The Life of John Wesley | a review

I just finished a biography of John Wesley by Roy Hattersley. I’ve had the desire to delve into the biographers of past Christians of importance, trying to understand what a Christian life has meant to the men {and women} through the ages who have shaped our faith today in such great ways. This is the first of such pursuit, so I don’t have much to judge or relate it against. Though I am just reminded that I did read St. Augustine’s Confessions, though it was some years back. I found St. Augustine rather boring and hard to read. This book on the other hand was a pleasure to read and was rather illuminating to me.

I looked on Amazon.com for customer reviews, it seems people are torn between loving or hating Hattersley’s portrayal of Wesley. I’m not sure how this biography stands in relation to others, it was just what I picked up from the public library.

Instead of discussing the specific merits of this portrayal, I would like to discuss a few aspects of Wesley’s life which I found rather interesting.

He was theologically ununique & mismashed other’s work.

Interestingly John Wesley is not known for his theology, that isn’t the legacy he leaves. His strongest attribute was his ability to organize, followed by a tenacious strong will that wouldn’t have it any way but his own. He in fact didn’t begin ‘methodism’; it was a small society at his university which was started before his arrival—though after he became a member he quickly took control. He simply nurtured it to the point of a national, then transcontinental movement.

His theology was the adopted beliefs of others, continually changing through his years. This lack of originality or authorial honesty of reference or discontinuity of thought was a continual source of tension between him and the numerous critics which he garnered over the years. Almost to the point of humor, he would never admit a change of theological position and most begrudgingly admit the sources of his writings.

Seeing a man who no doubtedly was a great administrator, gives me more understanding and grace to those leaders who find themselves with such gifts.

He steadfastly pursued holiness for himself & for the people of methodism as a whole.

While he wholeheartedly believed in sola fide, justification by faith alone, he believed in living a stringent lifestyle unto the Lord. He had very strict practices of lifestyle. He believed wholeheartedly in what he called being a ‘whole-Christian’ not simply a ‘half-Christian’. He saw the call of God as all encompassing, so he focused all his life towards God’s mission, and expected the same of others.

I really like this part of Wesley, this all or nothing put it all out there kind of attitude. I think much of the Western Church could learn a bit from him on this; I know my little corner within the United Methodist Church has forgotten this aspect of Wesley’s life—at least when it comes to actual imitation and practicalities.

He lived by exacting principles with a vigor that pushed him without rest or leisure into late age. Quite remarkably he was still preaching multiple times a day throughout the week, while traveling long distances on horse back into his 80s! They estimate he averaged 4500 miles/year on horseback! While that is far from what we normally understand as holiness, it speaks of his devotion and sacrificial character towards doing what he saw as God call for him. I can only think, how hard am I working for God.

He filled the spiritual vacuum that the Church of England wasn’t filling.

From very early on, when methodism was still a university society, Wesley (with others) reached out to the poor and needy who weren’t being nurtured by the established church. Wesley never desired to leave the Anglican Church, he was simply trying to bring spiritual revival to those areas of England who weren’t getting it else where.

Since the church wasn’t helping the people, Wesley went to the people. He, due to the influence of George Whitefield, began preaching out of doors. Since the people weren’t going to the churches he would take the church to the people. He was rejected by the normal places of worship so he side stepped the system for the whole of his adult years and preached in fields to thousands. It is said that his voice could be heard for 120 yards without amplification or the benefit of building acoustics!

The relevancy of this seems pretty real today. The white suburban church needs to realize they have much work to do to become relevant & meaningful to the surrounding community—maybe we need more preachers preaching in fields riding horses from town to town.

He was real, with his own failures & hangups.

I tend to be a perfectionist, worrying that most things are complete failures and wastes of time if not complete successes and finding complete perfection. It is good to see someone who was very human, striving for right living before God, amount to something. These are some of his most easily identified ‘humanly’ qualities:

• Wesley was a complete control freak, running an autocracy of the methodist movement all the way to his death bed.
• He had horrid relations with women, usually following the pattern of: drawn to him as a spiritual advisor, taken under his wing, given a assistant job, him getting sick & her having to nurse him back to health, then things getting to close so he awkwardly ends the relationship.
• He also, as mentioned above, couldn’t admit fault or mistake. This caused him to have many disputes, therefore many enemies.
• Not to mention the questionable nature of his motives for methodism; it seems the question of who’s kingdom he was building at times (his or God’s) gets rather murky at times—at least from our vantage point.

But through all that, he lead & influenced a great many lives, even to this day. He wasn’t ever in a place of great authority and power, he was always working on the fringe of the Anglican Church—doing his best to not be expelled from it, while pushing the methodist cause further. His legacy today isn’t a result of his great theology, but rather the practiced theology of his life. He believed in God, and he did his best to serve him everyday. This is his best legacy.