Who Is John Wesley for Us Today?

Who is John Wesley for us today? Dietrich Bonhoeffer took on a far more difficult question when he asked, "Who is Jesus for us today?", and answered, "(Jesus is) the man for others".

When I look at Wesley's sermons and ministry, they suggest an outline and a trajectory. We might answer, "John Wesley is a person of radical, Christ-centered orthodoxy of faith and practice in a missional, generous spirit." You'll see below that that characterization is not my own, but I'll endorse it! We can speculate on living examples of this type of person in our own day.

In his Standard Sermon #7 The Way of the Kingdom, he remarks, "(T)his faith....is not a bare assent to the truth of the Bible, of the articles of our creed, or of all that is conained in the Old and New Testaments. The devils believe this...yet they are devils still. But it is, over and above this, a sure trust in the mercy of God through Christ Jesus..."

Radically pardoned by and reconciled to God by the suffering of Christ, the orthodox believer is also a person of radical commitment to mercy and reconciliation, a servant of God's social righteousness and a seeker of personal holiness. In The Marks of the New Birth, Wesley also says, "The necessary fruit of this love of God is the love of our neighbor, of every soul which God hath made; not excepting our enemies....We love every (one)...as we love our own souls," just as Christ has loved us. Here is Wesley's informed, reflective and heart-felt orthodoxy, but there is more to his faith than that!

We know from Wesley's writings and from his life's work that he was also a person who yearned for the experience of the New Testament church, for a new Pentecost among Christians and their communities of faith (among his favorite texts were passages in Acts 2 and 4 on the life of the Christian church in Jerusalem--after their experience of the Pentecost). He was a disciple and preacher for whom prayer, study of Scripture, fasting, Christian conversation, spiritual guidance to others were daily disciplines. He was a model of unfailing care for the poor and their conditions, as well as an advocate for various public reforms; e.g. he opposed Britain's slave trade, was for children's education, favored economic opportunity for all, advocated healthy working conditions, supported workers' cooperatives, etc. He was also a critic of, reluctant about, and counseled avoidance of, violence or war.

So, today, if I were looking for persons who both embody the evangelical orthodoxy of John Wesley and his energetic pursuit of the kingdom of global, social holiness, I would probably identify him with public preachers like Jim Wallis of the Sojourners community, or Brian McClaren, also affiliated with Sojourners and Call to Renewal. In fact, McLaren has probably best captured Wesley's approach with a recent book title for a collection of his essays, "A Generous Orthodoxy". The theology is orthodox yet diverse, and the social, global stance is "generous" in that it is radical, just, environmentally alert, and compassionate. You might want to get better acquainted with Jim Wallis or Brian McLaren by using a search engine to look at their teaching and social/justice ministries for Sojourners and Call to Renewal.