Faults, Foibles, and Failures

While John Wesley revealed less about himself in his journal than one might have expected, his letters show a side of him that is altogether more human and more approachable or at least more "real."  In his letters, he addresses topics as wide-ranging as the physical and spiritual health of his recipient, the latest crisis among the Methodist preachers, his quarrels with his wife, and his opinion on just how far to go in extending the benefit of the doubt to someone.

His marriage to Mary "Molly" Vazeille was a notoriously unhappy failure. They were entirely unsuited and had unreasonable expectations of each other from the very beginning -- and their life together was a disaster. Just as we might, Wesley freely unburdens himself in letters to certain trusted friends, always assuming that he is in the right, of course!  He sounds like any disgruntled husband trying to enlist his friend's support against an unreasonable spouse.  Here he concludes a letter of complaint about his wife to his banker friend Ebenezer Blackwell with words that might have stayed his hand from writing in the first place had he had heeded his own advice!

The more we know of our own faults and the less of other people's, the more will the work of God prosper in our hearts. ~John Wesley (Letter to Ebenezer Blackwell 2 March 1759)

A few years later, in an entirely different context, he writes to one of his preachers who is encountering some obstacles in his ministry, warning him against being impatient and making snap judgments.  Perhaps he was mellowing a bit as the years passed and wanted to pass along his hard-earned wisdom and experience.

Sammy, beware of the impetuosity of your temper! It may easily lead you awry... The longer I live the larger allowances I make for human infirmities. I exact more from myself and less from others. Go thou and do likewise!-- I am, with love to Nancy, Your ever affectionate friend and brother. Take nothing, absolutely nothing, at second hand. ~ John Wesley (Letter to Reverend Samuel Furley 25 January 1762)

In this last example, we see Wesley engaging in a theological dispute with an unknown opponent via letters in the London Magazine.  As one trained in logic and debate, we see him at his most testy and yet at his most polite as he moves in for the kill --

Permit me, sir, to give you one piece of advice. Be not so positive; especially with regard to things which are neither easy nor necessary to be determined. When I was young I was sure of everything. In a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before. At present, I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to [humankind]. ~ John Wesley (reply to a letter signed "Philosophaster," addressed to him in the London Magazine of 1774, in London Magazine)

Sometimes it is distressing to discover that one's heroes have feet of clay.  The illusion is shattered, with the result that we scramble to make the pieces fit together again in a new way.  But I am strangely encouraged by these glimpses into the foibles and human frailties of John Wesley.  Seeing that he was just as prone to being self-righteous in arguments as we are and just as eager to tell his side of the story first makes him a believable companion on the Christian journey.  Here is no saint with a perfectly burnished halo but a human being with blind spots, prejudices, and rough edges, and yet God raised him up to be an instrument of revival, transformation, and hope.  What might Christ be able to do with you and me if we are as open to doing God's will?  Where might the Spirit take us?  Are you willing to find out?