by Charles Edward White
Most of us know that John Wesley was used of God to revive 18th-
century England and to start the Methodist Church. We know him as a
great preacher and a greater organizer. But few of us realize that
Wesley made enormous sums from preaching - the sale of his writings
made him one of England's wealthiest men. In an age when a single
man could live comfortably on 30 pounds a year, his annual income
reached 1,400. With such an income he had the opportunities to put
his ideas on money into practice. What did he say about money? And
what did he do with his own?
John Wesley knew grinding poverty as a child. His father, Samuel
Wesley, was the Anglican priest in one of England's lowest-paying
parishes. He had nine children to support and was rarely out of
debt. Once John saw his father being marched off to debtor's
prison. So when John followed his father into the ministry, he had
no illusions about financial rewards.
It probably came as a surprise to John Wesley that while God had
called him to follow his father's vocation, he had not also called
him to be poor like his father. Instead of becoming a parish
priest, John felt God's direction to teach at Oxford University.
There he was elected a fellow of Lincoln College, and his financial
status changed dramatically. His position usually paid him at least
thirty pounds a year, more than enough money for a single man to
live on. John seems to have enjoyed his relative prosperity. He
spent his money on playing cards, tobacco and brandy.
While at Oxford, an incident changed his perspective on money.
He had just finished paying for some pictures for his room when one
of the chambermaids came to his door. It was a cold winter day, and
he noticed that she had nothing to protect her except a thin linen
gown. He reached into his pocket to give her some money to buy a
coat but found he had too little left. Immediately the thought
struck him that the Lord was not pleased with the way he had spent
his money. He asked himself, Will thy Master say, "Well done, good
and faithful steward"? Thou hast adorned thy walls with the money
which might have screened this poor creature from the cold! O
justice! O mercy! - Are not these pictures the blood of this poor
maid?
Perhaps as a result of this incident, in 1731 Wesley began to
limit his expenses so that he would have more money to give to the
poor. He records that one year his income was 30 pounds and his
living expenses 28 pounds, so he had 2 pounds to give away. The
next year his income doubled, but he still managed to live on 28
pounds, so he had 32 pounds to give to the poor. In the third year,
his income jumped to 90 pounds.
Instead of letting his expenses rise with his income, he kept
them to 28 pounds and gave away 62 pounds. In the fourth year, he
received 120 pounds. As before, his expenses were 28 pounds, so his
giving rose to 92 pounds.
Wesley felt that the Christian should not merely tithe but give
away all extra income once the family and creditors were taken care
of. He believed that with increasing income, what should rise is
not the Christian's standard of living but the standard of
giving.
This practice, begun at Oxford, continued throughout his life.
Even when his income rose into the thousands of pounds sterling, he
lived simply, and he quickly gave away his surplus money.
One year his income was a little over 1400 pounds. He lived on
30 pounds and gave away nearly 1400 pounds. Because he had no
family to care for, he had no need for savings. He was afraid of
laying up treasures on earth, so the money went out in charity as
quickly as it came in. He reports that he never had 100 pounds at
any one time.
Wesley limited his expenditures by not purchasing the kinds of
things thought essential for a man in his station of life. In 1776
the English tax commissioners inspected his return and wrote him
the following: "[We] cannot doubt but you have plate for which you
have hitherto neglected to make an entry."
They were saying a man of his prominence certainly must have
some silver plate in his house and were accusing him of failing to
pay excise tax on it. Wesley wrote back: "I have two silver spoons
at London and two at Bristol. This is all the plate I have at
present, and I shall not buy any more while so many round me want
bread."
John Wesley's teaching on money offered simple, practical
guidelines for every believer.
His first rule about money was Gain all you
can. Despite its potential for misuse, money in
itself is something good. There is no end to the good it can do:
"In the hands of (God's) children, it is food for the hungry, drink
for the thirsty, raiment for the naked. It gives to the traveler
and the stranger where to lay his head. By it we may supply the
place of a husband to the widow, and of a father to the fatherless.
We may be a defense for the oppressed, a means of health to the
sick, of ease to them that are in pain. It may be as eyes to the
blind, as feet to the lame: yea, a lifter up from the gates of
death!"
Wesley added that in gaining all they can, Christians must be
careful not to damage their own souls, minds, or bodies, or the
souls, minds or bodies of anyone else. He thus prohibited gaining
money through industries that pollute the environment or endanger
workers.
Wesley's second rule for the right use of money was
Save all you can. He urged his hearers
not to spend money merely to gratify the desires of the flesh, the
desires of the eye, or the pride of life. He cried out against
expensive food, fancy clothes, and elegant furniture: "Despise
delicacy and variety and be content with what plain nature
requires."
Wesley had two reasons for telling Christians to buy only
necessities. The obvious one was so they would not waste money. The
second was so they would not increase their desires.
The old preacher wisely pointed out that when people spend money
on things they do not really need, they begin to want more things
they do not need. Instead of satisfying their desires, they only
increase them.
Wesley's third rule was Give all you
can. One's giving should begin with the tithe. He
told the one who does not tithe, "Thou dost undoubtedly set thy
heart upon thy gold" and warned, "It will 'eat thy flesh as
fire!'"
But one's giving should not end at the tithe. All of the
Christian's money belongs to God, not just the first tenth.
Believers must use 100 percent of their income as God directs.
And how has God directed Christians to use their incomes? Wesley
listed four scriptural principles:
1. Provide things needful for yourself and your family (I Tim.
5:8). The believer should make sure the family has "a sufficiency
of plain, wholesome food to eat, and clean raiment to put on" as
well as a place to live and enough to live on if something were to
happen to the breadwinner.
2. "Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content" (I
Tim. 6:8) . "Whoever has sufficient food to eat, and raiment to put
on, with a place to lay his head, and something over, is rich," he
said.
3. "Provide things honest in the sight of all men" (Rom. 12:17)
and "Owe no man anything" (Rom. 13:8). Wesley said the next claim
on a Christian's money is the creditors'. He adds that those who
are in business for themselves need to have adequate tools, stock,
or capital for the carrying on of that business.
4. "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all
men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith" (Gal.
6:10). After the Christian has provided for the family, the
creditors, and the business, the next obligation is to use any
money that is left to meet the needs of others.
In giving these four biblical principles, Wesley recognized some
situations were not clear-cut. He accordingly offered four
questions to help his hearers decide how to spend
money:
1. In spending this money, am I acting like I own it, or am I
acting like the Lord's trustee?
2. What Scripture requires me to spend this money this way?
3. Can I offer up this purchase as a sacrifice to the Lord?
4. Will God reward me for this expenditure at the resurrection
of the just? In 1744 Wesley wrote, "When I die if I leave behind me
ten pounds . . . you and all mankind can bear witness against me,
that I have lived and died a thief and a robber." When he died in
1791, the only money mentioned in his will was the miscellaneous
coins to be found in his pockets and dresser drawers. Most of the
30,000 pounds he had earned in his lifetime he had given away. As
Wesley said, "I cannot help leaving my books behind me whenever God
calls me hence; but in every other respect, my own hands will be my
executors."
This article was adapted from Leadership
magazine, Winter 1987. At that time, Charles Edward White was an
assistant professor of Christian thought and history at Spring
Arbor College in Michigan. This article first appeared in the
September/October 1994 issue of Mission Frontiers. Used by
permission of Mission Frontiers, U.S.
Center for World Mission. All rights reserved.
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