Holiness, social justice and the mission of the Church: John Wesley’s insights in contemporary context

Wesley’s interpretation of holiness, particularly as it is consummated in Christian perfection, has raised considerable controversy. The controversy is intensified due to the developments and ambiguities in Wesley’s writings on the subject. A key issue is whether entire sanctification is to be understood substantially, that is, as the removal of sinful ‘substance’ from the human person, or relationally as the transformation in a person’s relationship with God and neighbour. Both aspects can be found in Wesley’s writings; for the purposes of this article I will emphasise the relational aspect.

See Runyon 1998, pp. 82–101 and 222–233, and Klaiber 2014, pp. 184–223. For a relational interpretation of Wesley, see McEwan 2015.

Holiness as love for God and our fellow human beings is rooted in and arises out of God’s free love for us as individuals. In love the Spirit of God draws people to God, enables them to believe, transforms them in response to their faith, giving them new birth and making them children of God. The Spirit bears witness within believers to God’s love for and acceptance of them as children of God. Believers’ love for God and their fellow humans arises out of their experience and assurance of God’s love for them. This love for God and human beings encompasses both inner attitudes and dispositions and outward actions – an inner transformation manifest in a transformed way of life in the world. As Wesley explains it:

[W]e are saved from our sins only by a confidence in the love of God. As soon as we ‘behold what manner of love it is which the Father hath bestowed on us’, ‘we love him . . . because he first loved us’. And then is that command written on our heart, ‘that he who loveth God loves his brother also’, from which the love of God and man, meekness, humbleness of mind, and all holy tempers spring. Now these are the very essence of . . . salvation from sin. And from these outward salvation flows, that is holiness of life and conversation.

An Ernest Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion in Wesley 1989, pp. 67 and 68.

Wesley goes beyond the assertion that holiness is love to explicate the content of love. Thus in his sermon ‘Of Former Things’, Wesley wrote:

By religion I mean the love of God and man, filling the heart and governing the life. The sure effect of this is the uniform practice of justice, mercy, and truth. This is the very essence of it, the height and depth of religion, detached from this or that opinion, and from all particular modes of worship.

‘Of Former Things’, Sermon 102 in Wesley 1986, p. 448.

In a similar way, in ‘On Living without God’, he stated, ‘Indeed nothing can be more sure than that true Christianity cannot exist without both the inward experience and outward practice of justice, mercy, and truth.’

‘On Living without God’, Sermon 130 in Wesley 1987, p. 174.

The vital importance of the triad arises out of Wesley’s rooting it in the character of God. ‘Justice, mercy, and truth’ are a summary of the moral attributes of God.

See for example ‘The Lord our Righteousness’, Sermon 20 in Wesley 1984, p. 452, and ‘Original Sin’, Sermon 44 in Wesley 1985, p. 175.

While ‘justice, mercy, and truth’ are the essential outward manifestations of holiness, holiness is not to be reduced to them. Holiness has both an inner and an outer dimension. The inner dimension is the transformation of people’s motivations, desires and attitudes by the love of God so that they love God and their neighbours. Genuine holiness comprises an integration of both dimensions. It is possible for people to practise a measure of ‘justice, mercy, and truth’ without the inner transformation by the love of God as a consequence of prevenient grace. However, there is no inner transformation that is not expressed in outward action.

See ‘The Almost Christian’, Sermon 2 in Wesley 1984, p. 140.

Because ‘justice, mercy, and truth’ are the outward form of holiness, Wesley could argue, in a letter affirming the loyalty of Methodists to King George II, that the Methodists ‘unite together for this and no other end – to promote, as far as we are capable, justice, mercy, and truth, the glory of God, and peace and goodwill among men’.

‘To His Majesty King George II’ in Wesley 1987b, p. 105.

Drawing on examples in Wesley’s writings we can say that justice refers to treating someone in accordance with who they are as a human being and in accordance with what they have done. Depriving someone of life and liberty for no reason is unjust, punishments must fit the crimes, and a person should be rewarded for their action. A society must be structured in such a way that all humans are given their full dignity and freedom as human beings. Wesley thus argued in Thoughts upon Slavery that the Angolans have the same right to liberty as the English.

Thoughts upon Slavery in Wesley 1979, vol. 11, p. 70.

Mercy refers to active compassion for the suffering and the needy. This refers not merely to individual actions but to laws and institutions of society – they must be instruments of mercy. The pursuit of mercy both personally and through the Methodist societies for the poor, the suffering, the sick and the imprisoned is well known as a constant feature of Wesley’s life.

