John Wesley, the primary leader in the revival movement that led to the Methodist tradition, was known for having said, “There is no religion but social religion. No holiness but social holiness.” It is one of his most often-quoted and most misunderstood statements.
It was co-opted by progressivism as a sort of prooftext for social justice war issues. However, the context of it was in publicly rebuking “holy solitaires,” as he called them, or ‘lone wolf Christians’ as they are often called today. The Christian faith, he was saying, cannot be practiced alone. By nature, it requires being in intimate, vulnerable relationship with other people.
For a long time, I have been uncomfortable with practicing this outside of the local church. I experienced gatherings with other people in my denomination to be hostile, adversarial, and frustrating. I often felt like I needed to take a shower after getting home from dealing with other preachers. I am not the only pastor to feel this way. Many who have left The United Methodist Church have simply chosen to remain independent, as the whole prospect of ‘social religion’ has been tainted and warped.
Yet there is no religion except social religion. I agree with this, not just in sentiment, but in practice. So despite the risk, I’m joining another body. Tomorrow, I will be ordained into the Global Methodist Church (GMC). I’m actually writing this article from a GMC gathering in Bethany, OK called ‘The Summit.’ I have been shaking hands, visiting, praying with other GMC clergy and laity all day. And, so far at least, the dark shadow of corruption isn’t sticking onto me. It is fun to be optimistic with people for good reason.
I can’t make myself be optimistic about something if it doesn’t seem very realistic. I can’t ‘fake it ‘til I make it.’ I just don’t have the energy for lying. So I’m here, giving it a shot, and it isn’t too bad.
So I hope that this can be a season of giving social religion a shot, not just for me, but for lots of people. We have been burned and hurt. We have to move forward, to be social as Christ was social. Not for the sake of a political agenda, but for the sake of our own souls.