wfn.org | At the Roots of Methodism: Wesley's words strike chord today

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Feb. 8, 2000  News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
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NOTE: This is a regular feature on Methodist history by John Singleton
prepared especially for distribution by United Methodist News Service.

A UMNS Feature
By John Singleton*

The more I learn about John Wesley, the more I realize that he cannot be
stereotyped or molded into some kind of historical guru. The inspiring
quality about the founder of Methodism was his very humanity. And although
he is often portrayed as a rather authoritarian figure, he struggled with
his own limitations and only ever saw himself as a means for others to know
the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

John Wesley was a remarkable man whose insights and opinions -- often
controversial for his time -- were listened to and respected. On occasions
they also provoked hostility. 

While it may be a mistake to simply pluck the words of Wesley out of his
time and expect them to be a panacea for all the ills of the 21st century,
what remains astonishing are the variety of concerns he spoke about and
acted upon and the way they can still strike a chord today. Here are some
examples to reflect on:

Open-air preaching:
On March 31 in 1739, in response to George Whitefield's invitation, Wesley
arrived in Bristol. The following day he was persuaded by Whitefield's
example of the necessity of "field preaching" in order to reach the great
mass of people who were untouched by the established church. 
 
"I could scarce reconcile myself at first to this strange way of preaching
in the fields ... having been all my life (till very lately) so tenacious of
every point relating to decency and order, that I should have thought the
saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done in a church," he wrote.
 
Less than 24 hours later, Wesley embarked on his new venture. "At four in
the afternoon I submitted to be more vile, and proclaimed in the highways
the glad tidings of salvation, speaking from a little eminence in a ground
adjoining the city, to about 3,000 people." Wesley had begun the march of
his crusade for righteousness, and nothing was ever to be the same again.

In the face of violence: 
Wesley consistently urged the early Methodists not to retaliate in the face
of mob violence and, when under attack personally, he always tried to
maintain a peaceable and nonviolent demeanor.
 
"In the evening, as I was preaching at St. Ives, Satan began to fight for
his kingdom," he wrote in 1743. "The mob of the town burst into the room and
created much disturbance; roaring and striking those that stood in the way
as though Legion himself possessed them. I would fain have persuaded our
people to stand still; but the zeal of some and the fear of others had no
ears; so that finding the uproar increase I went into the midst and brought
the head of the mob up with me to the desk. I received but one blow on the
side of the head, after which we reasoned the case till he grew milder and
milder and at length undertook to quiet his companions."

On slavery:
Wesley's treatise, Thoughts Upon Slavery, was so powerful and so direct that
one can feel the emotional pull of it, even today. "Give liberty to whom
liberty is due, that is, to every child of man, to every partaker of human
nature," he wrote. "Let none serve you but by his own act and deed, by his
own voluntary choice. Away with all whips, all chains, all compulsions. Be
gentle toward all men."
 
On war:
Another treatise -- written during the American War of Independence --
expressed Wesley's utter abhorrence of war as a means of settling disputes.
Suggesting impartial arbitration instead of bloodshed, he inquired why on
earth people should shoot or stab and butcher each other. "Why so? What harm
have they done to each other? Why none at all. Most of then are entire
strangers to each other. ... So these countrymen, children of the same
parents, are to murder each other with all possible haste -- to prove who is
in the right. What an argument is this! What method of proof! What an
amazing way of deciding controversies!
 
"Are there no wise men among us? None that are able to judge between
brethren? But brother goeth to war against brother. ... Surely this is a
sore evil among us? How is wisdom perished from the wise! What flood of
folly and madness has broke in on us?"

On personal wealth:
That Wesley's lifelong practice on this subject squared with his own
teaching on money, there can be no doubt. "If I leave behind me £10 ... you
and all mankind bear witness against me that I lived and died a robber," he
wrote in 1743.

The income from the almost unprecedented sale of Wesley's tracts, pamphlets
and books was sufficient to make him a rich man, but it is said that never
did he spend more than £30 a year upon his personal needs. And in a single
year he gave away 98 per cent of his earnings.

Later, on the eve of his death, he was able to say: "For upwards of 86 years
I have kept my accounts exactly. I will not attempt it any longer, being
satisfied with the continual conviction that I can and give all I can --
that is all I have."
 
On poverty
Let Wesley speak for himself, as in 1753: "In the afternoon I visited many
of the sick; but such scenes, who could not see unmoved? There are none such
to be seen in a pagan country. If any of the Indians in Georgia (America)
were sick -- which indeed rarely happened till they learned gluttony and
drunkenness from the Christians -- those that were near him gave him what he
ever wanted. Oh, who will convert the English into honest heathens!"

"I visited as many more as I could. I found some in their cells underground;
others in their garrets, half-starved both with cold and hunger, added to
weakness and pain. But I found not one of them unemployed, who was able to
crawl about the room. So wickedly, devilishly false is that common
objection: 'They are poor, only because they are idle.' If you could see
these things with your own eyes, could you lay out money on ornaments and
superfluities?"

# # #

*Singleton is the assistant editor of the weekly Methodist Recorder in
London. He can be contacted by e-mail at editorial@methodistrecorder.co.uk.
The Recorder is on the World Wide Web at http://www.methodistrecorder.co.uk.

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