A Wesleyan Call to Holy Love in Times of Division
John Wesley described holiness as “The transformation of the heart by the Holy Spirit, so that it is habitually filled with love for God and neighbor.”
I praise God and am grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve the church in Mexico City for more than 30 years. This privilege is the direct fruit of The Wesleyan Church in Mexico and The Wesleyan Church of North America. And today, I also join in the celebration of your upcoming General Conference, praying that God grants you His grace and direction before the great responsibility we have in this moment.
It is also as an observer from the Global South, and as a pastor in a country with immense challenges, that I am concerned by the current polarization our societies and families are facing. It seems that political ideologies are playing a bigger role than we would like to recognize. From my context, symptoms indicate that politics have stopped being just a set of ideas, rather they’ve become an identity in itself. Given this, it is worth asking ourselves: how much of this has already filtered into our churches?
If Christ’s Church is, by nature, an expression of both its divine origin and our social reality, we would expect that the gospel expresses itself by highlighting the best of our culture and also leaves behind that which does not glorify God nor expresses the love of Jesus to people.
I recognize that we are living in a time where we all face these challenges at a global level; and it is because of this that Paul’s exhortation in Romans 12:2 becomes more relevant, where the apostle calls us to cultural transcendence: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
I believe the Father does not ask us to abandon our cultural identity, but to submit it to the lordship of Christ to be relevant ambassadors, even more so when anger, fear and division are part of our daily life. Only when we rise above our culture can we truly impact it for the Kingdom.
As a Wesleyan pastor in Mexico, and as a humble learner of the Global Church, sincere questions arise for me relative to the impact and influence that socio-political positions are having over our fellow believers in North America.
To what extent are partisan narratives shaping the expression of the church in North America? Have they already influenced our liturgy? The message from the pulpit? What about theology, or even eschatology (increasingly relevant in light of recent international conflicts)? Are we capable of recognizing the way in which ideological polarization generates tribalism which affects Christian fellowship in our communities? Are we willing to recognize the connection this has had with the changes in our ministries to the most vulnerable and needy? How much our philosophies and outreach strategies and our focus on Global Mission have changed?
Only the Gospel, through the Holy Spirit, can produce people who unify where culture divides, who love when public discourse dehumanizes, and who dignify when politics degrades. I offer this challenge with respect: North American believers have a unique opportunity to model a counter-cultural unity and a supernatural love in a climate of hostility.
I pray that the Lord helps us to unite as a Global Church, rising above our cultural moment to be relevant in Jesus’ mission to this hurting world. This is an encouragement to our beloved Wesleyan Church in North America: let us be, more than ever, like Christ, and let us maintain our Wesleyan focus of Holy Love in these challenging times.