“Like her who fancies herself a virtuous woman, only because she is not a prostitute; or him who dreams he is an honest man, merely because he does not rob or steal.”
That convicting and haunting line is from a sermon John Wesley, the founder of my United Methodist tradition. I have a soft spot for Wesley, but I’ll be the first to admit he has a way of poking our soft spots— hard!
I like to think I’m a good person. I don’t ”rob and steal,” for instance. I also go out of my way to think of others and to give my abundance to help restore God’s order in this world. If I’m honest, I take some pride in being better than most, I hope.
In the frontier days, Methodists used to fight hard to make the world a better place. They obeyed strict moral codes and spoke out against things like the alcoholism and fistfights in our rough and tumble frontier towns. But they always improved themselves before tackling social issues.
In a way, it reminds me of something Jesus said: “Why do you see the splinter that’s in your brother’s or sister’s eye, but don’t notice the log in your own eye?” (Matthew 6:3)
These days I wonder if we don’t think ourselves virtuous women and men merely because we are not drunkards and do not get into fistfights.
Many have written that the currency of our age is attention. Never before has it been easier to communicate and to find information about the world around us. But, never before have we had so much to choose from— and never before have we faced such responsibility of choice.
There was a day when we got our news, for instance, either the newspaper or one of only a few broadcast networks. Each had editors that carefully bore the responsibility of deciding what we needed to know.
But now we scroll through endless newsfeeds where good, important things are mixed in with gossip, falsehoods, and minutia. We choose to engage in conversations, online and in person, that add nothing to our lives and others that cause us harm. (Have you ever read a post that left you feeling somehow icky the rest of the day?)
If I’m honest, I don’t choose what I read and watch as well as I should. I may not rob or steal, I may not be a drunkard or engage in fist fights, but I can be better.
It’s not quite Ash Wednesday yet, but it soon will be. Soon we will celebrate Fat Tuesday, flipping pancakes as we use up our excess before paring down the aspects of our lives that desperately need to be pared down, perhaps more than ever.
So, take stock. Take stock now of what you have in too much abundance, whether it be fat for pancakes or voices vying for your attention. And when Ash Wednesday comes, remember Wesley. Remember the Methodists. And remember Jesus.
The Rev. Jeff Slater is pastor of First United Methodist Church