Stan Pelkey
John Wesley (1703–1791) was an English (Anglican) priest and theologian trained at Oxford University who built a world-changing ministry as an evangelist, field preacher, organizer, and author and editor. With his younger brother, the Anglican priest and poet, Charles Wesley (1707–1788), John started the Methodist revival movement within the Church of England. He later contributed to the creation of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1784–1939) in the newly formed United States in part by ordaining elders to administer the sacraments and Thomas Coke (1747–1814) to serve as Superintendent (later Bishop) for the new denomination. [See note 1 at end.]
In this post, I’ll discuss four ways that John Wesley traced relationships between Christian sanctification, wealth, and care for the poor and marginalized. I’ll summarize them quickly, then elaborate on each more fully below. First, John Wesley linked acts of mercy or what we might call ministry to the poor and marginalized to the totality of his teaching on salvation. Caring for the poor and marginalized was part of the way one “waited for the Lord” to act in one’s life prior to justification, and ongoing care remained a part of the subsequent process of sanctification. Second, Wesley offered teachings and admonitions regarding how one was to make and spend one’s money. Here, too, he linked this aspect of Christian believers’ lives to the totality of their spiritual health and well-being. Third, Wesley argued for structural changes in Great Britain that would benefit the poor and marginalized. Most significantly, Wesley’s public opposition to the slave trade was a distinctive aspect of his personal piety and social witness in a nation—Great Britain—that did not abolish the slave trade until 1807. (See John Wesley, Thoughts Upon Slavery [London, 1778].) https://docsouth.unc.edu/church/wesley/wesley.html Fourth, Wesley built organizations from the ground up, such as his discipleship-oriented class meetings and bands, that made space for all people to participate. He also provided opportunities for eighteenth-century women to exercise leadership roles. The denominations that eventually grew out of his organizational activities maintained concern for the poor, abolition, and the place of women in the church and society. Thus, José Bonino is correct to write, “[Wesley’s] theology rests on an organic unity between the personal encounter with Christ in the power of the Spirit and the commitment to a life of active love and service.” [Note 2 at end]
Let’s first consider how John Wesley framed the call to provide active care for the poor and marginalized in relation to his general soteriology (see appendix 1 below), and especially to sanctification. Consistent with Protestant theological traditions, Wesley stressed that we are justified by grace through faith, not by works. However, Wesley also taught that immediately upon being justified, we begin to experience a second working of grace from the Holy Spirit that leads to our sanctification or transformation in holiness. This sanctification is being “born of the Spirit,” with “real” and “relative” changes occurring in our lives. As God’s power renews us, we grow in grace and the image of God, come to love God and humanity more fully, and gain Christ’s mind and character. [Note 3] Fundamentally, through grace and faith, justification and sanctification should bear fruit in individuals and communities in this world, today. [4] But Wesley went further, arguing that Christians neglecting what he called acts of piety and mercy after justification “cannot reasonably expect that [they] shall ever be sanctified.” [5] As we’ll see below, care for the poor and marginalized was, for Wesley, a component of these important acts of mercy. Thus, from its earliest days, the Methodist movement was committed to ministry among the poor and less fortunate, which Wesley himself modeled through his work in the fields, towns, and cities of England, as well as through his charitable giving. [6]
John and Charles Wesley argued that both seekers and believers should engage in the acts of piety and acts of mercy, which together form the means of grace. They understood the means of grace to be “channel[s] through which the grace of God is conveyed” [7] and through which the Christian disciple might see Christ, face to face. [8] Acts of piety include public and private prayer, reading and searching the Scriptures, public worship, receiving communion, and fasting; the Wesleys identified these practices as “explicitly authorized in Christian tradition and Scripture” for experiencing divine grace. [9] Acts of mercy, which, again, are an aspect of the means of grace [10], begin with almsgiving but also include feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, assisting strangers, visiting the sick and those in prison, comforting the afflicted, and instructing the ignorant. [11] (We can see biblical bases for these perspectives in numerous passages, such as Matthew 6, Luke 22:7–20, and Acts 2:42–47; 17:17, 19–21; and 20:7–8, 36–38.) Similarly, in his third sermon on “The Sermon on the Mount,” John Wesley called Christians to be “peace-makers,” which encompasses “[doing] good unto all men [sic],” [12] including family, enemies, and the poor. “Goodness” should focus on “[the] bodies of all men [sic]” and address hunger and nakedness. [13] Note, too, that in his sixth sermon on the “Sermon on the Mount,” Wesley stressed the importance of having right intentions and seeking to glorify God alone when engaging in acts of mercy. In other words, one does not “buy” one’s way into heaven; rather, one genuinely loves others and simultaneously worships God through acts of mercy. (See Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5–7.)
