Wesleyan Pastoral Ministry, Evangelism, and Global Missions — Unit 4: Pastoral Care and the Cure of Souls

Key Verse

"Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all." (1 Thessalonians 5:14, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Explain what "the cure of souls" means and why Wesleyans link pastoral care with growth in holiness.

2. Use the three groups of 1 Thessalonians 5:14 (the unruly, the fainthearted, the weak) to organize pastoral care.

3. Describe a Wesleyan approach to visiting the sick, comforting the grieving, helping the spiritually dark and restoring the fallen.

4. List basic rules of confidentiality, boundaries and referral for a pastor who counsels.

5. State three objections to this pattern of pastoral care and give the Wesleyan answers.

The Voice of This Course

This course is written from inside the Wesleyan tradition, for pastors who belong to it. We hold that the Bible is God's inspired Word, that Christ died for all, that God's grace can be received and also resisted, and that God calls His people to holiness. Other Christians differ on some points; we state their views fairly and answer from the Wesleyan side. See Course 2, Unit 9 on perseverance, which affects how we care for those who struggle.

What Is the Cure of Souls?

The old phrase "the cure of souls" comes from the Latin cura animarum, "the care of souls." In the Church of England, in which Wesley was ordained, a priest was given the cure of souls in his parish. The word "cure" here does not mean only healing. It means care and charge. The pastor is responsible before God for the spiritual welfare of the people committed to him: "Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account" (Hebrews 13:17).

The Bible calls the pastor a shepherd. A shepherd does not only feed the flock from a distance. He knows his sheep, binds up the hurt and goes after the lost. God rebuked the shepherds of Israel who did not do this: "The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost" (Ezekiel 34:4). The Lord Jesus is the good shepherd who does all these things.

The Wesleyan Mark: Care Aims at Holiness

Every Christian tradition cares for people. The Wesleyan tradition adds a particular aim. It does not only try to make a troubled person comfortable. It tries to help a person toward holiness, to be freed from the power of sin and filled with love for God and neighbor (Course 3).

This changes how the pastor listens. When a believer is in trouble, the Wesleyan pastor asks several questions in his heart. Is this a trouble that comes from sin that needs to be turned from? Is it a suffering that God allows, in which the person needs comfort and strength? Is it a time of darkness in the spirit? Is it a weakness of body or mind that needs a doctor's help as well? The answers are not always the same, and a wise pastor does not give the same medicine to every sickness.

Wesley wrote on these matters. In sermons such as "The Wilderness State" and "Heaviness through Manifold Temptations," he described how a believer can lose joy and feel far from God. He named several possible causes, among them sin, neglect of the means of grace, temptation and ignorance, and he recognized that weakness of the body can weigh on the spirit. Elijah, under the broom tree, was worn out and afraid, and God first gave him food and sleep before He spoke to him (1 Kings 19:4-8). The Lord cared for the body of His servant before dealing with his heart.

Wesley practiced what he taught. His Primitive Physick (1747) gave plain remedies for common illnesses to people who could not pay a doctor, and his sermon "On Visiting the Sick" urges Christians to go to those who suffer.

Three Groups: Warn, Comfort, Uphold

Paul's words in 1 Thessalonians 5:14 give a simple way for a pastor to think about the people in his care. Each group needs a different kind of help.

Warn the unruly

The "unruly" are those who are out of order: they neglect their duty, walk in disorder, or break the common life of the church. The word can picture soldiers out of rank. A pastor who loves his people will warn them. Paul's own pattern in Acts 20:31 was to "warn everyone night and day with tears."

Wesleyan care of the unruly follows the pattern of Jesus in Matthew 18:15-17. First go to the person alone. If he does not listen, take one or two others. If he still does not listen, tell it to the church. In early Methodism the General Rules gave the standard, and a person who would not keep them after warning was removed from the society. Its aim was always restoration (Galatians 6:1). Paul told the Corinthians to discipline a man in serious sin, and later told them to forgive and comfort him, "lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow" (2 Corinthians 2:7; compare 1 Corinthians 5).

