Going On To Perfection » Methodism

Top 12 John Wesley Quotes

Howard — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:09:05 +0000

John Wesley is best known as the founder of the Methodist movement, which eventually gave birth to the Methodist Church. While many see his strengths mainly in organization and diligent ministry, he was also an accomplished preacher who drew large crowds, even when preaching in the open air. Here are twelve of my favorite quotes attributed to John Wesley.

“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
“Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.”
“I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.”
“When I have money, I get rid of it quickly, lest it find a way into my heart.”
“Once in seven years I burn all my sermons; for it is a shame if I cannot write better sermons now than I did seven years ago.”
“Every one, though born of God in an instant, yet undoubtedly grows by slow degrees”
“Beware you be not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge”
“My ground is the Bible. Yea, I am a Bible-bigot. I follow it in all things, both great and small.”
“The best of it is, God is with us.”
“The Church recruited people who had been starched and ironed before they were washed.”
“When I was young I was sure of everything; in a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before; at present, I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to me”
“You may be as orthodox as the devil and as wicked”

* CORRECTION: I’ve since discovered that #10 is actually a quote from John Wesley LORD, not John Wesley. Here’s a replacement quote:

“The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion.”

Taking a Peek into Eternity

Howard — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:40:56 +0000

Beautiful, isn’t it? I wish I could take credit for the photo, but it’s not mine. I got it off the National Park Service website. It’s the Grand Canyon. My family and I took a trip to the Grand Canyon when I was around 11 and let me say that this picture, though amazing, doesn’t do it justice. You can get an idea of what the Grand Canyon is like through this and other pictures, but you will never really appreciate and understand the Grand Canyon until you visit it in person.

Why do I bore you with talk about the Grand Canyon? Because I believe this picture is a perfect illustration of the expression of God’s grace through the sacraments. Just as this picture portrays the Grand Canyon but can never give you the full picture and understanding of the Grand Canyon, so too the sacraments present a snapshot, a glimpse of the grace of God promised to us in eternity.

In previous posts (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) I have talked about what I think is distinctive in the United Methodist church, and certainly our view of the sacraments fits in this category. The United Methodist church shares two sacraments with most of the Christian world – baptism and communion. (The Catholic church adds confirmation, ordination, marriage, confession, and last rites and other churches add foot washing) For the most part our view is alike with others, but there are some differences that are distinctive. First, the UM church believes that communion is not an act reserved for those who meet some set of criteria, whether specific beliefs or acts. We believe that communion, as an act of God’s grace, is open to all who seek Him and desire His grace in their lives. None of us, if we are truly honest, fully understand or are worthy of the grace given us. Just as Judas participated in the first communion, so too all of us, though unworthy, are welcome to experience God’s grace.

Baptism, in the UM view, presents a distinct difference from many churches. We believe that those who are old enough to declare faith for themselves and have not been baptized can do so through baptism. But we also believe that God’s grace is not reserved for only those who make a decision. God’s grace is for all – whether we accept that grace or not. Children, thought they are not able to understand faith and make a declaration for their own, are still under God’s grace. God extends His love to us despite of us. The act of baptism is a celebration that in Christ we all have salvation and can experience God’s grace. It is God’s invitation to be in relationship with Him. Our salvation is not bound to this rite, but to our accepting this invitation and seeking to live under this grace. We are saved not because we are baptized and we are not baptized in order to be saved – our salvation comes in a personal relationship with Jesus.

The sacraments are full of mystery and certainly no view of them is fully complete. But, like a snap shot of the Grand Canyon, through the sacraments we get a glimpse of the greatness of eternity. We experience God’s grace in a special way and leave the altar knowing that God loves us and seeks for us to live rightly in faith.

A Revolutionary Church

Howard — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 18:16:09 +0000

Now I’m the first to admit, I don’t often use the word “revolutionary” in relation to the United Methodist church. We’re not a church that is considered to be an “early adopter” when it comes to how church’s work. The “hot” churches, those that are at the cutting edge of new worship styles and ministries, are usually independent churches that don’t worry about fitting into a denominational framework. But, at one time, the United Methodist church was very much a revolutionary church. In fact, you can say it was the “American Revolution”-ary church, because it was formed at the same time as the American Revolution. The UM church is a distinctively American church – one formed out of the necessity of shaping a church when all of the English priests were recalled because of the war. Congregations were left without clergy to lead them, and so some lay leaders, along with clergy that stayed, came together to form a new church – the Methodist church.

It is exactly because of the way this church formed that we face a distinct structure in the scope of Christianity. The UM church, on a national level and to some point on a local level, is modeled after the structure of the United States government. We have an executive branch (Bishops, District Superintendents, national/conference officials, and pastors) who have a responsibility for the day to day work of the church. Our legislative branch comes in the form of our general, annual, and charge conferences. These bodies meet to decide the “law” of the church, the general (or worldwide) conference meets every 4 years, and the annual (area) and charge (local) conference meet yearly, with an equal balance of clergy and non-clergy representatives. Our church also has a judical branch, with a national judicial council that serves as the “supreme court” of the church, as well as having methods for handling disputes on an area and local level. All the “branches” have duties and responsibilities along with appropriate checks and balances.

