The Men Who Would Not Bend

“When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.” – Billy Graham

In the 1530s, Sir Thomas More was one of the most respected men in England. He was a brilliant lawyer, a renowned scholar and Lord Chancellor to King Henry VIII. By every earthly measure, he had it all. Wealth, influence, prestige, the respect of his peers, and the favor of the king. Then the test came. Henry VIII made the decision to divorce his wife, declare himself sovereign and supreme head of the Church in England. Consequently, every leader in the king’s wake would be forced to swear an oath of loyalty recognizing the king’s “supremacy over the church.” Sign the paper and submit. Refuse and lose your position or your life.

Sir Thomas knew exactly what it would cost him and he chose it anyway. In a decision of immense conviction and consequence, More refused to submit. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London, lost all his property, and was finally brought to trial and charged with high treason. He would not bend. At his execution in 1535, standing before the crowd, he declared: “I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.” Just moments later, he lost his head but held on to his integrity.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor, theologian, and resistance leader who opposed Adolf Hitler also lost his life. Prior to his hanging, Bonhoeffer asserted, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.” Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated for his convictions appropriately captured the same moral backbone, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Or finally, Jim Elliot, an American Christian missionary killed in the Ecuadorian rainforest echoed the clarion call of all these individuals, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”  

A man who will not die for his convictions has already begun to live without them. A disciplined life builds ability. A principled life builds legacy. And as usual, history remembers the ones who refused to bend.