See the many examples in Marquardt 1992.

Truth refers to integrity, veracity and honesty. Wesley’s understanding of truth is influenced by a realistic and empirical epistemology whereby he expected to reach and ascertain knowledge of the truth through empirical means and the testimony of those who had empirical knowledge. An example of this is to be found in Thoughts upon Slavery, where he set out to describe the socio-cultural conditions of Africa prior to the slave trade, and the cruelties involved in slavery and the slave trade.

Thoughts upon Slavery in Wesley 1979, vol. 11, pp. 59–79.

The only place where Wesley uses the phrase ‘social holiness’ is in his Preface to the 1739 edition of Hymns and Sacred Poems.

Wesley 2013, pp. 36–40.

The third problem that Wesley identifies is the ‘superstructure’ which is being built: that is, religion itself. The religion of the ‘mystic divines’ is ‘solitary religion’, which is focused on contemplation and does not include outward works.

Wesley 2013, pp. 37 and 38.

Wesley goes on to describe what he means by social religion or holiness as follows:

‘Faith working by love’ is the length and breadth and depth and height of Christian perfection. ‘This commandment have we from Christ, that he who loves God, love his brother also;’ and that we manifest our love ‘by doing good unto all men, especially to them that are of the household of faith’. And, in truth, whosoever loveth his brethren not in word only, but as Christ loved him, cannot but be zealous of good works. He feels in his soul a burning, restless desire of spending and being spent for them. My Father, will he say, worketh hitherto, and I work and, at all possible opportunities, he is, like his Master, going about doing good.

Wesley 2013, p. 39.

Hence ‘social holiness’ describes Wesley’s understanding that holiness is love; this love is manifested in the pursuit of the good of others. It thus only exists in the contexts of relationships with other people. Love, and hence holiness, cannot be manifested in solitude. To withdraw from people is to refuse to act in love and is thus a denial of holiness. It is important to note that by ‘social’ Wesley is not referring to the relationship between people and social structures; he is referring to interpersonal relationships between people. Hence ‘social holiness’ is the concrete manifestation of ‘holiness of heart’ in our relationships with other people through concrete acts which promote their good.

In Wesley’s terminology ‘works of mercy’ refers to practical action to meet the physical and spiritual needs of others. Scattered in his writings we find overlapping lists of these works. For our purposes two will suffice. In his sermon ‘The Scripture Way of Salvation’ he lists them as

feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, entertaining the stranger, visiting those that are in prison, or sick, or variously afflicted; such as the endeavouring to instruct the ignorant, to awaken the stupid sinner, to quicken the lukewarm, to confirm the wavering, to comfort the feeble-minded, to succour the tempted, or contribute in any manner to the saving of souls from death.

‘The Scripture Way of Salvation’, Sermon 43 in Wesley 1985, p. 166.

In ‘The Important Question’ he includes, ‘to be as eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame; an husband to the widow, a father to the fatherless’.

‘The Important Question’, Sermon 84 in Wesley 1985, p. 191.

By integrating the spiritual and the physical, ‘works of mercy’ address both the perpetrators and victims of human sin. In Thoughts upon Slavery Wesley argues that he is motivated both by love for the suffering slaves and for those involved in the slave trade.

Thoughts upon Slavery in Wesley 1979, vol. 11, pp. 76 and 77.

An important characteristic of works of mercy is that performing them requires effort and self-denial. Providing for the needs of others comes not out of our excess but through giving up that which we enjoy and believe we have a right to. Visiting the sick and prisoners in the eighteenth century, for example, required going into uncomfortable, dangerous and disagreeable places.

See ‘Self Denial’, Sermon 48 in Wesley 1985, p. 248.

Works of mercy are the expression of love for one’s neighbour; however in some of his later writings Wesley adds a further dimension, works of mercy are also a means of grace. He explains this in his sermon ‘On Zeal’:

In a Christian believer love sits upon the throne which is erected in the inmost soul; namely, love of God and man, which fills the whole heart, and reigns without a rival. In a circle near the throne are all holy tempers; – longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, fidelity, temperance; and if any other were comprised in ‘the mind which was in Christ Jesus.’ In an exterior circle are all the works of mercy, whether to the souls or bodies of men. By these we exercise all holy tempers – by these we continually improve them, so that all these are real means of grace.

‘On Zeal’, Sermon 92 in Wesley 1985, p. 313.