The Wesleyan teaching on perseverance shapes this work. We believe that a believer can fall away by continued unbelief, but that he can also be restored. So the pastor takes sin seriously, and he also keeps the door open. The apostle John writes, "And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1). Peter denied Christ three times and was restored by the Lord and given the work of feeding the sheep (John 21:15-17). Warning is a form of love. A pastor who never warns, and a pastor who only warns, have both left out something Paul commands.

Comfort the fainthearted

The "fainthearted" are the discouraged, the grieving, the fearful and the ashamed. Here the pastor brings comfort.

The sick. James writes, "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven" (James 5:14-15). The pastor visits, listens, reads a short Scripture, prays, and leaves. He does not stay too long. He remembers that healing belongs to God, and he does not promise what God has not promised.

The grieving. Paul tells us to "weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15) and not to "sorrow as others who have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13). The pastor sits with the grieving, speaks of the hope of the resurrection, and returns after the funeral, when the family is alone.

The spiritually dark. For the believer who feels far from God, the pastor listens before he speaks. He asks whether there is a known sin, whether the person has stopped using the means of grace, whether he is tired or ill, or is in a time of testing. He directs the person to the promises of Scripture, and he does not condemn him for the feeling. Wesley taught that the feeling of God's presence may come and go, but the believer's trust rests on Christ. He also taught that the witness of the Spirit is real (Romans 8:16). A person's doubt may be a sign of life and not death.

Uphold the weak

The "weak" are those who are weak in faith, weak in will, or weak in understanding: new believers, those who struggle with an old habit, and those who need help to stand. The pastor upholds them by friendship, teaching, prayer and by putting them in contact with others who will help: a class leader, an older believer, a group. Paul writes, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). The small group of Unit 3 does much of this work; the pastor cannot be the only caregiver.

"Be patient with all," Paul adds. The Wesleyan pastor remembers that sanctification is a work of God that takes time and that God is patient with him too.

The Practice of Care: Some Plain Rules

Some rules help a pastor care wisely.

Listen first. "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath" (James 1:19). Ask a question and wait for the answer.

Keep confidence. What a person tells the pastor is not to be told to others. The only exceptions are when someone's life or the safety of a child or another person is in danger, in which case the pastor must act to protect them. Pastors should know the laws of their country about reporting abuse.

Keep proper boundaries. A pastor should not counsel a person of the opposite sex alone in a closed room, and should not form a close private relationship with someone in his care. Visit in pairs, leave the door open, or have another person nearby. This protects the person and the pastor, and the name of Christ.

Pray with the person. Prayer is not a way to end the conversation; it brings the matter to God.

Use Scripture gently. A verse used as a club wounds. A verse used as a lamp helps (Psalm 119:105). Choose a passage that fits the need.

Follow up. Care is not one visit. Plan to visit again or ask a church member to do so.

Know your limits and refer. A pastor is not a doctor or a trained therapist. When someone speaks of ending his life, the pastor takes it seriously, does not leave him alone, and brings in family and medical help at once. Where there is long depression, severe anxiety, addiction, violence in the home or illness of the mind, the pastor stays with the person as a friend and pastor and also helps him to find a doctor or trained counselor. He should know in advance who is available in his area.

A Debate: Pastoral Care and Modern Psychology

Pastors and scholars disagree about pastoral care and psychology. Some hold that the Bible alone is enough for all the problems of the soul and that psychology is mostly in error. Others hold that its findings can help the church understand people, if tested by Scripture. Wesleyans have commonly taken a middle path. Scripture is the final authority on what a person is, what has gone wrong and how God heals, yet God's gifts of knowledge, including medicine, may be received with thanks. The pastor's task is spiritual, and a doctor's help does not harm it.

Objections and Wesleyan Answers

Objection 1: Pastoral care takes too much time. A pastor should preach and evangelize, and leave this work aside.