Second, John Wesley was concerned about how Christians make and spend money, and he framed his underlying concepts and practical recommendations by appeals to good stewardship and generosity toward those in need (which was both an act of obedience and a means to avoid the corrupting influence of wealth). In his sermon, “The Good Steward,” Wesley wrote that Jesus repeatedly represents his followers as “stewards.” [14] All that we have, including “worldly goods” and money, comes from God. [15] This is foundational. With that in mind, it is not surprising that, in his sermon, “The Use of Money,” Wesley spends significant time arguing that we must not ruin our health or harm others as we generate income. [16] Furthermore, in “The Use of Money,” Wesley (famously) advocates that his followers should gain all they can, save all that’s possible, and give all they can, but Wesley emphasizes giving, for the advantage of others [17], first for one’s family, then for the church, then all people, and especially the poor. [18] Similarly, in his sermon, “The More Excellent Way,” Wesley urges each of us to act as a “general benefactor” (VI.1): we’ll gain our reward in heaven by “laying out” rather than “laying up.”
This all flows back to good stewardship. As stewards, we are to use all the provisions God provides, including our income, in the manner that the “master pleases” and “according to [his] will.” [19] At the Final Judgment, we will be called to account: did we rightly use our gifts (vis-à-vis God’s will)? [20] Were we “general benefactors,” “restoring” to God what we did not need by “feeding the hungry” and “clothing the naked”? [21] Answers to such questions will impact how the Lord receives us: will we be invited to “enter… into the joy of [the] Lord”? [22]
For Wesley, then, money is a gift of God intended to address need, such as food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, clothing for the naked, rest for the weary, and aid to orphans and widows. Christians are not called to steward merely by saving; they are called to marshal resources to provide caring support to as many as possible for as long as possible. Therefore, Christians will also reign in their own spending on personal pleasure (e.g., food, drink, clothing, entertainment) to make more money available to help those in need.
In historical Wesleyan theology, care for the poor is an act of obedience to God, but it is also conducive to one’s spiritual maturation. By contributing to the care of the poor and those in need, one actively combats wealth’s potential spiritual dangers. Wealth can turn our hearts toward love of the world [23] and love of money, which is “the root of all evil.” [24] Freely giving reduces these risks.
Third, John Wesley was not concerned simply with individual charity. He also advocated for structural change in society by means of modifying public policy and law. In his pamphlet, “Thoughts on the Present Scarcity of Provisions” (1773), Wesley traced what he saw as connections between widespread hunger in Britain [25], the production of alcohol, and the chasing after luxury items by the affluent. [26] As a result, Wesley wanted to see substantive, government-driven social and economic reforms that he believed would make available more land and jobs, plus the levying of export and luxury taxes to discourage spending on luxuries. [27] Furthermore, in 1778, Wesley wrote and published a nearly 100-page booklet in which he concluded that slavery “is a violation both of justice and religion,” encourages vice in master and slave, and undermines “freedom [which] is unquestionably the birth right of all mankind.” [28]
Finally, given that John Wesley regularly admonished his listeners and readers to care for the poor, it’s understandable that the poor and marginalized remained important to later generations of Methodists. Evidence includes many American Methodists’ concerns (and abolitionist actions) regarding slavery in the United States [29] and the establishment globally of schools, colleges, and hospitals by Methodist denominations. [30]
Several of the later, reforming Wesleyan-Methodist denominations in the United States that broke away from the Methodist Episcopal Church were particularly attuned to issues of social justice and the poor. The Wesleyan Church, for example, was formed in 1843 as an intentional “abolitionist denomination” and immediately called for the end of slavery in the United States. Wesleyans were active in the Underground Railroad and planted “anti-slavery churches” in the South prior to the Civil War. Later, in 1848, “the first convention on women’s rights in American history was held in the Wesleyan Chapel at Seneca Falls, New York.” [31] Similarly, the Free Methodist Church was established in 1860 to promote “freedom for all people from slavery, free seats in every house of worship, [and] freedom for women to serve in all roles in the church[,] including pastoral ministry.” [32]
In addition to advocating for and working among the poor and marginalized, these denominations and the Methodist Episcopal Church and its successors, such as the United Methodist Church, established schools and colleges that have educated generations of students, many of whom were first-generation college students, refugees, and economically disadvantaged students who received financial support. Although many of these Wesleyan-Methodist schools and colleges are small, Christian liberal arts colleges, like Houghton College (Wesleyan) or Roberts Wesleyan College (Free Methodist), others founded by the MEC have become major research universities, including Duke University, Emory University, Southern Methodist University, and Syracuse University. Some of these institutions have de-emphasized their historical religious missions, but they continue to provide educational, economic, and health-care-related opportunities for people of all races and economic statuses. Wesleyan-Methodist care for all people persists, directly and indirectly.
