Archive: What E. Stanley Jones might say to the United Methodist Church

By James S. Robb

Good News Senior Editor James S. Robb has nearly completed his biography of E. Stanley Jones. This project has taken Robb five years to research and write. From this extensive research he has penned what he believes the illustrious Methodist evangelist and missionary would say to the UM Church. However, the following text is in Robb’s words.

I am grateful beyond words for the privilege of addressing my beloved Methodist Church, especially as I’ve been off on kingdom business for some 16 years now.[1]

Even though my ministry was among all denominations and all religions, the sacred spot in my affections because it was at the altar of a Methodist church in Baltimore that I was introduced to the Master. For this I shall be eternally grateful. I am also thankful my church had the grace to free me from my usual duties as a Methodist missionary in India, the land of my adoption, to work with causes and denominations there and around the world.

As I gaze across the present United Methodist Church my thoughts run in two directions. I see both advance and retreat. Those who have read some of my books know I pled with the church and the whole country for years to give the Negro a chance. What business had America calling herself “land of the free” when an entire race within her borders was at best only semi-free? But I now find that justice has at last been done, at least partially. Remember, a wise radicalism is sometimes the truest conservatism.

Another cause for which I struggled for half a century was a greater social consciousness among America’s church people. I constantly spoke against the tendency to make churches into fortresses of piety which lock out the hurts of a needy world. A phrase I often repeated is that a church without a social conscience is like a soul without a body. So I am filled with gratitude that the Methodist people have made feeding the hungry and clothing the naked a stronger priority. Even more, I am thrilled that an emphasis on changing the structures which oppress man has been added. And of course the continued Methodist commitment to eradicating the evil of war can only nourish the soul of the church.[2]

But even with these advances I must conclude that all is not well with the modern Methodist Church. I see grave dangers. I’m told that much of the distress over the direction of Methodism has concerned a membership loss. Certainly a drain of personnel is a legitimate worry, since each loss represents a soul.

Yet the real tragedy involves mission, not membership. On earth I was called many things—minister, missionary, states man. But it was in my capacity as evangelist that I found my greatest fulfillment I traveled on every continent, preaching some 60,000 sermons.[3] My audiences and settings varied enormously. However, my message was always a variation on one theme— “Jesus is Lord.”

More than any other Methodist minister of my day I worked with persons of other religions. We sat together as brothers and rose up as friends. But I never lost sight of the fact that man’s chief need is conversion—moral, social and spiritual. I even tried to convert famous non-Christians such as the Mahatma Gandhi and the Emperor Hirohito. You see, religions are man’s search for God, whereas Christianity is God searching for Man. It’s the Word become flesh. All that we know of God comes from Jesus. He is and always must be our focus.

Thus, I am amazed to learn that the emphasis upon conversion has nearly evaporated. It seems to have been replaced by emphases such as social work and education. As Jesus said when on earth, “You should have done these things without Luke 11:42, Phillips). There is much we can do and should do once we are converted, but until we are converted we can do but little.

I understand some of these changes have come as a result of certain theological shifts in the area of biblical interpretation. In my lifetime I never thought we should make the Bible an idol. Yet to water down Scripture in such a way that Jesus is no longer God strikes me as nothing short of treason from those who profess to be His followers.

Then there are others who claim one can be both a Christian and sexually immoral. This line found a following at the end of my ministry. I felt sure it would not have lasted this long, but I find it has yet to play itself out. The very notion rings hollow. The Christian way is the natural way, and at bottom immorality is profoundly unnatural. A moral universe will never stand for it.

And to suggest, as a number of modern Methodists have, that personal conversion is not a real necessity flies in the face of all we know about human nature. There is only one way to transform the morals and character and spiritual basis of Man, and that is through conversion brought about by faith in Christ

Half a century ago I often said that only one-third of church members were truly converted. This was the greatest need of the Church in my day. Tragically, I believe the need is even greater now.

Methodism has been one of the great movements in the world for more than two centuries. We have taken the Gospel to the ends of the earth, blessing the world. I plead with you not to allow the spiritual boiler that has driven this movement to grow cold, for to do so will produce more than a dropping membership. It will result in a battle for your collective life.

James S. Robb is the senior editor of Good News and editor-in-chief of Bristol Books.

[1] Dr. Jones refers to his death in January 1973 at the age of 89.

[2] A lifelong pacifist, Dr. Jones opposed even such popular wars as World War II.

[3] Dr. Jones preached from three to five times each day for some 60 years. This feat makes him the all-time champion sermon-giver, leaving John Wesley far behind.