Troubadour of the Kingdom

The Life and Times of J. Rufus Moseley, 1870–1954

Gregory S. Camp

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781532679803
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: History of Christianity

Joel Rufus Moseley (1870-1954) is one of the forgotten twentieth-century champions of American Pentecostalism. A brilliant scholar and university professor, he left the accolades of academia and searched a number of spiritual paths until he embraced Pentecostalism in 1910. Thereafter he began a lay ministry to the down-and-outs of society, openly campaigning against capital punishment, for racial desegregation, and above all else for living a life in the Holy Spirit he described as "Life as Love." He blazed a path that was to influence (and confound) many Pentecostal leaders of his time, provided an example to those who would lead what become known as the Charismatic Renewal, and enjoyed a life of joy one rarely encounters. A contemporary version of St. Francis of Assisi, Rufus Moseley shunned position, power, politics, religious titles, and seeking after wealth in favor of following simplicity and depth of spiritual life. Like his thirteenth-century counterpart, he lived a life of gratitude, of "littleness," and above all, love. Moseley offers encouragement as well as reproof to the contemporary charismatic movement to again seek the simplicity that is in Christ.

1

The Quest Begins

1870–1909

Let us begin, brothers, to serve the Lord God, for up until now we have made little or no progress.

—Francis of Assisi

Joel Rufus Moseley was born in 1870 in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina near the village of Elkin. The fourth of eight children, Rufus entered the world at a time when Reconstruction was still in effect and the long and painful process of reuniting the nation after the Civil War was underway. During this period, federal troops occupied the defeated South, a harsh reminder of the failure of the Confederate cause. His father, James “Cubby” Moseley, had served in the Confederate Army with a North Carolina unit, and had his health compromised as a result of the war. Devout Christians, James and Theresa Moseley raised their children in a Primitive or “Hardshell” Baptist tradition. His parents were well-liked in the community, and many of their friends sought to help the Moseley children in any way they could. Indeed, community concern for all children in the area was common in a manner not often seen today, and Rufus was no exception to this. He liked to describe his youth and family life in this pastoral setting as ideal “seed, soil, and climate,” and as preparation for his later ministry.14

Rufus spoke with great love, respect, and pride that his father was the most honest man he had ever known. For instance, if selling produce at market, James Moseley would place the larger items below the smaller ones, and if selling a mule or piece of equipment, would set forth in great detail the faults of the item to be sold. He would then offer his own idea of what the livestock, produce, or equipment was worth. This even extended to periodic tax assessor visits, where he would review his property and give his honest opinion of what he thought the property was worth should he want to sell it. James’s reputation as an honest man and a pillar of the mountain community was widespread. Often with his parents because he was a sickly child, Rufus also recalled his father’s concerns in the morning that his children not overwork at their chores in the heat of the day. Often riding a mule, his father took Rufus with him on his various errands and told him of his hopes and dreams for the family and future. From this example, Rufus gained an appreciation for what he would later term “utter sincerity” in one’s dealings with all people. When coupled with what he would later call “Life as Love,” these early lessons were to provide the bedrock for a simplicity and honesty that is, by today’s standards, startling in its purity.15

Rufus’s mother, Theresa, was likewise a treasured memory, and he described her as a woman of great faith and a powerful prayer warrior. Early on, his mother made sacrifices for the Moseley children’s education, and would often oversee their tending to their lessons while she went about her daily tasks. These chores ranged from such frontier fare as tending beehives and washing, mending, or making clothing to drying fruit and vegetables for family consumption. Moseley once shared how whenever there was any decision—seemingly large or small—that came before the family, his mother would disappear into the woods for quiet time in prayer and not return until she felt that she had heaven’s answer. This even extended to what crops to plant. As a result of much prayer and specifically asking about her children, Theresa believed she heard from the Holy Spirit that one of her children would be used in a great way for the kingdom of God, and thought it might be her son Millard, one of Rufus’s younger brothers.16 Though she never revealed her conviction that it would be Millard until later in life, and then apparently only to Rufus, it doubtless provided Moseley with a framework and expectation that God could and would reveal himself on a personal level.17