Those seeking to live out their Christian faith in the context of the Wesleyan-Methodist tradition should recognize that there are both short-term and eternal implications for salvation and holiness in every aspect of the acquisition and employment of money, and consumption should not be construed solely as a personal matter among those following a disciplined Christian life. For the heirs of John and Charles Wesley, spiritual growth and vitality cannot be separated from care for the poor and marginalized, nor from the careful use of financial resources as an act of obedience, stewardship, and faithfulness.
Notes:
1. For a short introduction to the life and work of John Wesley, see William J. Abraham, Methodism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2019), 2–16. Introductory information on Wesley’s field preaching and organization of converts and followers into classes and bands can be found in Abraham, Methodism, 9. For a more detailed discussion of John Wesley’s life, see, for example, Howard A. Snyder, The Radical Wesley and Patterns for Church Renewal (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1996), 13–64.
2. José Míguez Bonino, “‘The Poor Will Always Be with You’: Can Wesley Help Us Discover How Best to Serve ‘Our Poor’ Today?” in The Poor and the People Called Methodists, 1729–1999, edited by Richard P. Heitzenrater (Nashville, Tennessee: Kingswood Books, 2002), 192. Bonino points to differences between the poor in early-stage industrialization versus the poor in an era of globalization, the shrinking state, and privatization—all operative today (186, 187). Nevertheless, he celebrates John Wesley’s advocacy for works of mercy and efforts to understand the sources of poverty (187), as well as his refusal to blame the poor for their economic condition (188).
3. John Wesley, “The Scripture Way of Salvation” in John Wesley’s Fifty-Three Sermons, edited by Edward H. Sugden (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1983), sections I.4, III.4 and 5. In this note and all others in this post, Roman numerals with Arabic numerals in citations to Wesley’s sermons refer to sections and subsections; page numbers refer to those in John Wesley’s Fifty-Three Sermons, edited by Sugden.
4. For other representative discussions of this point, see Abraham, Methodism, 45–47; Paul Wesley Chilcote, Recapturing the Wesleys’ Vision: An Introduction to the Faith of John and Charles Wesley (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, 2004), 25–31; and David Wright, How God Makes the World a Better Place: A Wesleyan Primer on Faith, Work, and Economic Transformation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Christian’s Library Press, 2012), 18–20, 50–51.
5. Wesley, “The Scripture Way of Salvation,” in Sugden, III.4 and 5.
6. Wesley practiced what he preached regarding the use of money and charity. He maintained a frugal standard of living throughout his life and gave away much of his income from his publishing activities each year.
7. John Wesley, “The Means of Grace,” in Sugden, II.1 (171), IV.3 (179). Wesley calls these activities “works of piety” and adds fasting to the list in “The Scripture Way of Salvation,” in Sugden, ed., John Wesley’s Fifty-Three Sermons, III.6 (730).
8. Wesley, “Upon Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Discourse III,” in Sugden, I.8 (260–261). Charles uses the terms “forms… of outward righteousness” and “channels of thy grace” in a poem on John 2:13; see S. T. Kimbrough and Oliver A. Beckerlegge, eds., The Unpublished Poetry of Charles Wesley, Vol. 2 (Nashville: Kingswood Books, 1990), 219.
9. Ted A. Campbell, “Means of Grace and Forms of Piety,” in The Oxford Handbook of Methodist Studies, edited by James E. Kirby and William J. Abraham (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), 280–282, 284.
10. For more on this point, see Randy Maddox, “‘Visit the Poor’: John Wesley, the Poor, and the Sanctification of Believers,” in The Poor and the People Called Methodists, 1729–1999, edited by Heitzenrater, 64; Randy Maddox, “Wesley’s Prescription for ‘Making Disciples of Jesus Christ’: Insights for the 21st Century Church,” Quarterly Review Vo. 23, no. 1 (2003): 15–28; and Joerg Rieger, “Grace Under Pressure: What Really Matters in the Church,” 43.
11. Wesley, “Upon Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Discourse VI,” in Sugden, 0.2 and I.1 (311).
12. Wesley, “Upon Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Discourse III,” in Sugden, II.4 (263).
13. Wesley, “Upon Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Discourse III,” in Sugden, II.5 (264).
14. Wesley, “The Good Steward,” in Sugden, 0.1 and 1.1 (736).
15. Wesley, “The Good Steward,” I.7 (738).
16. Wesley, “The Use of Money,” in Sugden, I.1–I.6 (636–639); III.6 (645).
17. Wesley, “The Use of Money,” 0.2 (635–636).
18. Wesley, “The Use of Money,” III.3 (643–644).
19. Wesley, “The Good Steward,” I.1 (736). Justice and mercy, particularly toward the poor, “please the master.” See, for example, Job 31:13–28; Amos 2:6–7; 4:1; 5:7, 11; 8:4; and Habakkuk 3:13–14.
