Humpty Dumpty and “Wesleyan Evangelicals”
From Through the Looking-Glass. Illustration by John Tenniel.
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone,
"it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less."
(Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass)
The word ‘evangelical’ has hit Humpty Dumpty times. Today the word is used interchangeably with “fundamentalist” or “right-wing Republican.” It has been politicized and spun into unflattering depictions. Secular media has emphasized the “evangelical” clergy who are part of President Trump’s spiritual advisory team. No United Methodist is on that list. More substance is required to define “evangelical” than registering as a Republican or having a subscription to Christianity Today, or knowing what an altar call is or that “the Word” is code language for the Bible.
When used with integrity, the term captures the vision and convictions of a vibrant portion of the Protestant tribe within the universal faith. Professor David Bebbington has offered what many agree is a fair ‘quadrilateral’ of basic core Protestant evangelical convictions. As listed on the website of the National Association of Evangelicals, they are:
Conversionism – the belief that lives need to be transformed through a ‘born-again’ experience and a life-long process of following Jesus.
Activism – the expression and demonstration of the gospel in missionary and social reform efforts.
Biblicism – a high regard for and obedience to the Bible as the ultimate authority.
Crucicentrism – a stress on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as making possible the redemption of humanity.
The church is moving toward a mitosis moment in the creation of a new cell within the Wesleyan body of Christ. No one term does justice to this emerging movement. It has been called ‘traditional,’ but that honorable word can infer a stodgy resistance to change. Jaroslav Pelikan of Yale once defined traditionalism as the conviction that nothing be done for the first time. The new movement gives every indication of outside-the-box approaches to church and ministry in anything but “traditional-ism” ways. Others have called the new movement “orthodox,” but that honorable term also has issues. Are Christians who disagree with this orthodoxy to be considered heretics? Eastern Orthodox Christians can giggle at us Wesleyans and sweetly ask why we are 17 centuries late to the party. With clear and winsome use, the term “evangelical” can make a difference.
Consider these qualities of a Wesleyan evangelical Christian and church. What qualities are held in common with all Christians, with other Christians of the evangelical family, and with the distinctive Wesleyan tribe? A caution when researching faith groups other than one’s own is the tendency to compare the ideal of one’s own position with the smelly realities of the “other guys.” That said, it is helpful to recall an anonymous comment about ancient Rome when it shifted from the Republic to the Empire: “They loved their ideals even after they lost them.” The ability to express and affirm the best of one’s own position, however imperfectly lived, provides a vision for forward motion and healthy nudging as one goes onto perfection.
These qualities come without suggestion that other Wesleyan bodies with clear evangelical theological identities (for example, Free Methodist, Wesleyan, Nazarene, Salvation Army, and all African American Methodist expressions) are unworthy of affirmation and support. Each has much to teach any new expression birthed from the existing United Methodist Church. In no special order, consider these qualities of a healthy, faithful, Wesleyan evangelical expression:
Core gospel teaching and faith. The Triune God, repentance and faith, salvation and sanctification, a vision of gospel and church aligned with historic orthodox (small “o”) Christianity, and affirmation of the historic traditional creeds are central pillars of evangelical Wesleyan faith. Thus, Bebbington’s four-fold description of evangelicals fairly includes the Wesleyan suburb of the tribe. Embracing the creeds sets Wesleyans apart from fundamentalists and some evangelical colleagues, especially those who bestow on local congregations final authority on what is and is not the gospel. The substance of belief is held with a humility that recognizes, as E. Stanley Jones reminded us, that none of the creeds mention the centrality of the love of God, the One “whose nature and whose name is love.” With the meat of the gospel comes the potatoes of redemptive orthodoxy, realizing one can be technically pure in belief and still abuse the spouse, kick the dog, and nurse bigotry against one’s neighbor. The main Wesleyan feast always includes meat and potatoes, an orthodox faith lived and not simply lauded.
Taking the Bible seriously and literally. Yes, Psalm 91:4 can suggest God is a cosmic chicken (“He will cover you with his feathers and under his wings you will sing for joy”), but reading scripture in the Wesleyan “plain sense” makes clear where metaphorical language is the literal reading. The virgin birth of Christ as the fact/truth of the incarnation, the atoning death of Christ for human sin, the bodily resurrection, the ascension of Christ to the Father, the fact of the Spirit’s descent at Pentecost, and the ‘blessed hope’ all are the real deal. Pastors who affirm the fact of these biblical teachings are welcomed to lead, and to do the tough work of living the faith in ways that cold orthodoxy devoid of transformed living can never understand.
Mellow at the boundaries but fixed at the center. Consider the essence of Wesley’s classic words: “At all opinions that do not strike at the root of Christianity we think and let think.” Debate and disagreement are welcome and necessary on styles of worship, economic/political implications of Kingdom righteousness, the nature of the sacraments, and the specifics of how to be discipled. Healthy Christianity embraces questions and challenges. In Eastern Orthodoxy, Thomas is called “The Apostle of Certainty,” since it was through his doubt that he came to the understanding of the identity of Jesus as “my Lord and my God” (John 20:28). That said, the necessity of the new birth, Spirit-filled living, the atonement, the scriptures as God’s inspired written word and “the way to Heaven,” will not be interpreted into irrelevance. To modify a Broadway musical ditty, a Wesleyan evangelical movement will not birth a church that just can’t say “No,” refusing to draw lines of belief. Nor will the new expression surrender to a legalism that confuses the depth of sanctity with the abundance of prohibitions. Clergy who reject the factual nature of such as the miracles and resurrection of Christ may find employment but not in the new Methodism. The center holds.