Works of mercy are a means through which God encounters and transforms people’s characters; they manifest a transformed character and through this manifestation they lead to further transformation. They are an expression of holiness and a means to become more holy.

Wesley proposed that the image of a ‘steward’ is an appropriate way of representing human beings in their relationship with God.

‘The Good Steward’, Sermon 51 in Wesley 1985, pp. 282–298.

Wesley’s concluding sections of Thoughts upon Slavery can be understood as an application of this theology of stewardship to the particular case of the slave trade. Here he applies his message to various categories of people involved in the slave trade, emphasising that they are responsible for the use of their resources in the enslavement of people and will be held accountable by God for this.

Thoughts upon Slavery in Wesley 1979, vol. 11, pp. 75–79.

Wesley wrote to the ‘men of reason and religion’, ‘The rich, the honourable, the great, we are thoroughly willing . . . to leave to you. Only let us alone with the poor, the vulgar, the base, the outcasts of men.’

A Further Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion, Part III, §3.35, in Wesley 1989a, p. 316.

This focus was, for Wesley, a concrete expression of what it meant to imitate Jesus in the world – that is, to walk as he walked. This is a phrase that Wesley regularly uses to describe outward holiness. As he stated in his sermon ‘On the Wedding Garment’, ‘In a word, holiness is having “the mind that was in Christ”, and the “walking as Christ walked”.’

‘On the Wedding Garment’, Sermon 127 in Wesley 1987, p. 147; similar examples can be found in ‘On the Death of George Whitefield’, Sermon 53 in Wesley 1985, p. 243, ‘The General Spread of the Gospel’, Sermon 63 in Wesley 1985, p. 488, Hymn 515 in A Collection of Hymns for the People Called Methodist in Wesley 1989b, p. 707, and A Plain Account of Christian Perfection in Wesley 2013, p. 190.

In a further letter he stated:

I want you to converse more, abundantly more, with the poorest of the people, who, if they have not taste, have souls, which you may forward on their way to heaven. And they have (many of them) faith, and the love of God in a larger measure than any persons I know. Creep in among these, in spite of dirt, and a hundred disgusting circumstances; and thus put off the gentlewoman. Do not confine your conversation to gentle and elegant people. I should like this as well as you do. But I cannot discover a precedent for it in the life of our Lord, or any of his Apostles. My dear friend, let you and I walk as he walked.

Wesley 1979, vol. 12, p. 301.

Theologically rooted in the conviction that God cares for and in a particular way has chosen the outcasts to be the objects of grace,

See Hymn 204 in Wesley 1989b, pp. 335 and 336.

Holiness and social engagement in the service of and in solidarity with the poor, oppressed and excluded are not equivalent. However, the Wesleyan threads described above suggest that such social engagement is an integral aspect of holiness. A contemporary interpretation of holiness needs to make this more explicit by reweaving these threads so that the pattern of relationships is clearer. As such this entails going beyond Wesley to creatively reimage what it means to embody holiness in our contexts.

Such a contemporary account should begin where Wesley begins, with a transforming encounter with the love of God in Jesus Christ. This is the taproot of holiness, and hence the proclamation of the gospel of God’s love in Christ through word, example and action is central to mission. The transforming encounter is not a one-off event but a continuing praxis of living with and before God in the fellowship of others on the same journey. Hence there is a need to emphasise the importance of small groups as the locus of the continuing encounter with God through mutually accountable fellowship. The goal of such groups is to nurture people in holiness that is outwardly expressed in a life characterised by ‘justice, mercy, and truth’.

Wesley’s triad of virtues continues to be a valuable summation of outward holiness. They provide a way to affirm the importance and comprehensive character of holiness which moves beyond individualistic piety and moralistic legalism. ‘Justice, mercy, and truth’ are not a set of principles or rules but rather orientating directions that provide a creative stimulus to discover in new contexts how holiness should be embodied. Hence for Wesley they stimulated a creative response to slavery that went beyond and contrary to individual biblical texts. Wesley’s use of them to critique social, political and economic life provokes us to embody them in new ways in our engagements with society. Wesley’s active engagement against slavery is an example of how works of mercy also go beyond personal charity and diaconal service to include action for social, political and economic transformation.

Historically, Methodists have engaged in diverse contexts, supporting a variety of social and political policies and projects often representing contradictory ideological perspectives and political goals. In the light of the argument above, social and political engagement is creatively faithful to but moving beyond the heritage of Wesley when it is committed to the transformation of the lives of the poor, the marginalised and the oppressed, when it stands in solidarity with them and addresses social, political and economic dynamics from the perspective of their impact on these people.

