John
Wesley had a threefold
dictum regarding good stewardship: 1) make all you can by working hard at an
honest and honorable trade; 2) save all you can, never squandering money;
and 3) give all you can by supporting your immediate family, the household
of faith and then to all who are in need. In the sermon "The Use of
Money" --more frequently preached than all other
sermons except "Justification by Faith" - Wesley said that if you make all
you can and save all you can but do not give all you can, you may be a
living person, but you will be a dead Christian.
Wesley insisted that
for the wealthy, holiness, spiritual vitality, love of God and even faith
are directly linked to generosity to the poor. It was for him not just
a matter of the poor going hungry; also at stake was the harmful effect of
not fulfilling acts of mercy on the souls of the rich. The lack of
generosity, he believed would result is a spiritual downward spiral
(spiritual de-formation) involving pride, greed and materialism which could
seriously undermine our love of neighbor and of God. (See Rebehah
Miles' "Works of Mercy as Spiritual Formation: Why Wesley Feared for the
Souls of the Rich" in Wesleyan Tradition: A Paradigm for Renewal,
Paul Chilcote, ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002, 98-110)
John
Wesley had a threefold
dictum regarding good stewardship: 1) make all you can by working hard at an
honest and honorable trade; 2) save all you can, never squandering money;
and 3) give all you can by supporting your immediate family, the household
of faith and then to all who are in need. In the sermon "The Use of
Money" --more frequently preached than all other
sermons except "Justification by Faith" - Wesley said that if you make all
you can and save all you can but do not give all you can, you may be a
living person, but you will be a dead Christian.