Model of How to Live out the Christian Life

By Tanner Hart

Located in Hodges Chapel on the beautiful campus of Samford University, is a mural of John Wesley. Wesley was a key figure in Christian history, and is often remembered as the father of the Methodist movement. This mural, although done in the classical style, was completed in 1995 by Petru Botezatu. The mural depicts Wesley’s dedication to bringing the word to the people and references his “Aldersgate experience” when he found his heart “strangely warmed” by the assurance of God’s love.

St. Paul’s Cathedral and Aldersgate

Looking at the image of John Wesley shows us why he is to be looked up to. In the mural, Wesley is in front of London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral. The significance of this is that Wesley went to St. Paul’s Cathedral for the service of evensong service right before he had his realization at Aldersgate. He is known famously to have said, “I felt my heart strangely warmed” after hearing the reading of Martin Luther’s preface of “Letter of Paul to the Romans.” This experience pulled him out of his state of depression and sent him on his way to spread the gospel.

The Audience

In the image it is also important to look at the people to whom he is preaching. They have soot covering their faces and that is because they are miners. Miners were some of the people in the lower class so this shows how Wesley went out to all people, but especially the poorer people to share the gospel. Wesley was known to not like recognition by the rich. Most of his friends were poorer and Wesley preferred to be rich in spirit instead of material things (Tyerman). The image perfectly shows the two most important things Wesley believed in: bringing the church to the people and the gospel to the less fortunate.

John Wesley’s Life

John Wesley was born in Epworth, England, in 1703. In 1720, he attended Oxford University. After graduating, he became a deacon and in 1728, he became a priest. When he became a priest, he had to return to school and while he was there, he formed a group that soon would be called the “Methodists.” The reason behind the Methodist name was that it was what people would call them because of their methodical way of studying and interpreting the Bible.

After Wesley’s father passed away, a friend asked if he would go to the colony of Georgia and preach the gospel. Wesley accepted, but he soon would regret that. He was greeted with hostility by the locals and became heartbroken in the process. He fell in love with a girl named Sophy Hopkey. She ended up marrying another man. This destroyed Wesley.  Because of this, Wesley returned to London depressed. During this time, he fell away from God. This was when he went to St. Paul’s Cathedral and had his realization about what he was supposed to do in his life. That night, he broke down in tears and this was the turning point that set him back on track to spread the word of God to all people.

Wesley Setting out on his Mission

Wesley respected the hierarchy of the Church of England, so the Methodist movement branched out of the church. He wanted people to go to both the Church of England and his Methodist movements. First, he sent out preachers to go the colonies to see if they could have any better luck than he had. They were effective until the Revolution came, then most of the preachers returned to England. Wesley himself began preaching out in public places. This was one of the things he believed that the church could improve on. He believed that the church should go to the people and not the other way around. He did this preaching for fifty years.

Wesley lived his whole life aiming to be the best model of the Christian faith that he could be. Wesley humbled himself and gave food, clothes, and the Word to the poorer class in England. Eventually, he even helped build a school in London. Wesley believed that a Christian should always help his fellow man, and Wesley backed up his belief by devoting his life to helping others whether that be by material things or spiritual things.

Wesley also believed in empathetic relations between the preacher and the listeners. In big churches, the preacher was protected from the people because it was said that he did not have time to deal with the people’s issues. Wesley believed the opposite and would go among the crowd to develop these relationships. Wesley also believed that all people should be literate. Because of this, most of the Methodists were tried to learn how to read and write which he believed helped preach the gospel and help the people understand. This led the Methodist movement to gain traction and increase the literacy rate in the community.

The image of John Wesley in Hodges is one that shows what all Christians should model after. Christians should share the gospel and show love and compassion for the poor. Wesley again and again went out of his way to help the poor in whatever way he could. He was a man who embodied what it means to live out the Christian life and this image represents that perfectly.

John Wesley
Medium: Paint
Artist: Petru Botezatu
Created and Installed: 1995
Location: Andrew Gerow Hodges Chapel, Samford University, 800 Lakeshore Drive, Birmingham, Alabama 35229

Bibliography

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Dreyer, Frederick. “Faith and Experience in the Thought of John Wesley.” The American Historical Review 88, no. 1 (1983): 12–30. https://doi.org/10.2307/1869343.

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Published: January 2, 2024