This is the fifth of five blog posts on Francis Asbury as a model for second pastors inspired by John Wigger’s biography, “American Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists.” Please also see the first, second, third, and fourth.
Francis Asbury lived fully into his namesake: St. Francis of Assisi. Wigger writes that Asbury’s “piety was above reproach. His intentions seemed pure, even to those who disagreed with him.” Asbury lived an exceedingly simple life -- perhaps even a simpler life than John Wesley. Wesley died with very little money but owned a considerable amount of property and publishing income. Asbury died with almost no money, property, or royalties. He depended upon the hospitality of the Methodists everywhere he went for his basic sustenance. Wigger writes that “Asbury . . . set himself apart as an example of deliberate sacrifice, shunning the easy way . . . His piety, lived out for all to see, had always been a pillar of his authority.” Asbury’s authority was rooted in his deep spiritual life of practicing the Methodist disciplines of doing no harm, doing good, and staying in love with God.
It is hard as a pastor to read Wiggers’ biography of Asbury and not continually weigh yourself against Asbury’s piety -- and to come up seriously lacking. Asbury’s life and example continues to inspire, prod, challenge, and even rebuke us modern pastors and leaders.
At my most recent Annual Conference, there was some debate around whether to give our District Superintendents a raise. In the end the raise was passed, and the salary of a D.S. was set at over twice the minimum conference salary of a pastor. What would happen if each D.S. and bishop made less than everyone else, or rather lived on less than everyone else? If my church’s leaders lived more simply than me, I think I would be inclined to follow them even more fully, just as the Methodists followed Asbury.
I wonder if each second pastor, in order to build trust, doesn’t have to live into a similar kind of exemplary piety. When a new pastor shows up one Sunday, this church knows almost nothing about him or her. I think it would help second pastors to give a little more self-disclosure than perhaps they have thought appropriate to do in the past.
I tried this out one Sunday after the massive earthquake that hit Haiti. I told our church that next Sunday we would be taking a special offering for Haiti. I held up two checks for them to see. I said, “The check in my left hand is my normal tithe check. It represents 10% of my paycheck. The check in my right hand is the check I will put in the offering next week for Haiti. It is a check for several hundreds of dollars. Will you join me in giving extravagantly to the need that exists in Haiti?” I asked several other leaders what they thought about this before I did it, because I actually felt very awkward with this much self-disclosure. Was I putting myself on a pedestal?
The next week, when we took an offering for Haiti, it was the biggest mission offering our church had ever collected. There were reasons for this beyond my own self-disclosure, but our head offering counter told me that there were many checks that matched almost exactly the check I had written.
This is the final lesson I as a second pastor learned from Asbury. People follow where I personally lead.
Tom Arthur is pastor of Sycamore Creek United Methodist Church in Lansing, Michigan.