Works of mercy that include social engagement in solidarity with the excluded are both an expression of holiness and a means of growing in holiness. Action in solidarity with and for the other is a dynamic interaction in which the Spirit of God is present, stimulating, enabling and calling forth the transformation of all people involved. They are a means of grace through which God encounters and transforms people. This understanding of works of mercy as a means of grace enables us to reconceptualise social holiness to include an engagement not only on the personal but also on the structural level of society. We express holiness and become holy not only in our personal interaction with others but also as we respond to structural injustice, cruelty and untruth. This reconceptualisation of holiness affirms that such engagement is integral to what it means to be holy. It reaffirms the prophetic tradition of Isaiah that ‘holiness’ that is merely personal piety and morality, and that does not in some way engage structural injustice, cruelty and untruth in solidarity with the excluded, is not scriptural holiness.

See Leclerc 2001, and Gammie 1989, pp. 71–96.

Over the centuries the identity of European Christianity in its diverse expressions has been deeply entwined with the dominant socio-cultural matrix. On the one hand, Churches have legitimated and nurtured the ideological and cultural identity of European societies; on the other, influential forces within the socio-cultural matrix have supported dominant Churches. This symbiotic relationship between Christianity and the socio-cultural matrix is unravelling, resulting in a sense of loss of identity and purpose for many Churches. At the same time the presence of migrant populations poses a challenge to the dominant secular socio-cultural matrix as a consequence of their alternative cultural values and practices – values and practices that are often complexly related to deep-seated religious convictions.

In this context the Churches of all confessions must resist the temptation to seek to recover the role of being the guardians of the European cultural heritage. Methodist Churches need to (re)discover their identity as communities of ‘justice, mercy, and truth’. In contrast to Wesley’s letter to King George III such a (re)discovery will not lead to a position of passive submission to the state nor to an alignment with conservative political forces. Rather it will lead to Churches becoming critical and troublesome communities within society whose identity is shaped by its creative embodiment of ‘justice, mercy, and truth’. Their proclamation, but above all their praxis, ought to become a constant challenge to society, representing an alternative to the dominant culture, an alternative whose primary characteristic is not legalistic moralism nor increasingly exotic piety, but rather concrete engagement on behalf of and in solidarity with the excluded and suffering other.

The increasing presence of migrants of other faiths, particularly but not exclusively Muslims, has provoked a vigorous reaction from many conservative Europeans that argues for discriminatory action and legislation against Islam in the name of defending Europe’s Christian identity. The consequence is that, despite increasing secularisation, the traditional identification of European culture and Christianity has been reasserted to reject the presence of migrants from other cultural and religious traditions. Hence Churches are challenged to articulate clearly in word and action what constitutes Christian identity. Wesley’s critique of European society as a consequence of its failure to be characterised by ‘justice, mercy, and truth’

See for example ‘The Mystery of Iniquity’, Sermon 61, §28–36, in Wesley 1985, pp. 464–470.

Secularisation is increasingly removing Christianity from the centre of European cultures and societies. Decreasing church attendance is accompanied by loss of status and the traditional social and cultural influence of the Churches. This change needs to be grasped as a challenge to renewal by relocation. Churches are called to follow Jesus outside the city gates, rediscovering the Wesleyan wisdom of locating themselves among those who exist on the margins of society. It is here that the presence of migrant communities provides a new opportunity for Churches to discover a new centre among the excluded.

Migrants are not a uniform group. There are highly qualified migrants who have been headhunted by major companies for lucrative positions. There are foreign executives employed by multinational companies at the expense of local people. There are people who have left their home country temporarily or permanently in order to escape desperate economic conditions to find the resources to provide for their own needs and those of their families who remain behind. Some are undocumented workers who perform menial tasks for starvation wages, many in appalling conditions and under constant threat of discovery and deportation. Others are documented but their educational qualifications are not recognised and they are forced to work in basic jobs. There are temporary workers, particularly from Eastern Europe, who are paid low wages, with little legal protection and who suffer a variety of forms of discrimination. There are asylum seekers and refugees who have fled violence and war and who face a mountain of bureaucratic obstacles to obtain the right to live and work in the country of refuge. Then there are the victims of human trafficking who work in the sex industry. Churches that relocate themselves on the margins are Churches that stand in solidarity with the victimised and excluded migrants and embody ‘justice, mercy, and truth’ in relation to them.

