“Open your eyes! Look around you! Are the richest men the happiest? Have those the largest share of contentment who have the largest possessions? Is not the very reverse true? Is it not a common observation, that the richest of men are, in general, the most discontented, the most miserable? …If you are increased in goods, are you proportionally increased in happiness? You have more substance, but have you more contentment? You know that in seeking happiness from riches, you are only striving to drink out of empty cups? And let them be painted and guilded ever so finely, they are empty still.”
John Wesley (1703-1791) in The Danger of Riches, Sermon 87.2.10.
This week I am meeting with Wesleyan Church leaders and professors at Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University for the purpose of building a course on biblical stewardship informed in part by the teachings of John Wesley. Because of this, I read some of his sermons this morning for inspiration! It’s moving to think how the cultural dynamics in our modern context mirror those in Wesley’s England. May each of us match his zeal and candor, especially when it comes to speaking the truth with regard to money.
Read more