From the beginning, Methodism has insisted on holding together two commitments that are often pulled apart: deep communion with God and active compassion for neighbor. For Methodists, these are not competing emphases or optional balances. They are one faithful way of following Jesus.
Personal piety without love for neighbor becomes self-focused religion. Social concern without communion with God loses its spiritual center. Wesleyan faith refuses to choose between them.
No Holiness but Social Holiness
John Wesley famously declared that there is no holiness but social holiness. This phrase has sometimes been misunderstood, as if Wesley were reducing faith to activism. In fact, he meant the opposite.
Wesley believed holiness is always lived out in relationship. Love for God necessarily expresses itself as love for neighbor. Prayer, Scripture, fasting, and the Lord’s Supper shape the heart so that it can love rightly. That love then moves outward in works of mercy, justice, and compassion.
In Wesley’s theology, inward and outward holiness are inseparable because love itself cannot be divided.
Communion with God: The Heart of Personal Piety
Personal piety refers to the practices that cultivate our relationship with God. These include prayer, searching the Scriptures, worship, fasting, and receiving the sacraments.
Jesus himself modeled this rhythm. He withdrew to pray, immersed himself in Scripture, and lived in constant attentiveness to the Father. Methodists understand these practices not as religious duties but as means of grace through which God forms our loves.
The psalmist prays, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10, NIV). Personal piety opens us to this renewing work. It orients our lives toward God and grounds our actions in grace rather than guilt.
Compassion for Neighbor: The Shape of Holy Love
At the same time, Wesley insisted that love of God must take visible form. Feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, caring for the poor, and seeking justice were not optional add-ons to Christian life. They were essential expressions of holiness.
Jesus makes this unmistakably clear. “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40, NIV). Compassion for neighbor is not a distraction from devotion to God. It is an encounter with Christ himself.
Thomas Oden, in Classic Christianity, reminds us that historic Christianity has always understood love of neighbor as a concrete participation in God’s love for the world. Wesley stood squarely in this tradition.
Why Methodists Refuse to Separate Them
Methodists hold personal piety and social holiness together because Scripture does. The same God who calls us to pray also sends us to serve. The same grace that forgives our sins compels us toward mercy.
Kenneth Collins explains in The Theology of John Wesley that Wesley understood sanctification as both inward renewal and outward transformation. Grace heals the heart and redirects the life.
When personal piety is severed from social holiness, faith becomes private and fragile. When social action is severed from personal piety, it becomes exhausting and unmoored. Together, they form a resilient, joyful, and faithful discipleship.
One Rule of Life, One Way of Love
Early Methodists embodied this unity through disciplined practices. They gathered for prayer and Scripture. They received Communion frequently. They visited prisons, educated children, and cared for the poor.
These were not two ministries. They were one rule of life shaped by love.
As James writes, “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:17, NIV). Wesley would add that works without faith quickly lose their soul. The gospel calls us to both.
Living This Unity Today
In a fragmented world, the Methodist witness remains deeply needed. We are formed at the table and sent to the streets. We are shaped by prayer and revealed by love. We seek holiness of heart and life together.
The goal is not balance for its own sake. The goal is faithfulness. Love of God and love of neighbor belong together because God has joined them.
A Closing Prayer
Holy God,
Draw us deeper into communion with you.
Meet us in prayer, Scripture, and sacrament.
Then send us out in love for our neighbors,
especially the poor, the sick, and the forgotten.
Unite our devotion and our compassion
so that our lives may reflect the love of Christ.
Amen.
R Y A N S T R A T T O N 