Moseley, his siblings, and the other nearby children attended the Old Rock Schoolhouse, a proverbial one-room school. It was a source of community pride, with parents and grandparents taking an active interest in the education of the young. Exceptional student work was discussed with a great sense of achievement, whether it was their own children who became accomplished or not. Of his school years, Moseley said:

the neighborhood school, as crude as it was, was a far better school than are many city schools. It was full of aspiration; and the whole neighborhood was behind it. At one time a larger percentage of its students went to college than from any school that I know of. The neighborhood had many rare souls in it.18

As a child, Moseley dreamed of a life in public service and thought that going on to college and law school was a fine goal to that end. Interest in religion, other than as a backdrop, apparently did not enter his youthful mind; indeed, he considered Christianity to be something of a hindrance, and had difficulty understanding how it was possible to integrate secular with spiritual pursuits. He was of the mistaken opinion that the spiritual practices he had encountered up to then would be more of a hindrance to his future plans. Moseley reported plainly enough that he was afraid of what he thought religion was, and was disturbed by some of what he saw as a child among the Primitive and Missionary Baptists, as well as the Methodists, during their extended meetings or revivals.19 Exactly what disturbed him, he did not say. To be sure, his parents provided a fine counterexample to this, but the young Moseley simply could not see a way beyond it, at least not then. Despite his reservations about religion, Rufus was naturally possessed of and raised in good humor; it was not until his adult years that he was to realize that the Holy Spirit was not in a bad mood, but had a sense of humor, and of course, unmatched joy. 20

His early years in school, however, were most unremarkable, and by his own admission, he was a rather dull and unimaginative student. His later academic achievements would belie this inauspicious beginning. He seemed to have a particular aptitude for mathematics, but found it difficult to learn to read.21 In fact, Rufus stated that he learned to read well simply so he could solve the math problems that were given in verbal terms. Not a great fan of his early matriculation (he was to learn his ABCs three times!), he reported that, on the way to his first day of school, he harbored the desire of finding the school house burned to the ground. It is rather ironic, given that at age sixteen this reluctant learner would himself teach a few school terms for local children and later come to earn the respect of his professors during his college and graduate school days. But more than anything else, Rufus Moseley credits his family with providing an ideal foundation for his later life.22

On a warm summer day in 1876, a young Rufus Moseley and older brother Charles were near the Yadkin River, which ran through the family homestead. Charles read a portion of Scripture to his younger sibling that “Whosoever shall drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever shall drinketh of the water I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water I give him shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life” (John 4:14, KJV). Rufus, no more than five years old at the time, related there was in that Scripture something that made him inwardly leap for joy. Even at that tender age, he was to share—there is in the Holy Spirit power that no underdevelopment of mind can impede, that despite his youth he grasped a spiritual truth that “light that lighteth every man coming into the world.”23 Rufus was especially close to Charles, the eldest of the Moseley children, seven years his senior. He recalled with great love memories of his brother, who took something of a paternal approach to the rest of the children. Possessed of a great intellect at apparently an early age, Charles was remembered for his matter-of-fact approach to any number of things. When the great Charleston earthquake of 1886, which killed sixty people in that city, shaking the distant mountains of western North Carolina, Rufus remembers his brother commenting with great calmness “I don’t see why we make all this disturbance. It is only an earthquake.”24

Charles Moseley watched over Rufus in particular with what was described as a “kind domination.” After Charles had witnessed his first water baptism, he sought to try it out on someone in his own family, and Rufus was the eager designate for the ritual. When he later complained of an ear ache, Charles feared that the baptism would be reported to his parents. No such tattling occurred, however, as the young boy highly valued any time spent with his older brother.25 Rufus treasured his visits once or twice a year to the old homestead in North Carolina, and would, during these summer trips, stop in to see his brother in Greensboro or meet him near ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The Quest Begins
• Chapter 2: Locusts and Wild Honey
• Chapter 3: The Promised Land
• Chapter 4: The Poor, the Downtrodden, and the Kingdom Response
• Chapter 5: Approach of War
• Chapter 6: Perfect Everything
• Chapter 7: “I Have Run My Race”
• Recommended Reading
• Bibliography