Who had more influence, John Wesley or Charles Wesley?
John is definitely the better known of the brothers. And he was the primary voice of the Methodist movement traveling 250,000 miles on horseback and preaching 40,000 sermons. But I had an interesting conversation today with Andy Lauer, pastor of Emmaus Road Church. He said he thought Charles had more lasting influencing because very few people read John's sermons, but almost everybody still sings the songs that Charles wrote.
Charles Wesley wrote more than 5000 hymns including classics like O For a Thousand Tongues, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and And Can it Be that I Should Gain? A few weeks ago tens of millions of Christians sang one of his best-known hymns, Christ the Lord is Risen Today.
I'm not trying to diminish the role of preaching. And there are different types of influence. But hail to the artists. Art often has a longer shelf life than other forms of communication. Hope that is an encouragement to artists, musicians, and authors.
John is definitely the better known of the brothers. And he was the primary voice of the Methodist movement traveling 250,000 miles on horseback and preaching 40,000 sermons. But I had an interesting conversation today with Andy Lauer, pastor of Emmaus Road Church. He said he thought Charles had more lasting influencing because very few people read John's sermons, but almost everybody still sings the songs that Charles wrote.
Charles Wesley wrote more than 5000 hymns including classics like O For a Thousand Tongues, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and And Can it Be that I Should Gain? A few weeks ago tens of millions of Christians sang one of his best-known hymns, Christ the Lord is Risen Today.
I'm not trying to diminish the role of preaching. And there are different types of influence. But hail to the artists. Art often has a longer shelf life than other forms of communication. Hope that is an encouragement to artists, musicians, and authors.
10 Comments:
My grandfather did some genealogy research a few years ago and found that we are descendants of Charles Wesley. Kind of gives you a sense of destiny... And was cool that the hymns he wrote have always been some of my favorites. Pretty incredible team he and John made!
I am a preacher, so I appreciate a good sermon. Yet, a great song lives on for so long. Great observation by Andy and Mark - I give a second cheer of "hail the artist"!
I'm looking forward to the day when the church sets the standard for the arts in our culture...
But on a random note, this post made me think of something I posted a while back:
"Some of His Methods Were Less Known":)
Alright, I enter this comment with a bit of trepidation because I do not want it to appear to undermine our artists in any way. I believe that artists have been neglected by the church for far too long and we need to give them better platforms for their prophetic voices. In fact, Ryan and I are hosting NCC artists at our home tonight (email me for information!) And I think art is a form of preaching.
But-- I would argue that John Wesley's greatest legacy does not lie in his collection of sermons, rather it lies in his investment in people. Discipleship was Wesley's forte. George Whitefield was likely the best preacher of the day-- better than Wesley; but Wesley's influence was more strongly felt because of his investment in the lives of the young pastors he mentored and his commitment to discipleship. In fact, a large part of the "small group movement" we have in our churches today traces back to Wesley.
Spoken like a true discipleship pastor, Heather. Great observation. Hail to the disciplers!
Mark,
Unrelated to this blog. I heard you talk at catwest and wanted to ask you a question but can't seem to find your email. Can you please email me, rcook@gjfa.org
Thanks,
Ryan
I might argue that preaching itself should become more of an art form. Perhaps if we preachers were more artistic in what we did then our legacy would be as wide and lasting as those who paint or sing...
I think we are missing the point between the arts and preaching. Charles Wesley used modern day 'pub' songs to teach bible doctrine to the people in their churches who couldn't read or write. He used the tunes of the popular songs so that people would remember them. So even though John Wesley was the 'preacher', it was Charles who did must of the teaching.
so does this mean Hillsong Church is the most influential church in the world?
I would say yes
Mark, it was great meeting you at the Exponential conference. Thanks for taking the time to share what God's Spirit has done and is doing at NCC.
One misconception to clear up for some readers concerning the source of some of their music is the fact that the Wesley's never really used pub/bar/tavern tunes for their hymns. I'm not sure when this idea ever started, but it's been around for a long time. You can read some short summaries at
http://www.gbod.org/worship/default.asp?act=reader&item_id=2639&loc_id=17,387
and at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_35_18/ai_92352726/
That's not to say that Christ-followers ought not to be reclaiming all realms of the arts and sciences for Christ (we should), just to point out a common misnomer.
Peace, brother.
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