Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntington
As the Church of England tightened its rules in preventing dissenters from obtaining a license to preach, she found a loophole in the legislation by calling preachers to minister in her private chapels, which was allowed. She stretched however the rule by enlarging her chapels and inviting thousands to attend the services. By the end of her life, she had 64 chapels registered under her name. But dissenting preachers faced another obstacle. Struggling to find admission to most colleges and seminaries, they lacked in proper education. Selina sought to remedy this too, by opening her own school, Trevecca College, in a renovated farmhouse. The college opened in 1768, with John Fletcher as principal.
And what if you save (under God) but one soul? [1]
This question, addressed to a still hesitant John Wesley, is a good summary of the life goal and drive of Selina Hastings, countess of Huntingdon.
Selina’s Early Life
Born in 1707 to an upper-class family in Northamptonshire, England, Selina faced challenges from an early age. She was only six when her parents separated over issues of money and alleged infidelity. She and her older sister Elizabeth stayed with their father, rejecting her mother’s claims over the family’s estate. Only after her mother’s death, Selina extended her assistance to her younger sister Mary, who had lived with their mother.
Selina’s marriage, at 21 years of age, to Theophilus Hastings, ninth earl of Huntingdon, brought her much happiness. Her letters reveal her love for her husband and their seven children, all born within the first ten years of marriage. But this early joy was marred by persistent health problems that forced Selina to spend much time at the thermal springs of Bath. She profoundly disliked the decadence of the place and missed her family, yearning to return home.
This dissatisfaction was only one aspect of her overall discontent. Amid problems of various kind, she was mostly dissatisfied with herself, a feeling that didn’t find relief in the Christianity she tried to live out in church attendance and charitable acts. What she lacked was a clear understanding of the gospel of grace.
From an early age, when the sight of a child in an open casket impressed on her the nearness of death, Selina had tried to live a godly life, but had felt increasingly inadequate. It was only in 1739 that her sister-in-law Margaret explained how she had finally found peace and assurance by simply believing that Christ had won the battle she had tried so hard to fight. Margaret directed Selina to some young pastors who were known by the disparaging name of Methodists. Selina thrived under their preaching.
Developments in Selina’s Theology
The countess’s sudden turn to Methodism was seen with disapproval by many of her relatives, who considered these preachers fanatic. Seven years later, her daughter Elizabeth, then 15, complained that her mother had become “righteous overmuch.”[2]
But Selina persisted. John and Charles Wesley became some of her closest friends and she supported their ministry. It was around this time that she encouraged John Wesley to preach to the miners near her home. To his objection, “Have they no churches and ministers already?” she replied, “They have churches, but they never go to them! And ministers, but they seldom or never hear them! Perhaps they might hear you.”[3]
John followed her advice in 1742, beginning a ministry that revolutionized his views and methods of preaching.
Eventually, Selina turned away from some of John Wesley’s teachings, particularly his belief that Christians can reach and must strive for perfection in this life. This doctrine, she felt, was driving her away from the assurance she had found in the simple message of salvation by faith alone. Because of this, she developed closer ties George Whitefield, who had also diverged from John Wesley on other issues, such as predestination. She appointed Whitefield as her chaplain in 1748.
Hard Providence
This change in her theology followed a difficult time of her life, when two of her children died of smallpox and, three years later, her husband died of a stroke. More than ever, she needed to hear the good news of the gospel, free from any condition.
But her trials didn’t stop. In 1758, her son Henry died of a mysterious illness which had deprived him of his sight. In 1763, her daughter Selina died of a violent fever. Throughout this trying time, she found much comfort in the words of preachers who had become her close friends, such as Howell Harris, John Berridge, John Fletcher, and William Romaine.
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The Mass Hysteria and Psychosis of Modern Society
The best way to destroy groupthink is by learning to think for ourselves and in the words of Paul “being transformed by the renewing of our minds” (Rom.12:2). What a difference it would make if all Christians stood up against the lies that our society is being built upon! We would turn the world upside down!
Two Minutes Hate
In the novel Orwell describes the Two Minutes Hate—a daily public period in which the citizens of Oceania watch a film showing Emmanuel Goldstein, the main enemy of the State, and his Brotherhood. They are encouraged to show their hate for him and their love for Big Brother. Orwell’s picture is a masterful description of group psychology—what he calls groupthink. It shows how people can transfer their own anxieties and anger on to an external enemy (who doesn’t really exist), and thus diverts them from questioning The Party—the governing authorities. In this way The Party can deal with thoughtcrime and thoughtcriminals.
