John Wesley & Money

As a follow up to John Piper's quote yesterday. I read in a devotion by PCA pastor Al Baker today about the great preacher, John Wesley.

John Wesley, the 18th century Anglican pastor and founder of the Methodist movement in England, was a prolific writer, publishing a plethora of books on a number of subjects. His books also sold very well, bringing him an annual income in today’s U.S. dollars amounting to $2.8 million. He lived on $60,000, giving the rest away to charity each year. When the British government tried to tax him on silver it supposed he was hiding from taxation, he responded by saying, “I have only two silver spoons, one in Bristol and one in London, and I shall have no more silver as long as so many remain hungry.” Wesley was a cheerful giver (the Greek text uses a word from which we get hilarious). His money held little allure for him.