The Great Commission and the Great Commandment are joined at the hip. Wesley was clear, both in The Character of a Methodist and his distinctive spiritual emphasis expressed in A Plain Account of Christian Perfection. In authentic Methodism, love of God and neighbor are core metrics. Whatever else illustrates Christian perfection, love of God and neighbor always hold seats of honor at the table of a life lived in the power of “Christian perfection.” In Wesley’s exhortation, “You have nothing to do but save souls; therefore, spend and be spent in this work,” the Great Commission finds its central focus for Wesleyan expression. As Wesley bid farewell to Asbury on his way to the colonies, he did not say, “First, do no harm.” He did say, “Offer them Christ.” Flowing from conversion, the commitment to the means of grace confirms the conversion as the fruit of “making disciples.” Stacking converts with a calculator rather than by transformed lives and communities is not the Wesleyan way.
Reclaiming evangelical Wesleyan social prophetic ministry. Much Protestant fundamentalism does not actively reject gospel engagement in the areas of social and economic justice. Other that selective issues, such as abortion, and occasional band aid efforts (one large church I know sets aside one Saturday every year to do community service), coherent social witness is ignored. Worse, it can be questioned as a distraction from the gospel rather than a fruit that inherently flows from a church faithfully rooted in the seed of the gospel. In contrast, I was reading the 1940 Book of Discipline from the (then) new Methodist Church, and found its call to seek peace, pay fair wages, treat all folks equally, and other calls to justice that are fully consistent with biblically-based prophetic Wesleyan Christianity. To be clear, the church often has failed to live up to the standards of the Founder, and such failures always must drive the church again to her knees in repentance and restoration. The bottom line is this for Wesleyan evangelicals: any understanding of the gospel or Christian life in which the fruit of love for neighbor is seen as “bleacher seat” beliefs (inside the park but not really relevant to what matters on the field) is neither Wesleyan nor evangelical. This vision is not works-righteousness and remains aware of W.E. Sangster’s warning against reducing Christianity to “being nice to grandmother and the cat.” The vision is consistent with Wesley’s understanding of why God had raised up the people called Methodist, “to reform the nation and to spread scriptural holiness throughout the land.”
It is a vibrant biblical alternative to American fundamentalism. Women lead in any position of service where the Holy Spirit has called, including pastor or bishop. Public education, science and secular universities are not viewed as the enemy. Several Methodist have received Nobel Prizes in peace and physics, which speaks to Wesley’s vision of “knowledge and vital piety” at work. Secular psychology and therapy for persons in emotional distress or psychiatric trauma are not enemies but collaborative means to seek wholeness for broken individuals and families. Cooperation with other churches and religions on common matters of community justice are welcomed. Card-checking other Christians for doctrinal worthiness to share support of this soup kitchen or that homeless shelter are non-issues for the children of Wesley. A sacramental vision of faith, biblically and historically affirmed, offers fresh spiritual strength to be drawn from observing Advent and Lent. The sacramental nature of baptism and communion, and the communion of saints for time and eternity are living realities.
Spirit-led mission that drives and defines every operation and organization of the movement. Arthur Jones said, “Every institution is perfectly aligned to the results it gets,” and for 52 years the product for American United Methodism has been consistent and accelerating decline. Early Methodism created a lean organization to fulfill the mission of “organizing to beat the Devil,” as a Charles Ferguson book on Methodist history recounted. Over the decades institutional barnacles have covered the hull of the old Methodist Ship of Zion, reducing speed, requiring more energy to move less, and causing leaks in the hull. The church expends hundreds of millions of dollars each year to disciple fewer and fewer people. The new movement is the Spirit’s way of pushing the reset button (for old timers, call it flipping the Etch a Sketch ), to align structure, resources, and energy with the mission. Tweaks in process every four years no longer provide cover for the profound change needed. Tod Bolsinger, in Canoeing the Mountains, has commented that when faced with the choice of change or die, 90% of institutions and individuals choose death. Evangelical Wesleyan Christianity, rooted in a Jesus who really was resurrected that first Easter, chooses life. “Pentecostal power” and the ministry of the Holy Spirit are real for the children of Wesley.
Humpty Dumpty defined words to fit his prejudices. He also had a great fall. An informed and gracious Wesleyan “evangelical” movement can move beyond the gimmicks of the late Mr. Dumpty. Certain words can be reclaimed with integrity, “evangelical” among them, with lively Wesleyan distinctives added to the mix. The Wesleyan vision would agree with the general Protestant understanding of the church as semper reformanda (always reforming), with the reminder that reformation flows from revival, and revival from the power of the Spirit, the preaching of the Word, and the presence of the risen Christ transforming us through holiness of heart and life.
Dr. Bob Phillips is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Asbury, Princeton, and St. Andrews. He retired as a Captain in the Navy Chaplain Corps and served eight years as Senior Pastor of First UMC in Peoria, Illinois. He is in a three year appointment as an Honorary Research Assistant at St. Andrews, studying the “Wicked Problem” of the United Methodist Church.