For Every Season

In the 1966 film adaptation of “A Man for all Seasons,” Paul Scofield, who reprised the role of Sir Thomas More, delivered a stunning theatrical performance which was both gripping and insightful. I recall first enjoying this picture in my early twenties and was sincerely moved by numerous well delivered lines simply dripping with profound wisdom. The story portrays the life of one who sought to preserve a clear conscience before God while attempting to thwart a tyrannical monarch hellbent on justifying sin. While Sir Thomas More actively fought the reformation, convinced of the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church, his determination to remain true to his faith in Christ, makes him a martyr of significant distinction. In the play, when presented with the prospect of imprisonment because of his refusal to condone the king’s first divorce, Thomas expressed the following to his daughter. 

“God made the angels to show Him splendor, as He made animals for innocence and plants for their simplicity. But man, He made to serve Him wittily, in the tangle of his mind. If He suffers us to come to such a case that there is no escaping, then we may stand to our tackle as best we can, and, yes, Meg, then we can clamor like champions, if we have the spittle for it. But it’s God’s part, not our own, to bring ourselves to such a pass. Our natural business lies in escaping.”

A Man for All Seasons, Robert Bolt, 1966

Throughout history, countless saints have faced the conundrum of faithfully living in a fallen world yet striving to remain steadfast to the commandments of God. Each generation of true believers is well acquainted with the struggle to deny personal passions and overcome sinful tendencies, all the while navigating a progressively corrupt society. The degree to which we succeed in this certainly determines our place among the faithful. 

Today, we are witnessing a world hell-bent on destruction. Our ranks rapidly diminish as the modern church increasingly splinters into inventive versions of watered-down Christianity. One by one our fellow Christian soldiers fall on the battlefield as the church broadens the road to heaven and abandons the straight and narrow. The pews may be full, but the workers are very few. 

This has not always been the case. The persecution and martyrdom of the early church provided rapid growth as many more were added to their number (Act 2:47). The fires of tribulation served to produce the pure silver on which the early church was built. However, as the wickedness of our contemporary world multiplies, we discover the complete opposite to be true in our day. Why is this? Would not the darkness around us cause the devout to shine ever brighter? As in the years of the reformation, should we not see a church hungering and thirsting even more for the righteousness of God (Matthew 5:6)? Where is the Thomas More, John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, John Frith, or Martin Luther of our day and age? They are the quiet ones whose lives shout from the rooftops as they faithfully obey God’s will and lay down their lives for Jesus. 

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.

Matthew 10:16-18 (ESV)

According to historical accounts, Sir Thomas More renounced his position as Chancellor of England, in protest to Henry the VIII’s presumptuous attempt to divorce his first wife and consequently, make himself head of the church of England. Officially charged with obstinately refusing to sign the Oath of Succession (which renounced the authority of the Papacy) More was brought to trial on charges of high treason. It’s well documented how Thomas More remained silent, refusing to open his mind even on pain of years of imprisonment. Relying on the legal precedent and maxim “qui tacet consentire videtur” (“one who keeps silent seems to consent”), Thomas mistakenly believed his enemies would have no legal recourse to convict him for something he did not say. However, once the tribunal chose to pervert the course of justice and sentence Thomas to death regardless, he in-turn discharged his mind concerning the indictment. Speaking clearly, Sir Thomas More signed his death warrant when declaring, “…it’s not because of the supremacy that you have sought my blood but because I would not bend to the marriage!”

The twenty-first century has brought mankind to the brink of moral collapse. While our world has always been corrupt beyond repair, the evil which now pervades earth’s inhabitants remains quite unprecedented. As Christians, we now have a clear choice. We can either dilute the gospel to fit within a perverted generation or shrewdly declare the truth to a deaf and desperate world. Sometimes shouting the truth requires getting very quiet. Like Thomas More, God often shuts our mouth waiting for that perfect moment to speak loudly and clearly. Christ Himself kept quiet while in court until the precise divine moment came for Him to speak. 

And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

Mark 14:60-62 (ESV)

Notice how Jesus answers only after Caiaphas states the presumed false accusation directly. Jesus is waiting for men to repent. He is waiting for us to say the words directly, either while condemning ourselves, as in the case of His own accusers, or humbly repenting before the throne. Likewise, there are things which the Holy Spirit would have us keep very quiet about until He gives us leave to speak. We do the gospel a disservice and often more harm than good when we speak in our own timing and authority. Hold your peace until God opens your mouth. 

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. 

Psalm 32:3-4 (ESV)

Keeping silent is not an excuse for cowardice. On the contrary, our hearts should burn and long to declare the truth for all to hear. Among his family members, there was none Sir Thomas More was closer to than his daughter. In the play, she beseeches her father to free himself from prison by appealing to him on the basis of good reason and having “done as much as God could possibly want.” He responds by saying, “…finally it’s not a matter of reason, it’s a matter of love.” It is love which should compel our mouth to speak or remain silent. Love for those who hear and supreme love of Christ as our head. Though our bones waste away, and we groan under the weight of a fallen world, let us “clamor like champions…” to the truth of Jesus Christ. For it remains “…God’s part, not our own, to bring ourselves to such a pass.” 

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 

2 Timothy 4:2-4 (ESV)

The film “A Man for All Seasons” provides a historically fictional account of one extraordinary individual whose cherished dreams were shattered by the corruption of his day. During his life, he authored the famous work “Utopia,” which imagines a kind of perfect socialist state where man achieves the highest ideal in civilization. More himself aspired to this ideal, valuing order and personal virtue above ambition and sordid pleasures. However, his Utopian dream came crashing down when his vision for a perfect society transformed into a tragic nightmare. His last words reveal not only his state of mind but a window into his heart. “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” Like many before him, Thomas learned what it truly means to be ready in every season to declare the truth, to speak boldly to power and relinquish all dreams of grandeur to the glory and honor of Christ.