What does being a Methodist mean to you?

John Pravin is serving as the ETAC Methodist Youth Fellowship President and as a Youth Leader in Ang Mo Kio Tamil Methodist Church. He is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Philosophy at NTU.

As I reflected on what being a Methodist means to me, I could not help but think of what it is not: exclusive. Salvation is not only for the “most upright”, nor is God’s grace only for those who “deserve it”. Instead, grace is that free and undeserved love and mercy which reconciles the sinner to God, through the merits of Christ.

To me then, being a Methodist is living in the realisation that everyone is accepted at the Lord’s Table: sinners or saints; black-haired or pink-haired; regardless of race. We are then called to build loving relationships with others, constantly forgiving one another, and working towards displaying the inclusiveness of God’s love.

Growing up in the Methodist Church, I noticed that my church operated in unity among three annual conferences (TRAC, CAC, ETAC). We embody the spirit of multi-ethnicity—reflecting the house of God where our differences are a cause of appreciation and not differentiation. However, being a Methodist does not mean that I—or any of my fellow Methodists— are perfect. We still make mistakes. But the act of forgiving and loving one another, just as we were forgiven and loved by God, epitomises what it means to be a Methodist.

In a world that so readily catalogues our mistakes, super-glues our failures and forgets that something bad can become good, being a Methodist has taught me that forgiveness and acceptance are nonnegotiable truths in the kingdom of God.