30 Days with E. Stanley Jones (John E. Harnish) -- A Review
30 DAYS WITH E. STANLEY JONES: Global Preacher, Social Justice Prophet. By John E. Harnish. Canton, MI: Read the Spirit Books, 2022. Xxi + 146 pages.
The
name E. Stanley Jones probably doesn’t stand out today. Time has a way of
erasing people from memory. That is especially true for Protestants who lack a
process of sainthood. We remember Luther and Calvin (do we remember Zwingli)
and maybe the Wesley brothers (and as we move away from hymn-singing we might
even lose track of Charles Wesley) and of course Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Nevertheless, there was a time when E. Stanley Jones was a well-known figure in
Christian circles and beyond. If you’re acquainted with United Methodist seminaries,
you may have seen his name attached to faculty chairs in evangelism. I have
long known his name and the fact that he was an evangelist and missionary to
India. I've also run across his many books, but truth be told I’ve never spent
any time with them. That, I’ve learned, is likely to my detriment. E. Stanley
Jones will be on my reading list soon.
While I
may have neglected Stanley Jones' books, I have had the opportunity to get to
know him better through a new devotional book titled 30 Days with E. StanleyJones. The book is authored by John E. Harnish, like Jones, is a Methodist.
He is a retired United Methodist Minister, having served as the pastor of First
United Methodist Church of Birmingham, Michigan, as well as several other United
Methodist churches. Harnish is a graduate of Asbury College, the same college
that produced Stanley Jones, as well as Asbury Theological Seminary along with
an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological
Seminary. He also served as Associate General Secretary for the General Board
of Higher Education and Ministry for the UMC.
In 30 Days with E. Stanley Jones we encounter a missionary to India, a statesman,
an interfaith leader, a preacher, an advisor to Presidents, and a social
justice prophet who was a friend of Mahatma Gandhi. It was Jones’ biography of Gandhi
that influenced Martin Luther King, Jr. While Harnish’s devotional book is not
a biography, it does give the reader a true sense of the person Stanley Jones.
As I read the book, I realized that I should find time to go back and read
Jones for myself. As Harnish notes throughout, Jones's message is as pertinent
today as it was when he was alive and active in his ministry. Jones’s message
was simply this: Jesus is Lord. With that confession of faith as his core
message, he sought to proclaim the broader message of the Kingdom of God.
Harnish writes that while Jones preached the message of Jesus without apology,
he did so "with sensitivity to diverse cultures and other world
religions." Therefore, as a missionary in India, “he was able to engage
Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs as well as non-believers in open conversation and
because they sensed his respect for them, they were willing to listen to him.
In our contemporary world, the church needs to rediscover that balance between
a clarity of faith and openness of heart" (pp. Xviii-xix). Central to his ministry
was the creation of the Ashram Movement. This was his practical application of
his vision of the kingdom of God. It emerged out of his acquaintance with
Gandhi’s ashram, but with a Christian ethos. Harnish writes of the ashram
movement, which spread from India around the world, and continues to this day
in the United States. The ashram he created was designed to be “open to people
of all faiths, the only qualification for participation was an openness to the
Gospel and a willingness to search for truth in complete honesty” (p. xx). This
involved living a simple life in accord with Indian customs, including adopting
Indian clothing, eating Indian food, as well as doing menial and manual work.
After Harnish
introduces us to Jones' life and message, we begin our month-long journey.
While the title is 30 Days with E. Stanley Jones, Harnish gives us
thirty-one days with Jones. The title reflects the fact that this is part of a
series of devotional books published by Read the Spirit Books designed for thirty
days of spiritual engagement. Each day's devotion shares something about Jones
and his message. As we move through the month, we walk with him from his early
life and conversion through his sense of call to ministry and missionary work
and then through his life of ministry up to his death. We learn that Jones
originally wanted to go to Africa as a missionary, but then he heard the call
to India. Along the way, we encounter Gandhi, whom Jones worked with closely.
We learn as well that when Jones asked Gandhi for a word of advice to
Christians, among those words was his encouragement to “live more like Jesus,”
and also that Christians should put their “emphasis on love, for love is the
center and soul of Christianity” (p. 44). We also discover that Jones sought to
intervene with President Roosevelt just before the breakout of the war with
Japan. He had been trying to mediate a conversation that would have averted the
attack on Pearl Harbor. It almost happened, but the message didn’t get to the
right people in time. Throughout the thirty-day journey, we encounter a man of
conviction and humility.
It's
difficult to summarize a book like this, but what we discover in the course of
time spent with it (I read it for review, so I went a bit more quickly than one
selection per day), offers insight into what it means to live a life of service
to God. Each chapter is around three pages in length and includes a prayer from
Jones' works. Most of the chapters include not only information about Jones but
also brief excerpts from his books.
The
prayer for the final devotion (Day 31) speaks to the heart of Jones’s life:
O Christ, I see. I have been nervous and anxious and complicated. And now at long last I am coming to the simple. I am in union with Thee. That is my primary and only responsibility. I accept it with joy. I am a child again, simple, happy, unafraid. Amen.
Comments
Jack Harnish
Anne Mathews-Younes, Ed.D., D.Min.
President, E. Stanley Jones Foundation