20. Wesley, “The Good Steward,” III.3 (744).
21. Wesley, “The Good Steward,” III.5 (746). This is consistent with Matthew 25:31–46.
22. Wesley, “The Good Steward,” III.6 (747).
23. Wesley, “The Good Steward,” III.3 (745). See also Donald W. Dayton, Rediscovering an Evangelical Heritage: A Tradition and Trajectory of Integrating Piety and Justice (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2014), 153–158, on church designs, pew rentals, and preaching to the poor among nineteenth-century American Wesleyans.
24. Wesley, “The Use of Money,” 0.2 (635).
25. John Wesley, “Thoughts on the Present Scarcity of Provisions,” in The Works of John Wesley, Vol. XI, Thoughts, Addresses, Prayers, Letters (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan [reprint of London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1872]), 54.
26. Wesley, “Thoughts on the Present Scarcity of Provisions,” 56.
27. Wesley, “Thoughts on the Present Scarcity of Provisions,” 58.
28. John Wesley, Thoughts Upon Slavery (London, 1778). https://docsouth.unc.edu/church/wesley/wesley.html (79).
29. See Dayton, Rediscovering an Evangelical Heritage: A Tradition and Trajectory of Integrating Piety and Justice, 58, 113, chapter 7 (especially 119–120), and discussion of parallels with early feminism in chapter 8; and Abraham, Methodism, 83.
30. Abraham, Methodism, 88–92.
31. https://www.wesleyan.org/about/our-story (accessed April 27, 2025).
32. https://fmcusa.org/history#fm-timeline (accessed April 27, 2025).
Appendix 1: A Short Summary of John Wesley’s Teaching on Grace, Faith, Justification and Sanctification
In his sermon, “The Scripture Way of Salvation” (1765), Wesley argues that the (true) end of religion is salvation, and the means is faith (made possible by God’s free grace) (“Scriptural Way” 0.1; 723). But he also explicitly states that this religion / salvation is not simply about going to heaven (I.1; 723). It is a present salvation, an entire work, from “dawning of grace” to glorious consummation (I.1; 723). This was a consistent position of Wesley’s. In a much earlier sermon, “The Spirit of Bondage and Adoption” (1739), Wesley asserted that salvation is not simply freedom from damnation. It’s spiritual transformation that moves beyond religious observance to the opportunity to become one who fully loves God and fellow human beings. Through the Spirit (“Spirit of Bondage” III.1; 133), guilt and the power of sin can end (III.4; 134), and one can become “zealous of all good works” (III.7; 135). This is holiness: obedience to God’s will (IV.4; 138), including “weightier matters of the law, in justice, mercy, and the love of God” (“The Means of Grace” I.2; 169). Where the spirit of love is, life is “under grace” (“Spirit of Bondage” 0.5; 126).
Wesley repeatedly emphasizes God’s free gift of grace and grace’s absolute centrality and necessity in the whole process of salvation. In his sermon, “The Means of Grace” (1739), he refers to “preventing, justifying, [and] sanctifying grace” (II.1; 170–171), which align with the stages of salvation that he envisioned, from the Spirit first awakening us to our spiritual danger before we become Christians (“Spirit of Bondage” II.1; 129), through justification, and then on to sanctification. Faith is the basis by which we are “saved, justified, and sanctified” (“Scriptural Way” II.4; 727). Faith is more than “bare assent” to propositions. Even devils have such faith (“The Marks of the New Birth” [1741], I.2; 201). One must acknowledge “the necessity and merit of [Christ’s] death and the power of His resurrection” as the only means to save and exercise “reliance,” “trust,” and “cleaving” (“Salvation by Faith” [1738], I.5; 21).
Justification is “pardon” and forgiveness of sin; its price is Christ’s blood. In the same moment that justification occurs, however, sanctification begins (“Scriptural Way” I.4; see also “On Sin in Believers,” II.2; 672). For Wesley, the end or goal, therefore, is not just being pardoned but being transformed into a holy person, one whose heart is “stamped” with the image of God and who has the mind of Christ and heavenly “tempers” (“The New Birth” [1743], III.1; 573). This leads necessarily to love for neighbors (“The Marks of the New Birth” III.3; 207). Without such holiness, we have no chance of seeing God (“The New Birth” III.2; 574). Thus, salvation, taken as a whole, has ramifications for individual lives and communities today.
