Open to Correction

As I’ve been reading more and more about John Wesley and his teachings, the more I’m impressed by his heart and vision. Not only did the man preach between 42,000-50,000 sermons in his lifetime (more than 2 a day during his entire adult life), but he traveled some 225,000 miles to preach mostly on horseback. The more he preached, the less he was invited back to preach because of his prophetic words to the dead Church of England. His words of compassion were saved for the working class whom he would preach to at 5am and 5pm almost everyday wherever they were at. He said of his sermons, “I design plain truth for plain people.”

In the last few days I read through a short biography called “Strangely Warmed: the Amazing Life of John Wesley” which I highly recommend. His life, struggles, work ethic, heartbreak, and vision are very easy to connect with.

One of my favorite things about Wesley is his openness to correction.

He said in his preface to his sermons something we ALL need to hear (especially the self-proclaimed “discernment blogs”, as well as those who listen to Rush all day :) ….

“Are you persuaded you see more clearly than me? It is not unlikely that you may. Then treat me as you would desire to be treated yourself upon a change of circumstances. Point me out a better way than I have yet known. Show me it is so, by plain proof of Scripture. And if I linger in the path I have been accustomed to tread, and am therefore unwilling to leave it, labor with me a little; take me by the hand, and lead me as I am able to bear. But be not displeased if I entreat you not to beat me down in order to quicken my pace: I can go but feebly and slowly at best; then, I should not be able to go at all. May I not request of you, further, not to give me hard names in order to bring me into the right way. Suppose I were ever so much in the wrong, I doubt this would set me right. Rather, it would make me run so much the farther from you, and so get more and more out of the way. If you are angry, so shall I be too; and then there will be small hopes of finding the truth.”

He says this in Christian Perfection…

“Be patient with those who disagree with you. Do not condemn those who do not see things just as you do, or who think it is their duty to contradict you, whether in a great thing or a small. O, beware of touchiness, of testiness, of an unwillingness to be corrected. Beware of being provoked to anger at the least criticism, and avoiding those who do not accept your word.”

This is not easy. It is much easier to make over-generalizations, call names, or discount people due to the label that has been placed on them by others than to actually intelligently and compassionately engage with an idea.