Have you heard of Humphrey Monmouth? Perhaps not. But, humanly speaking, if Humphrey had not done what he did, you probably would not be reading this article right now. Humphrey is one of the unsung heroes of the faith — a man to whom we are indebted, even if we have never heard of him.

Humphrey Monmouth lived in the sixteenth century. He was a wealthy merchant who had made a fortune in the cloth business. But as a wealthy businessman, he played as significant a part in the Reformation as any of the more famous theologians and preachers. Everybody knows of Martin Luther and John Calvin — but Humphrey ... who?

Humphrey Monmouth's contribution arose out of his relationship with William Tyndale. Tyndale name has gone down in the history books as the father of the English Bible. He pioneered the translation of the Scriptures into English from their original lan­guages of Hebrew and Greek. Tyndale was mar­tyred for his efforts in 1536. But his work still lives: 90% of his words passed on into the later King James Version of the Bible.

The establishment was bent on keeping the Bible from the common people in that era. (Does that sound familiar to us when the Vancouver School Board no longer allows the traditional distribu­tion of Bibles by Gideons?) The Scriptures were consid­ered dangerous in the hands of the unlearned; they were only to be read by the priests. To that end, it was convenient to keep them in Latin. Some argued that such pro­tectiveness avoided the possibility of heresy as unlearned men read their own interpreta­tions into the text of the Bible. Others, like the Duke of Norfolk, were more honest about their opposition to the Bible. He said, "I never read the Scripture, nor never will read it. It was merry in England afore the new learning came up; yea, I would all things were as hath been in time past." The Bible has an uncanny way of challenging our lifestyles and beliefs!

But such argu­ments carried no weight with Tyndale. In one partic­ularly heated debate with an antagonistic cleric, Tyndale conclud­ed by vowing: "If God spare my life, ere many years pass, I will cause a boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the Scriptures than thou dost." And that became his life's mission: to translate the Bible so that every­one would be able to read and understand for themselves. His translation has become famous, and his influ­ence in propagating the truth and freedom of the Reformation in the English speaking world is inestimable.

So where does Humphrey Monmouth fit into the story? We often neglect the full spectrum of contribu­tions that go into every spiritual endeavour. The preacher gains the recogni­tion, but the kingdom is advanced through a far more diverse combination of giftings. We would not have had Tyndale's English Bible if it were not for Humphrey Monmouth.

When Tyndale embarked on his mission, he needed more than textbooks and inspiration. He needed food and clothing and a place to stay; he needed an income to survive. This is where we meet Humphrey: the wealthy businessman gave young Tyndale room and board and financial support, as the young man laboured intensely in his translation of the New Testament for 6 months. As pressures mounted, Tyn­dale fled to Europe to con­tinue his work. But still he would not have been able to fulfil his mission with­out Humphrey Monmouth.

In England, Monmouth had introduced Tyndale to a secret society of London merchants called the Christian Brethren. This clandestine group were financing and importing Christian literature to advance the cause of the Reformation in England. It was an underground move­ment in a hostile environ­ment. Tyndale's personal financial support came out of this group — as did the investment which enabled him to print his Bibles. By the time he went to print, he was out of the country, but still the merchants backed him. In fact his Bibles were smuggled into England in the bundles of cloth that were the basis of Humphrey Monmouth's wealth. Brother Andrew was not God's first smug­gler! The Bibles would never have been translat­ed, printed or distributed without our unsung hero's involvement.

The kingdom mandate requires preachers if the message of the Bible is to extend into all the world. But it also requires mer­chants (and printers, and retailers, and shipping agents — and a host of ancil­lary trades). Monmouth's contribution was no less spiritual and no less vital than that of Tyndale.

Its remains true to this day that there is a far broader scope for involvement in the purpos­es of the kingdom than many churches realize. The preachers have their place — but the true task of church leadership is to equip the saints (theologi­cally) for works of service. It is the Humphrey Monmouths of this world who get the job done.

There is nothing unspiri­tual about the fact that he was wealthy. The Scrip­tures speak of the wealth of the nations coming to God's people (Is 60:5). That does not mean that the ungodly will start to write large cheques and give them to the church to build fancy buildings. It means that God will enable key men to gain wealth in order to finance the pur­poses of the kingdom. The wealth of the nations flowed to Humphrey Monmouth.

It is a great irony that he made his fortune trading in the fabric which clothed the rich in London's high society. Members of the influential establishment who were resisting the spread of the Scriptures were actually financing the distribution of the Bible. Every garment they bought, made out of Humphrey Monmouth's cloth, paid for another Bible! Even as they hunted Tyndale to imprison him, they were providing out of their clothing budget, via Monmouth's generosity, for his daily bread.

We pray that God will raise up heroes of the faith like William Tyndale in our generation — men who will be willing to go to the stake to proclaim the truth of the Bible in a culture that is trying hard to pre­vent the common man from hearing its liberating mes­sage. But we also pray for men like Humphrey Monmouth who will use the talents and resources that God has given them to the same end. Men may say, "Humphrey ... who?" But God will say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."