Amusements: Bishops' Counsel on Worldly Pleasures
The bishops of the M. E. church, in their letter to the people, have the following very sensible advice in regard to amusements:— We would call your attention to the subject of amusements. Some of our people may be tempted by worldly success to yield to popular and sinful pleasures. Great watchcare should be had against these dangerous fascinations. The church is separate from the world. “Come ye out from among them,” is a command of to day as much as in the time of Paul. Take no diversions except such as can be used in the name of the Lord Jesus, is a protection needed now as much as when John Wesley wrote it. “The world is too much with us.” Let it not weaken our love for the services of the church. Let your prayer and class-meetings still be your most beloved resorts. They are the true sources of church life. The solicitations of permitted enjoyments of a cultivated sort interfere sometimes with these claims. Yield not to any temptation that makes you neglect or dislike their holy communions. Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together. Especially would we call your attention to the two-fold and kindred duties lying upon every minister and member—personal growth in grace, and seeking the salvation of souls. These duties are mutual. One cannot grow in holiness unless he labors for the salvation of sinners, nor can one work faithfully for the rescue of souls without increasing in his own love for his Saviour and in the graces of the Spirit. The church must become more and more like her Master, who revealed his God-head in his coming to seek and to save that which was lost. So should all his disciples prove their discipleship. Mere meditative or introspective piety is not scriptural or Methodistic. It is mystic; it is transcendental; it is fatal to the proper growth of the religious nature.