Our answer. The pastor cannot do it all, but he cannot leave it all. In Exodus 18, Jethro told Moses that he could not carry the people alone and advised him to appoint capable men to help. In Acts 6 the apostles appointed others to serve the widows so that they could give themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. The Wesleyan answer is to share the work through class leaders, visitors and a team of caring members, while the pastor trains them and gives himself to the hardest cases. People hear a sermon better from the pastor who has visited their house.

Objection 2: Church discipline is unloving. Jesus said, "Judge not."

Our answer. Jesus did say, "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matthew 7:1), and He condemned a hypocritical and proud spirit. But in Matthew 18 He also gave His church the way of dealing with a brother who sins, and Paul commanded discipline at Corinth. Discipline done in love is not condemnation. It is the church saying, "We love you too much to pretend that this does not matter." It is done humbly (Galatians 6:1), and it ends in forgiveness when the person turns.

Objection 3: If a believer can fall away, then pastoral care will make people anxious. It is better to teach that salvation cannot be lost.

Many Reformed Christians hold that those whom God has saved will persevere to the end, and they say that this gives comfort to the troubled.

Our answer. We agree that comfort matters, and we agree that God is faithful. Our teaching is that salvation is held by trust in Christ, and the one who abides in Him is safe. The warnings of Scripture, such as Hebrews 3:12, are given to protect us, as a fence on a high road is given to protect, not to frighten the traveler. The Wesleyan pastor teaches both the warning and the promise. He tells the anxious believer that God is able to keep him, that the desire to be faithful is itself the work of the Spirit, and that even one who has fallen can be restored.

Pastoral Application

Pastor Ana hears that Carlos, a member of her church, lost his job two months ago and has stopped attending. His wife has told someone at church that he is drinking and that she is thinking of leaving. Ana goes to visit with an older woman from the church. Carlos is ashamed and says little. Ana does not preach to him. She listens, and she prays, and she tells him that the church has missed him and that God has not left him.

Over the next weeks she visits again and asks a trusted man from the men's group to meet with him weekly. On the second visit, Carlos says that his family would be better without him. Ana does not leave. She asks him plainly whether he is thinking of taking his life. She stays with him, speaks with his wife and brother, and arranges for him to see a doctor that same week. She also tells him, with gentleness, that the drinking must be dealt with, and that the church will stand with him. She keeps what he told her private.

In time Carlos returns to the service. The road is slow. Ana warns, comforts and upholds, and she knows when to ask for help.

Summary

The cure of souls is the pastor's care for the spiritual welfare of the people committed to him. The Wesleyan tradition adds a particular aim: care that leads toward holiness. Paul's threefold command in 1 Thessalonians 5:14 organizes the work: warn the unruly, comfort the fainthearted and uphold the weak. The pastor visits the sick, sits with the grieving, helps those in spiritual darkness, and works for the restoration of the fallen, always in the hope that a fallen believer may be restored. He listens first, keeps confidence, observes proper boundaries, prays, follows up, and refers when the need is beyond him. Wesleyans take a middle path between those who reject all psychology and those who accept it without testing. We answered the objections that care takes too much time, that discipline is unloving, and that the Wesleyan view of falling away makes people anxious.

Further Reading

• John Wesley, "The Wilderness State" and "Heaviness through Manifold Temptations," in the Standard Sermons.

• John Wesley, "On Visiting the Sick," a sermon.

• John Wesley, Primitive Physick (1747), a primary source on his care for the body.

• The General Rules of the United Societies, a primary source.

• John Wesley, Notes on the New Testament, on 1 Thessalonians 5 and James 5.

• John Fletcher, Checks to Antinomianism, on the Wesleyan view of grace and obedience.

• Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor (1656), on the pastor's personal care of each person.

• George Herbert, A Priest to the Temple (1652), on the country pastor's visits and counsel.

• Course 2, Unit 9 (perseverance) and Course 3 (holiness) of this specialization.

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