"One of the most compelling and encouraging characteristics I find in Wilberforce's life was the early resolve to focus his legislative and personal agenda on building relationships," Hatfield writes. "This took the place of power manipulation and legal machinations. In other words, he sought to continue the incarnation of the Word in loving acts of mercy, justice, and charity to those around him--even if they were his adversaries. If Christians in political life cannot be witnesses in this most basic manifestation of the living Word on a day-to-day basis, then the whole concept of public service is a mockery."

Dr. Richard C. Halverson was also struck by this dimension of Wilberforce's life: "There is no limit, no limit, to what God Almighty can do through a group of two or three people who are committed to loving God and one another for life," Halverson preached on many occasions. "And long after the history of all the big things that make the front pages are forgotten, what God has done through you and a few people will be history."

Third, the Clapham Fellowship had a clearly defined vision for broad cultural engagement. "I am in hopes that some good may come out of the Clapham system," Clapham resident and MP Henry Thornton wrote, with some understatement. "Mr. Wilberforce is a candle that should not be hid under a bushel. The influence of his conversation is great and striking." Thornton, perhaps more than any other member of the group, understood that an individual who engages the culture apart from community is as impotent as a community that does not engage the culture, just as an arrow without a bow is as useless as a bow without an arrow.

The group built on their disciplined commitment to love one another by combining their gifts in a corporate effort to engage society. Their "brains could not be denied, even by those who sneered at their religion. They possessed between them an astonishing range of capacities: encyclopedic knowledge, a capacity for research, sparkling wit and literary style, business sagacity, foreign policy expertise, legal ability, oratory and parliamentary skill. No prime minister had such a cabinet as Wilberforce could summon to his assistance," Garth Lean writes in God's Politician.

Rather than creating a religious subculture, the group was counterculture. They were far from a holy huddle. They understood that a person must understand one's times in order to impact one's times, and were masterful at navigating and impacting their culture.

Christians who are active in the political arena ought to reassess their tactics in light of the Clapham Fellowship's remarkable influence and faithfulness to Christ. For despite the well-publicized successes of the Christian Coalition and others, the church, and religious conservatives in particular, are probably at or near the zenith of their political power. Studies indicate that only 18 percent of Americans consider themselves to be both devoutly religious and politically active. Such a relatively small number can only exercise so much leverage in the political process, and that leverage appears to be at its limit. "We just don't have the numbers," says conservative political commentator Cal Thomas. 

One of the primary sources of discord among religious conservatives, in fact, is how to get more leverage out of a system that seems to be stuck. This battle pits purists like Dobson versus pragmatists like Ralph Reed. But the real danger for the church is not whether we will lose political leverage, but whether achieving a "place at the table" will reduce us to a political constituency alongside the National Rifle Association, Americans for Tax Reform, the Beer Wholesalers of America, and countless others. There is nothing wrong with the church functioning as a political constituency, but we can and should be more. Indeed, it is naive to think that the creation of a dominant Christian political constituency--were such a thing possible--would renew American society, for two reasons.

First, the great spiritual movements that have shaped societies and their political institutions have almost always been marked not so much by numbers, but by intensity. The First and Second "Great Awakenings" in American history were great not so much because of their size as because of the depth of change that "awakened" individuals sustained. For that matter, evil spiritual movements like Lenin's and Hitler's follow the same model. For good or ill, small groups of highly committed individuals are the engines that drive revolutions. Wilberforce chose an intense commitment to a few rather than a loose commitment to many.

Second, the transforming power of God comes through love, not laws. As important as they are, just laws cannot substitute for a body politic which loves justice. Laws do not exercise jurisdiction over the soul, while love penetrates the soul. "It is not revolutions and upheavals that clear the road to new and better days, but someone's soul, inspired and ablaze," wrote Boris Pasternak.

Wilberforce was such a soul. His consuming passion was serving and loving Jesus Christ. It is impossible to imagine Wilberforce conducting a poll before introducing his bill to abolish slavery. Obeying Christ was his primary mission; developing a winning political strategy was secondary--although he believed that with the support of the Creator he had already achieved a sufficient majority.

Today it seems that many prominent political figures in the church are flirting with dreams of a political messiah, as if the incumbent Messiah were somehow lacking in power. In many respects, Wilberforce fits the profile of the political messiah so many long for. Yet Wilberforce's political power did not come from the sources the church is increasingly embracing: parties, money, coalitions, image, lobbyists, a mobilized base, et cetera. His power came from Jesus Christ and a few lifelong friends.

Another Wilberforce will not be raised up by traditional political engineering. Such attempts typically produce hollow clones who mirror one another in an embarrassing spectacle of political pandering. A genuine reformer, however, can be born out of a community of believers passionate about Jesus Christ. The stakes for our nation could not be higher. The promises this generation embraces in the next century will greatly influence whether the coming decades will be a time of renewal or erosion. May we choose to be communities--like the Clapham Fellowship--that transform culture.

John Hart, RQ's Contributing Editor for Politics, works as an aide in the
U.S. House of Representatives. In 1994, he became the youngest writer ever
to win the Amy Writing Award, for an article on Mother Teresa's speech at
the National Prayer Breakfast.