Yancey on Wesley
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Philip Yancey has an interesting column in the current issue of Christianity Today. In it, he describes taking John Wesley's Journal along on a speaking tour of England. (The article is here.) Yancey challenges Wesley's reluctance to 'stop and smell the roses,' coming close to accusing him of not appreciating the beauty of God's creation in the here-and-now in his relentless quest to bring the saving message of the gospel to needy people.
Now I'll be the first to admit that Mr. Wesley could be overly intense much of the time. But I don't think it was because he was so heavenly focused that he was of no earthly good. Instead, I think he was trying to do what St. Augustine spends so much time talking about in the Confessions. Namely, that as we express our love for the things of this world, we should love them in God. We should not love the creation as an end in itself, but rather as an expression of the glorious God who made it. And we should not love people as ends in themselves - that does neither us nor them any good - we should rather love them because they are made in God's image and because in loving them we learn better how to love God. A proper orientation for our love (which is, I think, what Wesley was concerned with) helps to make sure our love does not turn us toward idolatry.
Yancey writes that he is interested in looking at the balance "between our investment in this world and in the next." I'm not sure that's the right way to frame it. Because if we love the creation in God, our love for it does not distract us at all from our focus on eternity. In fact, it prepares us for it by showing it to us in the present.
posted by Andrew C. Thompson at 8:36 PM
4 Comments:
Spot on, brother. I remember reading this editorial thinking much the same thing. I don't think it's really possible to be so heavenly minded to be of no earthly good. I think the most heavenly minded were the most earthly good: St. Francis, Mother Theresa, etc. We only think them of no earthly good because they have so little interest in the paltry things of "the world" (or earth) that they sometimes seem alien.
Yes, I thought it was an interesting piece too. I did think it was cool (in a nerdy, historical theology way) to travel with JW's journals as one's reading on a trip through England...
I don't know about the idea of loving people because it helps us love God more. Wouldn't Jesus have then said, love the lord your god /through/ loving your neighbor as yourself. It seems to me that because people are created in the image of God then have intrinsic worth simply by virtue of this image however tarnished by the fall. I think it is in loving people in such a way that the image of God in them is cared for and recognized that we learn to love God. The only image of God we will ever see until the beatific vision is his image in people.
...I'm not sure that is too different than what you were originally saying, but, either way, I think the reason for loving people is their being bearers of God's image and thus being worthy of intrinsic love.
I have a lot of respect for Yancey but I agree with you all. More focus on Heaven = more focus on the things that really matter here.
I seriously doubt that Wesley regrets spending too much time spreading the Gospel!
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