Mr Wesley and the General Election

So, we’re in yet another pre-election period!  For some, like Brenda from Bristol, it will be a massive turn-off.  Others may be looking forward to the forthcoming electioneering and the debates.  I find myself edging toward the latter camp.  I do, however, have some concerns as to how the next few weeks may turn out.

Not long after the General Election had been announced, I made the following comment on social media: “Hoping & praying for an election campaign in which positive policies & perspectives are put forward & mudslinging is avoided.”   One of my Facebook friends responded, “There is always hope!”  Others were more pessimistic, with comments such as, “In your dreams” and “Not a chance.”

I was interested, some time later, to come across some words from John Wesley (1703-1791), who was one of the founders of the Methodist Church.  Wesley kept a journal, and on 6 October 1774, he wrote:

I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them:
1) To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy.
2) To speak no evil of the person they voted against.
3) To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.

[A “society” was a local group of Methodists].  Wesley may have written those words over 240 years ago, but I'm sure that they are still just as relevant today.

Each human being is a unique individual, different from others in many ways.  However close we feel to other people, we are always going to see some things differently and have different perspectives on a range of issues.  There will be many issues raised during the course of the election campaign, on some of which we may disagree very strongly with friends and family members.

But surely John Wesley was absolutely right to challenge those of us who claim to follow Jesus to avoid speaking ill of, or looking down on, those who see things differently.  It may be asking a lot, but is it too much to ask?

After all, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples’ (John 13.35).  If we can’t learn to love in spite of our differences, then we are falling well short of what Jesus expects from us.