In May, I was ordained an elder in the Global Methodist Church. Each clergyperson ordained in a Methodist denomination has to answer 19 historical questions asked by bishops going back to John Wesley’s (the founder of the Methodist movement) time. I thought I might share my responses to these questions in hopes of sharing a bit more about myself and about Methodism. This is the fourth of the 19 questions. I hope it blesses you!

To read my other responses to the questions, check them out here:

1. Have you faith in Christ?
2. Are you going on to perfection?
3. Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life?
4. Are you earnestly striving after perfection in love?
5. Are you resolved to devote yourself wholly to God and to God’s work?
6. Do you know the General Rules of our Church?
7. Will you keep the General Rules of our Church?
8. Have you studied the doctrines of the Global Methodist Church?
9. After full consideration do you believe that our doctrines are in harmony with the Holy Scriptures?

4. Are you earnestly striving after perfection in love?

Bishop Carolyn Moore writes, “God is perfect, but he is not a perfectionist.”[1] This particularly resonates with me.

In my commissioning interviews in the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, I was asked what I would title a sermon I could preach to myself. I replied with something to the effect of, “Christian Perfection, Not Christian Perfectionism.”

Christian perfectionism is the idea that, in order to please God, we have to do everything right the first time and every subsequent time. Christian perfectionism believes it is all up to us; that we are the only ones who can pass or fail. In contrast, Christian perfection is about a heart posture of striving after perfection in love, knowing that it is only the Holy Spirit who can perfect us in love. Christian perfection is about receiving grace when we respond to God or others out of anything other than love. Christian perfection is about moving towards something, not already being there.

I am earnestly striving after perfection in love, seeking to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit in me to make me more like Jesus. I do not strive because I think I can earn perfection in love but because I believe God allows us to cooperate with Him in bringing about this work in our lives.

Part of my striving is by participating in spiritual disciplines that act as channels for which God might impart more of His grace in and on me.[2] These include corporate worship, studying Scripture, prayer, Sabbath-keeping, tithing, exercise, healthy eating, meeting with mentors, journaling, and regular Wesleyan band meetings.

Corporate worship is essential to my life in that it reorients my mind and heart, provides opportunity for confession and healing through the Eucharist, and gives me opportunity to participate in what humanity was made to do: worship our Maker.

I regularly read Scripture to know God more deeply and experience His grace. I seek to spend intentional time in prayer each day, as well as pray throughout the day, to keep myself in conversation with God.

Sabbath-keeping was a practice I started in seminary and is essential to my spiritual well-being. For twenty-four hours each week, I stop working as a way of reminding myself that the ministry in which I participate is not dependent on me but rather is dependent on the One whose ministry it is, allowing me to enjoy the goodness of God without any of my own feeble doing.

Tithing is a regular practice of mine that helps to reorient my mind and heart to see the resources I possess as a means of stewardship for Kingdom purposes.

Similarly, exercise and healthy eating are my personal affirmations that what I have, including my health and ability, are to be stewarded for God.

To maintain a healthy emotional and psychological state, as well as discern in community with others, I meet regularly with mentors and meet with a Christian counselor.

Journaling is a practice that helps clear my mind, confess sins and shortcomings to God, and process the joys and challenges of life.

Finally, I meet regularly with my Wesleyan band where I confess and receive counsel from two other Global Methodists pastors.

These practices are more than a list of “good things;” they are essential to my well-being and help me seek the fullness of salvation: being made perfect in love.

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[1]. Carolyn Moore, The 19: Questions to Kindle a Wesleyan Spirit (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2018), 32.
[2]. John Wesley, “The Means of Grace,” in The Sermons of John Wesley, ed. Kenneth J. Collins and Jason E. Vickers (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013), 73.

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This blog is a hobby for me, but it does cost some money to maintain. If you’d like to support this blog, you can purchase any of the books I’ve mentioned in this post using the links on this blog, or you can “buy me a coffee.” Thanks!

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Also, to read my book review of GMC Bishop Carolyn Moore’s book The 19: Questions to Kindle a Wesleyan Spirit, check it out here.

You might also be interested in some of my other blog posts about the Global Methodist Church. If so, they’re below:

“The Two Preachers We Need”
“My Grandchildren’s Denomination”
“Why Do We Ordain?”
“Learning to Trust: From Calling to Ordination”