The Catholic Spirit

And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand. 2 KINGS 10:15

It may seem strange that the man who wrote Free Grace also wrote Catholic Spirit, one of the most generous sermons on Christian unity in the English language. But the two belong together. Wesley held his convictions firmly and argued them hard, and he also believed, with equal firmness, that Christians who differ on important questions can and must love one another. Catholic Spirit, published in 1750, is his attempt to show how. The word catholic here does not mean Roman Catholic. It means universal: a spirit of love toward all who belong to Christ, whatever their church or opinions.

A strange text

Wesley’s text is an odd one. Jehu, the ruthless king who had just wiped out the house of Ahab, meets Jehonadab, and asks him only whether his heart is right. Wesley does not hold Jehu up as a model. He simply notices what Jehu did not ask. He did not inquire into Jehonadab’s opinions, though Jehonadab held some singular ones; his descendants were still keeping his peculiar rules centuries later. He asked only about his heart.

Why we cannot all think alike

Wesley begins with a realistic account of why Christians disagree. Love is due to all mankind, and a peculiar love to those who love God. Yet how many hindrances lie in the way! The two great hindrances are that Christians cannot all think alike, and in consequence cannot all walk alike, in their worship and practice.

He goes on to argue, with real humility, that this is inevitable. Every person necessarily believes that each of his own opinions is true, since to believe an opinion false is to cease holding it. And yet no one can be sure that all his opinions, taken together, are true. Everyone thinks he is right on each point; everyone must admit he is wrong on some, though he does not know which. Every wise person, therefore, will allow others the same liberty of thinking he desires for himself.

Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. ROMANS 14:4

Then comes the question at the centre of the sermon: “Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may.”

What it means to have a right heart

What then is Wesley asking when he asks, Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? Not whether you share his opinions or his forms of worship. He sets out instead a series of questions about the essentials. Is your heart right with God? Do you believe His being and His perfections? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, God over all, blessed for ever? Is He revealed in your soul? Do you know Him crucified? Do you walk by faith, not by sight? Is your faith filled with the energy of love? Do you love God? Do you love your neighbour, every person, even your enemies? Do you show your love by your works?

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. JOHN 13:35

If so, Wesley says, give me thine hand. And he explains what he means by that. “I do not mean, ‘Be of my opinion.’” Nor does he mean, embrace my modes of worship, or I will embrace yours. He means, first, love me, with a very tender affection, as a brother in Christ and a fellow soldier under the same Captain. Love me with the love that is patient and kind, that envies not if God prospers me more than you, that thinks no evil of me and puts the best construction on my words and actions. He means, second, commend me to God in all your prayers. Third, provoke me to love and good works. And fourth, love me not in word only, but in deed and in truth, and join me in the work of God as far as conscience allows.

What a catholic spirit is not

Wesley is careful to guard his teaching from misuse, and this part of the sermon is as important as the rest. A catholic spirit, he says, is not speculative latitudinarianism, an indifference to all opinions. The one who is unsettled, tossed about with every wind of doctrine, has not a catholic spirit but a curse. The person with a truly catholic spirit “is fixed as the sun in his judgement concerning the main branches of Christian doctrine.”

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine. EPHESIANS 4:14

Nor is it practical latitudinarianism, an indifference to forms of worship. Nor is it indifference to all congregations. The catholic Christian belongs to a particular church, is fixed in it, and worships there faithfully. His catholicity is not a lack of commitment. It is love reaching beyond his commitments.

A caution against bigotry

In a companion sermon, A Caution Against Bigotry, Wesley takes up the story of the disciples who forbade a man casting out devils in Jesus’s name, because he followed not with them. Jesus said, Forbid him not.

And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us. LUKE 9:49–50

Wesley applies this without hesitation. Suppose a man is not of our party, is separated from our church, and differs from us widely in judgement and practice. If we see him casting out devils, turning sinners from darkness to light, Jesus says, forbid him not. We must not hinder him, speak against him, or refuse to rejoice in the good God does through him.

Where to read with care

Wesley did not always live up to this sermon. His tone toward Calvinists, and in some writings toward Roman Catholics, fell short of it; he wrote sharply against Roman doctrine, and on the political question of toleration for Catholics he took positions many would now regret. The man who preached the catholic spirit was also a controversialist of his age. That is not a reason to dismiss the sermon, but it is a reason to read it as a standard he held up for himself as well as others, and did not always meet.

It is also worth noticing where he draws his lines. His questions about a right heart include the being and perfections of God, the deity of Christ, and trust in the righteousness of God by faith rather than in our own. Catholic Spirit is not an argument that doctrine does not matter. It is an argument that on the essentials we must be firm, on opinions we must be modest, and toward all who love Christ we must be warm.

FOR REFLECTION AND ACTION

1. Name a Christian or church with whom you differ on important but not essential matters. Pray for them by name this week.

2. Ask Wesley’s hard question of yourself: which of my opinions might be wrong, though I cannot yet see it?

3. Work through his questions about a right heart. Are you fixed as the sun on the main branches of Christian doctrine?

4. Is there anyone God is using whom you have been tempted to forbid because he follows not with you? Rejoice in the good he does.

5. Read Catholic Spirit in the Ochorus library, and share it with a friend from another tradition.

A PRAYER

Lord Jesus, You prayed that Your people might be one. Forgive me for the pride that makes me despise those who do not think as I do.

Make me fixed in the great truths of the gospel, humble about my own opinions, and warm toward all who love You.

Where I cannot think alike with my brothers and sisters, let me love alike. Let me pray for them, provoke them to good works, and rejoice in all You do through them.

And bring us at last to the day when we shall know even as we are known. Amen.