Wesley Corpus

But what difficulties are those All that are the necessary consequence of your sharing our reproach. And what reproach is it which we bear Is it the reproach of Christ or not It arose first, while my brother and I were at Oxford, from our endeavoring to be real Christians. It was abundantly increased when we began to preach repentance and remission of sins and insist that we are justified by faith. For this cause were we excluded from preaching in the churches. (I say for this: as yet there was no field-preaching.) And this exclusion occasioned our preaching elsewhere, with the other irregularities that followed. Therefore all the reproach consequent thereon is no other than the reproach of Christ. And what are we the worse for this It is not pleasing to flesh and blood; but is it any hindrance to the work of God Did He work more by us when we were honorable men By no means. God never used us to any purpose till we were a proverb of reproach. Nor have we now a jot more of dishonor and evil report than we know is necessary, both for us and for the people to balance that honor and good report which otherwise could not be borne. You need not, therefore, be so much afraid of or so careful to avoid this. It is a precious balm; it will not break your head, nether lessen your usefulness. And, indeed, you cannot avoid it any other wise than by departing from the work. You do not avoid it by standing aloof from us; which you call Christian, I worldly, prudence.