Welcome to the 400th episode of Wesley Bros Comics! From its inception, I have been fascinated by the Christian belief in the communion of saints. We may not be able to speak back into the past, but the legacy of those who have gone before us continues to speak to us and shape us today. Every time we partake of Holy Communion, we gather together with all the saints of God from past, present and future. The heroes of the faith and the unknowns. People who were enemies and held entirely different beliefs in this life, gathered together around Christ’s holy feast table. It gives me hope in the future of the church, and that gives me hope for the present.
I was drawn to create a comic about John and Charles Wesley because I loved their dynamics as brothers, I loved their contributions to the world, I loved so much of their poetry and worldview. Like all heroes of the faith, both men are deeply flawed and products of their time and context. While there have been significant strides in the last century to reclaim our Wesleyan roots, I can’t imagine that John Wesley would want us to completely embrace an 18th century ethic without regard to our present cultural context. Like all of our predecessors in the faith, we must tune our souls to the present work of the Holy Spirit, and discern together in community how God’s kingdom is working in our midst here and now.
It is common for us to look back to Scripture and Tradition and claim that this is static truth for all time. I think a more healthy approach is to look at Scripture and Tradition as the work of the Holy Spirit among a group of people in a particular time and context. How did the people of God discern together the movement of the Spirit? How did they discern the best way to love God and neighbor in their specific location in history? That then informs us of how to do the same work for ourselves today. There is no one Tradition; there are many traditions. The Body of Christ is diverse, and we do not all agree on the best way to pursue holiness. There are traditions that I find incredibly harmful and actively damaging the Christian witness in the world today. Coincidentally, many in those very traditions would say the same thing about my own approach to the faith.
Perhaps someone else would have written this comic in a very different way. I imagine others could do a much better job of capturing John and Charles Wesley as they actually were in the 18th century. But that was never my commitment. From the beginning, I wanted to reimagine them alive in today’s world, alongside all the other saints. I can’t possible know how any of them would relate to today’s world, but it has been a very fun experiment for me. My life has changed dramatically since I started this comic 8 years ago. And as I’ve studied the Wesley Brothers constantly this whole time, my opinions about them have changed. I’ve found some stuff that really troubles me. Some of their teaching I just reject, while some of it I absolutely adore. But I think that kind of discernment makes us more like John Wesley himself, who was keen to draw from the best of the traditions that had gone before him so he could create something entirely new and meaningful for his time in history.
Thank you for being a wonderful and faithful audience. For coming alongside me as we explore together what it looks like to build the kingdom of God in the 21st century. For correcting my typos and letting me know when I’ve gotten some tiny detail a little bit wrong. For laughing with me and scratching your head at my weird sense of humor. But mostly, thank you for partnering with me in the work of spreading scriptural holiness over the land!
PS. The new Liturgical Calendars are on sale now, with free shipping! Order them today, they make great gifts for the clergy and church nerds in your life! https://www.etsy.com/shop/wesleybroscomics