What concretely do ‘justice, mercy, and truth’ require of Methodist (and other) Churches in Europe today?

The commitment to truth requires that all our responses to the issue of migration be based on a careful, critical and nuanced analysis of the causes and consequences of migration. Such an analysis must recognise the contested character of knowledge and the diverse political and economic interests that influence and in some cases distort information provided to the public. In keeping with Wesley’s focus on the ‘outcasts of men’, such an analysis needs to assume the perspective of the impact on the marginalised, the poor, the exploited, the powerless and the victims, rather than on the wealthy and the powerful. The analysis must be nuanced, recognising the complexity and diversity of contexts, motivations and consequences of migration. The commitment to truth challenges Churches not only to analyse but also to propagate the truth and hence to provide the broader public with the information that they have discovered.

The commitment to justice challenges Churches and Christians to become involved in the political processes to promote legislative approaches that are rooted in a critical analysis of migration, that affirm the dignity and value of all human beings, the right of all to due legal process, and an orientation towards the powerless and the victims. Concretely this includes educating congregation members, particularly those who have voting rights, and a direct engagement with broader society in the form of public theology. Many migrants, particularly asylum seekers, victims of various forms of trafficking and exploited labourers, have no access to legal support or even information as to legal processes. A practical embodiment of the commitment to justice could include a variety of projects to provide legal information and support to such people.

The commitment to mercy challenges Churches to be the voice of the voiceless, the silenced and the victims – these include not only those who are present in European countries but also those who never arrive. Mercy requires deeds as well as words. Many Churches and Christian organisations are engaged in a variety of projects aimed at addressing the basic needs of migrants, ranging from providing food and household necessities, helping people find accommodation and work, to language course and skills training. Further, mercy as Wesley viewed it included a concern for the spiritual well-being of all, hence it requires Churches to challenge their members to engage in the pursuit of ‘justice, mercy, and truth’ in relation to migrants for this is integral to the spiritual well-being of those who are not migrants, who have the resources to empower the marginalised or who benefit from policies and practices that discriminate against and exploit migrants.

This (re)discovery of the identity of Churches of all traditions as communities characterised by the practice of ‘justice, mercy, and truth’ in solidarity with outcasts does not undermine or reduce the significance of the communal worship and sacramental life of the Church, nor the importance of spiritual formation. On the contrary, they obtain a new and intensified significance.

The communal worship of the Church, particularly as it is consummated in the Eucharist, is of fundamental importance. In the Eucharist the congregation gathers in the presence of God manifested in the Crucified One; it comes to a renewed awareness of the love of God in Christ; it discovers again God’s ‘justice, mercy, and truth’; it brings to God society in all its complexity and pain, and is renewed and strengthened for its mission in the world. In the context of a secularised society Wesley’s affirmation of the importance of regular communion regains a new and heightened importance as the place where God’s personal accepting, liberating, healing and transforming presence is encountered. It is this that distinguishes Churches from a host of non-governmental organisations. The regular retelling and exposition of the narratives of God’s presence and action in the life of Israel and Jesus gives a particular shape to the Christian praxis and proclamation of ‘justice, mercy, and truth’.

Churches will only become communities of people characterised by ‘justice, mercy, and truth’ in solidarity with the excluded through a process of deliberate spiritual formation. Central to the early Methodist praxis of holiness was the system of classes and related small groups. These groups provided the context for mutual accountability, encouragement and support for the difficult task of living a holy life in a hostile society. In the context of secularised societies shaped by diverse political, social and economic forces such small groups can become places for mutual strengthening, reflection, encouragement and accountability as Churches become counter-cultural communities.

The proclamation of the gospel regains a new significance as the call to experience the transforming love of God within the community of the Church and so to participate in its embodiment of ‘justice, mercy, and truth’. In contrast to Wesley’s emphasis on ‘fleeing the wrath to come’, a concept that has lost any meaning and significance in contemporary Europe, evangelism becomes the announcement of what God has done in the crucified and resurrected Christ, what God is doing through the Spirit, and an invitation to turn around and participate in God’s action in the world. Such an invitation includes the critique of lifestyles, behaviour patterns and institutional forms that embody injustice, cruelty and falsehood as detrimental to the spiritual well-being of perpetrators and bystanders. In this way evangelism becomes the recovery in new words of Jesus’ call: ‘Here comes God’s kingdom! Change your hearts and lives, and trust the good news!’ (Mk 1:14, Common English Bible).