How does this structure help us as a church? It places the power and responsibility not on one person (a pastor), but on the church as a whole. It is not a church led exclusively by the clergy, but managed through a cooperation between clergy and non-clergy. Neither does the non-clergy have an overabundance of power, but the clergy have the assurance that they are part of the greater church and have a larger support structure.

Maybe the UM church isn’t on the cutting edge of innovation, but we can stand firm in the idea that our structure gives us stability to move through the bumps of a changing world. We can trust that our balance gives us a great foundation as we serve Christ and seek to spread His love in the world.

Taking It Personally

Howard — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:17:29 +0000

Methodism is a unique animal in the world of church formation. Most churches are formed out of some theological disagreement. One church believes “x” while a group in that church believes “y”, and so the “y” group breaks off to form a new church. It’s the story for almost every church, but it’s not the story of the beginning of Methodism. John Wesley never intended to form a new church. He was an ordained pastor in the Church of England and saw his role as reformer. His passion was not to carry the banner for a new theological movement, but to transform the practice and ministry of the Church of England. He had no theological disagreements with the church, but instead saw the church as having lost it’s passion and focus. The church had become a social club and was failing to have personal impact in people’s lives or making any impact on the society around it. He began to preach outside to the masses, sharing the gospel with those who were not welcomed in church buildings. He formed groups to study the bible and took seriously the idea that Christians should not only live differently, but should seek to become Christlike in all ways. Wesley began reaching out to those in need and fully intergrated charity to those in need within the life of the church. All the while he held firm in the traditional, orthodox beliefs that have been held by the church for centuries.

Wesley was good friends with people who disagreed with him theologically. George Whitfield, the great evangelist of the First Great Awakening, was a close friend. Wesley’s passion was not for pushing a particular theological bend, but for helping people discover Christ and begin to live the life He intends.

The Methodist church continues today to be a church dedicated to transforming lives. Some would say that our lack of theological focus has led to the church falling away from Wesley’s teaching. The Confessing Movement is a movement within the UM church dedicated to restoring and protecting the church theologically to the orthodox foundation that Wesley taught. Within that foundation there is great freedom to serve God in a variety of ways. But above all the church has a focus of transforming personal lives for Christ. In the essentials of faith we have unity. In the non-essentials we have charity. In all things we live to love and honor Christ.

Wesley’s Hierarchy of Truth

Howard — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:39:21 +0000

I don’t know when I was first introduced to Mazlow’s Hierarchy of Needs, but it had enough impact that I still remember it. Basically, Mazlow noticed that people focus on certain things in life before they focus on others. Certain needs were foundational (food, water, etc.) and one would need to have those needs met before he/she could focus on other needs, such as security or love.

While John Wesley never stated it this way, there is a unique approach that Wesley used to develop his theology. Theologians call it the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, a term coined by Wesleyan scholar Albert Outler. To put it simply, John Wesley used four approaches in determining his theology – scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. Theologians have given a number of descriptions of how these all work together, none of which have really helped me understand how it all works. Finally I studied it myself and have come to an understanding of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral that I think works. I call it Wesley’s Hierarchy of Truth.

The base level of the Heirarchy of Truth is Scripture. Scripture is what ultimately leads our understanding of God and how God works in the world and in our lives. Scripture is the basis on which our beliefs must be built and no belief can be formed apart from scripture.

After scripture, the tradition of the church must be considered. In fact our scriptures cannot be considered themselves without tradition. It is tradition that provides us the translations that we read as scripture. The traditional beliefs of the church have been formed and reformed by theologians throughout history. We can derive much of what we know of God and how God is at work through studying how God has worked in the history and traditions of the church.

Third in the heirarchy is reason. Scripture is certainly the foundation of belief and it is difficult (if not impossible!) to interpret scripture apart from tradition. But beyond these, we must use the gift of reason that God has given us to interpret the scriptures and the tradition of the church. We cannot take for face value what we may read or hear taught by the church. We must use reason to interpret scripture in context and make certain that we do not allow traditions to keep us from the truth. Reason allows us to reconcile our beliefs in a logical way with what we know of God taught to us through scripture and tradition.

Lastly, at the top we have experience. Experience allows us the have a personal, emotional connection with theology. Experience answers the question, “Is this what I have discovered to be true in my life?” Experience makes theology real to us by allowing us to see God at work not only in the pages of scripture and in the annals of history, but active and living today in our lives.

If we maintain scripture as our base and use tradition, reason, and experience as lenses to guide us in our search for truth, we will certainly discover the deep, abiding truth of Christ. This is what led John Wesley and this is at the heart of the Methodist approach to theology.