The Wesleyan Way
Most towering figures in church history are remembered for their theology, the way they presented the full scope of Christian teaching. St. Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Calvin, to name a few. We often count John Wesley among that group, but not for the same reason. Wesley did not want to put a new spin on classical Christian teaching. He thought everything that needed to be said on that front had already been said. Wesley's question was rather, "Okay, what are we going to do with all this?"
In other words, "Now what?" You've been saved, you've been baptized, you've learned the Lord's Prayer, and you've got the basic story of salvation down pat. Great! Now what? What are you going to do with your salvation? How are you going to walk daily in your faith, and where are you headed with it? If we don't think about these questions, then we just start wandering around or—worse still—we don't move at all. And after a while, doesn't a motionless Christian faith start to feel empty, or even unnecessary?
This is where John Wesley makes his contribution to the universal church: in drawing a roadmap that allows any believer to locate themselves, see the goal, and take steps on the route to get there. Wesley did not invent this roadmap. Everything he teaches is clearly drawn from Scripture, and he seasons his writings with plenty of Biblical citations. But his genius was in taking all these pathways and landmarks and organizing them into a clear, useful map.
For Wesley, there are three elements to the journey ahead of us: the energy for our walking, the obstacles we face, and the goal itself. The energy for our walking—the motor on our journey—is none other than the Holy Spirit. For many of us in the American church, the Holy Spirit is just the last part of the Trinity, or the dove floating at the top of the picture frame. For Wesley, the Spirit is a Biblical promise and a daily reality. The New Testament makes clear that the Holy Spirit is the birthright of all believers, and that He resides in each of us to give us power for daily life. Whether we make use of this power is up to us, but it's always there, ready and waiting. This is an awesome truth that can't be overstated: the Spirit of the Living God is ready to energize you and walk beside you, every day of your life. Our work is to lean into that power, to press on the pedal, and to let the Spirit guide us forward.
But of course there are many obstacles in our path. Here we see one of Wesley's great traits: his realism. He led the movement called Methodism for nearly sixty years and saw pretty much every situation—good or bad—that it's possible to see. He knew himself and he knew people and he wasn't going to gloss over how hard things can get. The biggest obstacle, which we drag around every day, is our taste for sin. Wesley never lets us forget that our former, fallen self still hangs around, looking to pull us back to our old ways. This means we daily need God's pardon and grace. No Christian—no matter how mature—is exempt from the daily necessity of the mercy and grace of God. But we also have lots of smaller obstacles, particular to our own situation. Frustrating jobs, tense marriages, chronic diseases, changing finances, bad habits. We all walk a particular path of potholes, brambles, and wild beasts. So Wesley writes entire sermons on specific topics like controlling your thoughts, dealing with gossip, or being responsible with money. He wants to make sure we're walking with our eyes wide open, to avoid pitfalls as much as possible.
And where are we walking to? Ah, that's the best part. The goal of our journey is both ahead of us, and right beside us. For Wesley, we are walking not just to be with Jesus in the future, but to be like Jesus right now. He uses lots of Biblical phrases to describe this: "growing in love of God and neighbor," "walking as Jesus walked," "going on to perfection." The language is varied but the idea is clear: we have Holy Spirit power to make us more like Jesus every day, even as we go on to a future reunion with Him. Salvation isn't just the Cross. It's living as saved people for the rest of our days. Some folks call this "the rest of the Gospel," meaning all that happens after our moment of salvation. It's the answer to the "what now?" question we asked earlier. What now? Well, live like Jesus. Be patient with those who frustrate you. Help your neighbors, near and far. Serve your family. Call injustice by its name. Study Scripture like your life depends on it. Steward your money. Hold lightly to this world. Be ready to do good. Jesus isn't just the model for this way of living, He is himself the way.
So this map—this arrangement of roadsigns and rest stops and caution tape—this is the Wesleyan Way. This is a Biblical roadmap to find your current position and then see where you need to head. It's a realistic list of obstacles we'll face on the way. And it's a reminder of God's incredible power, given to us through His Holy Spirit, to help us serve and imitate our Lord. What a map! And what a gift, to the church globally and to each of us in particular.
