Following Three Simple Rules

There have been those who have said that all that was required of a Methodist was to follow three rules-

First, do no harm, by avoiding evil of any kind.

Second, do all the good you can do. This one has been enshrined in posters in many churches, as part of a quote attributed to John Wesley himself. The problem is, John Wesley never actually said what the poster says he said. He did often offer the advice to "do all the good you can" to those he corresponded with, but more often he was critical of those who thought it was enough.

Third, attending upon all the ordinances of God. Or, said another way, availing oneself of all the means of grace. Or, go to church (and take communion), pray, read your Bible, and listen to Christian radio.

It's easy to see how this has come about in 20th Century America, but it was prevalent in 18th Century England, as well. In Wesley's journal entry of November 25‘“, 1739, he tells of preaching at a local church, on Romans 14:17, "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

“Dr. W—— told me after sermon, 'Sir, you must not preach in the afternoon.' 'Not,' said he, 'that you preach any false doctrine. I allow, all that you have said is true. And it is the doctrine of the Church of England. But it is not guarded. It is dangerous. It may lead people into enthusiasm or despair.'”

“I did not readily see where the stress of this objection (so frequently stated) lay. But upon a little reflection, I saw it plain. The real state of the case is this: — Religion is commonly thought to consist of three things, — harmlessness, using the means of grace, and doing good, as it is called; that is, helping our neighbors, chiefly by giving alms. Accordingly, by a religious man is commonly meant, one that is honest, just, and fair in his dealings,- that is constantly at church and sacrament; and that gives much alms, or (as it is usually termed) does much good.”

“Now, in explaining those words of the Apostle, 'The kingdom of God' (or true religion, the consequence of God‘s dwelling and reigning in the soul) 'is not meat and drink,' I was necessarily led to show, that religion does not properly consist in any or all of these three things; but that a man might both be harmless, use the means of grace, and do much good, and yet have no true religion at all.” (Wesley's Journal-November 24, 1739, Works, Vol. 1, Extract 4)

This is confirmed by his notes on Luke 18:9-12-

“He spoke also this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others. "Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you, that i am not like the rest of men, extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. l fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that l get.’” (Luke 18:9-12; World English Bible)

“He spake this parable — Not to hypocrites; the Pharisee here mentioned was no hypocrite, no more than an outward adulterer: but he sincerely trusted in himself that he was righteous, and accordingly told God so, in the prayer which none but God heard.” (Wesley's Notes on the New Testament, Luke 18:9)

“I fast twice in the week — So did all the strict Pharisees: every Monday and Thursday. I give tithes of all that I possess — Many of them gave one full tenth of their income in tithes, and another tenth in alms. the sum of this plea is, I do no harm: I use all the means of grace: I do all the good I can.” (Wesley's Notes on the New Testament, Luke 18:12)

Notice here that he's equating even the well-intentioned adherence to these three rules to trusting in one's own goodness. It's almost as if Wesley was trying to get us to see that the pharisees of Jesus' time do indeed have a parallel in our day, and many of them are the good church members who shake the preacher's hand at the close of worship each Sunday, and say, "Good sermon, pastor,” and leave trusting in their own goodness.

Of course, having found Wesley speaking thus in a journal entry from 1739 and in a single entry on his Notes on the New Testament, it's only fair to ask if this agreed with what he wrote for an audience of the general public. In 1742 Wesley published a pamphlet for general distribution titled The Character of a Methodist. In it he said,

“We do not place the whole of religion (as too many do, God knoweth) either in doing no harm, or in doing good, or in using the ordinances of God. No, not in all of them together; wherein we know by experience a man may labor many years, and at the end have no religion at all, no more than he had at the beginning. Much less in any one of these,- or, it may be, in a scrap of one of them: Like her who fancies herself a virtuous woman, only because she is not a prostitute; or him who dreams he is an honest man, merely because he does not rob or steal. May the Lord God of my fathers preserve me from such a poor, starved religion as this! Were this the mark of a Methodist, I would sooner choose to be a sincere Jew, Turk, or Pagan.” (From The Character of a Methodist, para 4; Works, Vol. 8; c.1739)

Then there is this from a sermon published in 1760. It would take a bold preacher to speak this:

“Do you say, 'Nay, but I do no harm to any man; I am honest and just in all my dealings; I do not curse, or take the Lord’s name in vain; I do not profane the Lord’s day; I am no drunkard; I do not slander my neighbor, nor live in any willful sin?' If this be so, it were much to he wished that all men went as far as you do. But you must go farther yet, or you cannot be saved. Do you add, 'I do go farther yet; for I not only do no harm, but do all the good I can?' I doubt that fact; I fear you have had a thousand opportunities of doing good which you have suffered to pass by unimproved, and for which therefore you are accountable to God. But if you had improved them all, if you really had done all the good you possibly could to all men, yet this does not at all alter the case 'Nay, but I constantly attend all the ordinances of God: I keep to my church and sacrament.' It is well you do: But all this will not keep you from hell. Go to church twice a day; go to the Lord’s table every week; say ever so many prayers in private; hear ever so many good sermons; read ever so many good books; still, "you must be born again:' None of these things will stand in the place of the new birth; no, nor any thing under heaven.” (From Sermon 45, On The New Birth; Works, Vol. 6)

It seems obvious that Wesley wouldn't find the three simple rules sufficient for a Christian. It does raise the question, though – where did anybody get this idea? That's the next post.