CHAPTER 1
LOVING AND WORSHIPING GOD WHOLEHEARTEDLY
Religion is the spirit of a sound mind; and, consequently, stands in direct opposition to madness of every kind. But I mean, it has religion for its object; it is conversant about religion. And so the enthusiast is generally talking of religion, of God, or of the things of God, but talking in such a manner that every reasonable Christian may discern the disorder of his mind. Enthusiasm in general may then be described in some such manner as this: a religious madness arising from some falsely imagined influence or inspiration of God; at least, from imputing something to God which ought not to be imputed to Him, or expecting something from God which ought not to be expected from Him. —John Wesley, sermon "The Nature of Enthusiasm"
One of the great problems in the twenty-first-century church is the problem of time. This is all the more a problem during an economically difficult time. People have to work—work hard to find and then keep a job—to provide for their families or to pay off their college education. When they are not busy doing such things, they are resting or occasionally having a bit of fun with family or friends. And frankly, there are not a lot of hours in the week for religion of whatever sort.
And so it is, that when the spiritual gurus call persons to extreme spiritual athleticism ("drop everything and come to my seminar"), or alternatively serve up pablum in some sort of "chicken soup for the soul," it is no wonder that the Christian public gets confused about what the normal Christian life should look like.
Is spirituality like some sort of hothouse flower that requires a self-contained environment where "heat" is the constant requirement just to produce any sort of growth at all? Is it some sort of human self-help program? Is it all about deep introspection and intense feelings about God? Is it only the seeking after some sort of cathartic religion experience? In short, folks get discouraged because they feel like they either don't have the time or don't have the energy, or don't have spiritually what it takes to do spiritual formation. And this is unfortunate but normal.
John Wesley certainly had some thoughts about this whole matter, and one of the interesting things about Wesley is that he did not think one size of spiritual formation fits all. In fact, he set up groups—societies, classes, and bands, three different levels of spiritual commitment—to help persons at different stages in their spiritual growth learn to draw closer to God. And while on the one hand Wesley was all in favor of Christians having a deep and abiding love for God and neighbor, and manifesting the love and joy and peace as the fruit of the Spirit in their lives, on the other hand, John Wesley was not a fan of what was called "enthusiasm" in his era, by which was meant religious fanaticism. As the quotation from Wesley at the beginning of this chapter shows, his view was that true religion, true "enthusiasm" in the positive sense, was the spirit of a sound and rational mind, not the spirit of someone who had taken leave of his or her senses. It was also not about a Christian needing to go through some "dark night of the soul" experience, or even some extreme ecstatic experience, in order to truly commune with God. What Wesley goes on to stress in his sermon is that false enthusiasm is seeking the ends without the means, seeking something from God directly that God, in fact, regularly and normally gives through the communal life in Christ. Here's how he puts it at the end of this sermon:
Beware, lastly, of imagining you shall obtain the end without using the means conducive to it. God can give the end without any means at all; but you have no reason to think He will. Therefore constantly and carefully use all those means which He has appointed to be the ordinary channels of His grace. Use every means which either reason or Scripture recommends, as conducive (through the free love of God in Christ) either to the obtaining or increasing any of the gifts of God. Thus expect a daily growth in that pure and holy religion which the world always did, and always will, call "enthusiasm;" but which, to all who are saved from real enthusiasm, from merely nominal Christianity is "the wisdom of God, and the power of God;" the glorious image of the Most High; "righteousness and peace;" a "fountain of living water, springing up into everlasting life!"
What then are the ordinary channels of God's grace? Although they include things like prayer and Bible reading that we can do on our own (which we will discuss later), Wesley is talking about things we do together—participating in the weekly worship of God, and if possible in the sacraments with the body of Christ, and participating in the weekly study of God's word. In Wesley's own day it also meant attending the group meetings as well.
For a start, the normal Christian life involves doing one's best to observe the Lord's Day every single week. It involves coming prepared each week to wholeheartedly get caught up with the congregation in love and wonder and praise of God in Christ. We will say more about this, but participation in learning about God through Sunday school, Bible study, or small-group learning with fellow travelers—fellow Christians—is equally important.
The Christian life involves both education and transformation, both learning and loving, both fellowship and worship, both being lifted up in spirit and being enlightened in mind. The normal Christian life needs balance not only between work and rest and play; it also must include worship and learning. To some degree the Christian faith is something caught through participation in worship; to some degree it is something taught through Christian education. And in our biblically illiterate age, we need large doses of both. Let's start with worship, and more specifically singing, as a means of spiritual formation.
WORSHIP THE WESLEYAN WAY
John Wesley, a man who had rules for almost everything, had some interesting rules about singing in a manner that glorified God and edified one's fellow worshipers, which he published in 1761. Here is what he said:
1. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up and you will find a blessing.
2. Sing lustily, and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of it being heard, then when you sang the songs of Satan.
3. Sing...
