Whole-life witness is in the center flow of the Methodist tradition. Along with his call to a transformed life, John Wesley called for the transformation of the social structures of his time by confronting issues of poverty, economic injustice, imprisonment, and war.
Wesley continued the call for social reform until the end of his life. In fact, the last letter he wrote was to William Wilberforce, who had been converted through the Wesleyan Revival. In the letter Wesley encouraged Wilberforce to continue his struggle for the abolition of slavery, writing with the same passion he expressed when sharing his personal faith in Christ. Wesley died just six days later on March 2, 1791. The struggle went on for sixteen years until [the British] Parliament abolished the slave trade in 1807…
Both as individuals and as congregations, the people called Methodists are called to whole-life witness by which growing disciples of Jesus Christ become a part of God’s transformation of the world. When Jesus said, “You shall be My witnesses” (Acts 1:8), He wasn’t speaking only to the first apostles. He was speaking to us!
-- James A. Harnish in “A Disciple’s Path: Deepening Your Relationship with Christ and the Church”
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