The Right Side of History
Whilst not quite as explicit as in Orwell’s dystopian novel, modern liberal ‘soft’ authoritarianism has developed a similar if somewhat more sophisticated technique. We are constantly being invited to join the groupthink and be ‘on the right side of history’. I think of the medical worker who went to work only to have their regular LGBTQI+ day—where a lecture was given on the necessity of correct pronouns. Everyone sat round and nodded. No one dared question. Even more so, no one dared not to be seen to be affirming. Everyone had to wear the symbol. After all you don’t want to be excluded for not being inclusive! But what is even more chilling is that increasingly ‘the enemy’ is being named. Those bigots. Those phobes! Usually religious, but not of course Islam—the religion of peace, which can never be portrayed in any other way than positive! This discrimination will soon lead to anger and hatred—when the promised Brave New World is not delivered by all our diversity and equality training. Someone must be to blame.
This scenario is repeated in countless government departments, school, universities and corporations—especially those who have appointed ‘equality and diversity’ officers under the watchful eye of Stonewall. In Australia there are 25,000 trans people in the whole country—that is 0.01% of the population. But for that 0.1% we have to have special days at work and school, we have to destroy women’s sport and we have to cancel anyone who dares to question the ideology.
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Are You Getting in the Way of God’s Work?
An expert knowledge of our own finitude becomes an opportunity for humility, dependence, and wisdom. As we give ourselves grace to be imperfect, resting in God’s merciful posture toward us rather than our own competencies and successes, we can simultaneously give this same grace and compassion to others.
We all know that God uses his people to bless others. I’m sure you’ve been there—that perfectly timed conversation where all the words were right and were said at the right time, and the runway was cleared for the good news to land and do its work. A glorious thing to behold and an honor to be a part of. At the same time, I’m sure you can remember when the exact opposite was true, and an untimely joke, your insensitivity or oversensitivity to an event, a poor split-second decision, or a misunderstanding sabotaged everything you were hoping to accomplish. How do we make sense of this maddening paradox of majestic successes scattered among our cringeworthy disappointments? After all, the list of reasons for our miscues is endless. If only we weren’t so intense, opinionated, forgetful, self-conscious, naive, uptight, eccentric, rigid, gullible, abrasive, sensitive, awkward, shy…and the list goes on and on. And on top of it all, most of these characteristics we’re just plain stuck with. They’re an indelible part of us.
The Paradox
Being an instrument of God means that we live in a paradox. On one hand, God does significant things through us to advance his kingdom, and on the other, we are acutely aware of how much better things could go if we weren’t constantly tripping over our own feet. We’re tempted to think that God’s kingdom would be so much bigger, so much better, and so much more efficient if we could just get out of his way!
However, the good news of the gospel is not that God has taken his children out of this fallen world or sheltered us from the inevitable results of living in it. God, in his wisdom, has decided not to tame our histories, take the edge off our personalities, standardize our preferences, nor abolish our limitations, weaknesses, deficits, and handicaps. Rather, the good news of the gospel is that God uses us and our messy lives rather than requiring the perfect and pristine. He operates within our finitude and frailty through the work and power of the Holy Spirit.
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Serving Families with Disabled Children
First Corinthians 12:22 informs us that God sees the weaker parts of the church as necessary. Moving toward a ministry for nontypical or disabled individuals and their families requires at least two things. First, church leadership must understand the important role that these individuals have in the church and be committed to making all things accessible in the church. Second, leaders must give up the illusion of “perfect” performance.
Her eyes were brimming with tears—was it relief, was it gratitude, was it exhaustion? It was most certainly gratitude. For sixteen years, we sat in the back of the church. We could not attend Sunday school classes or the social activities associated with them. We have a nontypical adult son who has been diagnosed with autism, and historically there have been no programs for him at church. We would take turns leaving with him when the music was too loud or a child sat in front of us who distracted, and thereby irritated, our son. But at this moment on this Lord’s Day, our church launched a class for nontypical students. Skye was the oldest student, essentially because the divorce rate among families like ours approaches 80 percent and it is easier for a single parent to stay home with his or her child than to bring the child to church when there is no assistance. It was the first time that my wife and I had sat together in a worship service in sixteen years without juggling the responsibility of our son. My wife leaned into my arm and wept. We worshiped.
I often hear conversations about unreached people groups and exotic populations of people who need to hear the hope of the gospel message. But there may be unreached people in your neighborhood. Of children under the age of 18, 4.3 percent are considered disabled. These nontypical kids and their families often find it easier to opt out of church. It has been documented that these households feel isolated, tired, and in great need of support. In Luke 14, Jesus tells a parable concerning His desire to open the “banquet table” to the overlooked and marginalized. Peruse the invitation—the poor and crippled, the blind and lame are to be invited and brought to the church. In all honesty, I often want the rich, beautiful, and gifted guests at my table. Maybe the reason I am at the table in the first place is that in God’s economy I am the weaker and less desirable. Second, notice the sense of urgency—“Go out quickly”—these are powerful action words for our Lord. He does not say, “Let’s wait and see if we have anyone poor, crippled, or lame and then develop a ministry.” This is a command to search and find and bring them in.
Once again, notice the passion to which the church is called to this population: “Compel people to come in” (emphasis added).Read More
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