If John Wesley Came to General Conference – Part 2

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A United Methodist Insight Exclusive

John Wesley’s introduction to his sermon, “The Lord our Righteousness,” offers an apt comment on some of what goes on at General Conferences.

"How dreadful and how innumerable are the contests which have arisen about religion! … even among the children of God; …  How many of these, in all ages, instead of joining together against the common enemy, have turned their weapons against each other, and so not only wasted their precious time, but hurt one another's spirits, weakened each other's hands, and so hindered the great work of their common Master! How many of the weak have hereby been offended! -- How many of the lame turned out of the way! How many sinners confirmed in their disregard of all religion, and their contempt of those that profess it! And how many of 'the excellent ones upon earth' have been constrained to 'weep in secret places!'"

But let us begin with another thought experiment. In the last blog I asked you to identify the groups within the UMC that you feel are the most problematic; the groups that in your mind represent the wrong way forward, the groups whose ideas and actions you find destructive and detrimental to the well being of the church and the future of its mission.  Now take this a step further. Can you think of a person who in your mind most fully represents maybe even embodies the vision and ideas of this group or these groups? Mark this name in your mind or better write it down or note it on your computer. When you have done this, carry on reading.

When Wesley sought to describe the distinctive of Methodism he usually emphasized that it was nothing new, but instead was the old religion of the Church of England, the early church and the Bible. So what then is this religion? In one of many similar descriptions Wesley wrote in his sermon “The Important Question”

"What is religion then? It is easy to answer, if we consult the oracles of God. According to these it lies in one single point; it is neither more nor less than love; it is love which 'is the fulfilling of the law, the end of the commandment.' Religion is the love of God and our neighbour; that is, every man under heaven. This love ruling the whole life, animating all our tempers and passions, directing all our thoughts, words, and actions, is "pure religion and undefiled."

The central core of genuine Christianity is God’s loving and gracious transformation of the human person, enabling, empowering and inspiring him or her to love God and their fellow human beings. Wesley described this theologically in terms of justification, the new birth, and inner and outer holiness. Yet for him the theological descriptions were less important than the reality of the transformation that God worked. But what does this mean in reality? In Wesley’s writings one discovers many multifaceted descriptions of the characteristics of love for God and human.  Our focus is on the love for ones fellow human beings. In his Sermon “On Pleasing all Men” he wrote:

"Let love not visit you as a transient guest, but be the constant ruling temper of your soul. See that your heart be filled at all times and on all occasions with real, undissembled benevolence; not to those only that love you, but to every soul of man. Let it pant in your heart; let it sparkle in your eyes, let it shine on all your actions. Whenever you open your lips, let it be with love; and let there be in your tongue the law of kindness. Your word will then distill as the rain, and as the dew upon the tender herb. Be not straitened or limited in your affection, but let it embrace every child of man. Everyone that is born of a woman has a claim to your good-will. You owe this, not to some, but to all. And let all men know that you desire both their temporal and eternal happiness, as sincerely as you do your own."

In A Plain Account of Christian Perfection Wesley described this love as: “the sincere, fervent, constant desire for the happiness of every man, good or bad, friend or enemy as for their own.” In other contexts he expanded his description of the object of love to include: neighbors and strangers; Christians, Heathens, Jews, Turks, Papists, heretics, the evil and the unthankful and the enemies of God.

Think of the person you identified in our exercise – does love pant in your heart and sparkle in your eyes when you think of him or her? Does love shine in all the ways you think, speak and write about, or speak to, or otherwise relate to this person? Such love does not mean one must always agree with the person, or that one must be silent about one’s own views, on the contrary when one is convinced that a person’s view are seriously detrimental to their own spiritual, psychological or physical well being or that of others love requires that these views be countered. However, what is important is the way that we do so.

In various places Wesley provides concrete examples of how one should relate to those one disagrees with. These include.

  • A tender, patient, compassionate manner which rejects all bitterness, anger and hatred directed toward persons. (This does not rule out being angry about injustice and evil)
  • The refusal to be suspicious of our opponents motives but always attributing to them best motives and putting the best construction on their behavior.
  • The refusal to rejoice in the failures, mistakes and sins of our opponents.
  • Rejoicing in the wellbeing and success of one’s opponents’ service for God.
  • Defending one’s opponents and their reputation in the face of attacks from others
  • The refusal to speak evil of or to denigrate ones opponents on the contrary one should do ones best to protect the good reputation of opponents.
  • A deep awareness of one’s own failings, weaknesses, imperfections and sin.
  • Asking one's opponents to pray for you that God might transform you so that you might grow in love.  
  • The sincere desire for the well being of your opponents expressed in sincere prayer for them.
  • Encouraging and supporting one’s opponents in their spiritual life.
  • Joining with them in the work of God.
  • Self denial and the awareness that one’s attitude of love might not be returned.

The opposite of this is bigotry, which in Wesley’s views was a denial of true love not only in the deep hurt and pain it brings, but at its very core. In his comments on the story of the Good Samaritan Wesley noted that bigotry is not a genuine love for others – it is merely an extension of self love, commenting on 1 John 4.21 he argued that the bigotry is a denial of genuine Christian love for those one who are part of one’s own group because one only loves them because they agree with one and not for the sake of Christ.  In his Sermon on the death of George Whitefield he argues that bigotry confounds and increases our own sin because it blames our lack of love on the opinions, practices or behavior of others.

If John Wesley came to Portland, would this be his message to General Conference? I do not really know. But what is clear is that his opposition to bigotry – that is, the “too strong attachment to your own party, opinion, Church and religion” that results us in failing to love our opponents in the way set out above – is a regularly recurring theme in his writings.  It was not a minor issue, for it struck at the heart of vital religion and hence at the essential core of Methodist identity. The genuine love for God and one's neighbor is what Methodism is all about; when we embody something different, such as bigotry, we cease to be Methodist regardless of the correctness of our theological positions, or of the validity of our personal and social ethical viewpoints. Bigotry and Methodism are inherently incompatible.

One of John Wesley’s staunchest opponents was George Lavington, Bishop of Exeter and author of The Enthusiasm of Methodists and Papists Compared. Yet in his Journal of August 29, 1762, Wesley describes attending worship at Exeter Cathedral. He wrote: “I was pleased to partake of the Lord’s Supper with my old opponent, Bishop Lavington. Oh, may we sit down together in the kingdom of our Father!” On another occasion he commented that Calvinists and Arminians would not agree unless their hearts were changed – as this General Conference continues let us pray that God would pour out the Spirit of love on all of us, transforming our hearts so that we would genuinely love one another.

Dr. David N. Field is the Academic Coordinator of the Methodist e-Academy in Europe.