Wesleyan Economics

John Wesley was always concerned about the gap between the rich and the poor.  What he saw was a rising of the poorer class of people into the middle class and then an indifference to the poor.  The movement from the poor to the more affluent was a logical result of Wesley's preaching which included a call to earn as much as you can and to save as much as you can.  The third prong of his economic plan was often ignored as it is today which is to give all you can.  Wesleyan economics can be summed up with three words; "earn, save, and give."     

In his sermon, "The Use of Money," he said, "But not let any man imagine that he has done anything,...by 'gaining and saving all he can,' if he were to stop here.  All this is nothing...if he does not point all this at a farther end...God placed you here, not as a proprietor, but as a steward: as such He entrusted you, for a season, with goods of various kinds; but the sole property of these still rests in Him...As you yourself are not your own; but His, such is, likewise, all that you enjoy."  Wesleyan theology calls us to understand that everything which we call ours is really His and to care for the poor by giving as much as we can to make a difference.    

It is in the "give as much as we can" that we run into the practical dilemma lived out by so many.  We make life choices which elevate our own lifestyle so that we can have things we want but do not necessarily need.  Without setting out on such a course, we often end up being the slave of all that we accumulate.  Thus, the "giving all we can" is limited by life style choices that limit our ability to give.  We give but only after our wants and wishes and needs have been satisfied.  As those who seek to live out the Wesleyan theological way as well as the way of Jesus, we must confess that this is a perversion of what God has planned for us.