“The World Is My Parish”

The preaching of the gospel of God’s kingdom cannot be restricted by geographic, ethnic, or social barriers. John Wesley (1703–1791), the cofounder of Methodism, was an Anglican cleric and theologian who became an itinerant revivalist preacher. As a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, he was exempt from the parish boundaries.

Without a parish of his own and not being welcomed into the parishes of other priests, Wesley preached to large crowds in the open fields.

In a letter written to James Hervey on March 20, 1739, John Wesley declared, “I have now no parish of my own, nor probably ever shall.” Therefore, “I look upon all the world as my parish—thus far I mean, that in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right and my bounden duty to declare unto all that are willing to hear me the glad tidings of salvation.”42 It is said that during his lifetime, Wesley alone traveled some 250,000 miles (400,000 km), mostly by horseback, and preached more than forty thousand sermons, most of which he delivered outdoors. But on August 6, 1777, Wesley penned a short letter to Alexander Mather expressing his own concerns about the future of Methodism. He pointed out that many of the Methodist preachers were no longer spiritual and “not alive to God” and had become “soft, enervated, fearful of shame, toil, hardship.” He ended his letter with the remarkable words, “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen, such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven upon earth.”43 As Adventist Christians, we are commissioned to preach the three angels’ messages to the whole world (Revelation 14:6–12). But the lack of spiritual fervor and passion for souls can seriously jeopardize our mission. Can you imagine how powerful our movement would be if every single Seventh-day Adventist would “fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God” and consider the world as his or her parish? Our human tendency is always to expect more from others and not so much from ourselves.

Please do not wait for others to take the lead.

This commitment must begin with you and me, right now!