Why John Wesley?

Restoring Methodism

Decisions For United Methodist Churches in America

James B. Scott and Molly Davis Scott

2006, Provident Publishing

Note:  You can read previous posts on the chapters of this book using the "Blog Archive"you find on the left side of this page !

NOTES AND COMMENTARY
Milton E. Marks

Why John Wesley?

“It is not that Wesley himself changes us; it is that he continually points away from himself to the Trinity  -  God, the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; to basic Christianity; to the early church.  Wesley is not the answer, but he takes us to the answers.  Those answers have not changed for centuries, but it I a matter of our updating and reapplying them for new generations. 

The Wesleyan doctrine (teaching) and disciple (rules and forms of ministry) create the vehicle to take us, individually and corporately, to the life and power that is promised in the faith.  They provide the way for us to acquire righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, to advance the Kingdom of God, and to secure all that we truly need and desire in this life and in the life to come.”  (xiii-xiv)

MEM:  Of course Wesley points us to Jesus who is “the answer.“ The problem here is understanding what the authors mean by “updating and reapplying” the methods of teaching the faith to new generations in a post-enlightenment world increasingly skeptical of religion.  As the authors point out clearly in the first chapter of the book, none of the efforts in the last 40 to 50 years have helped stop the “substantial decline” in the impact the Church in general is having in this world.  Reports are that after leveling out of the decline in the late 80s and early 90s, a deeper decline has been experienced since 2000.   Yet, in some areas of the world, Christianity has experienced a surge of growth in numbers.  This is not the case in America or, for that matter, in most of the more technologically advanced countries. 

Foundation

The authors open this section with the burning question before us:  Can an old-denomination be born again?  They note that many leaders have suggested that the UM Church will have to die before it can be reborn.  Currently, we are, in fact, dying and these negative assessments might very well prove to be correct.  The authors suggest, however, that this need not be the case. Next, they the “foundation” for their book and it's conclusions. 

The Book's Purpose:  “To be a “talking paper” to focus on specific principals and insights  that will form a proper exploration and dialogue for us in the United Methodists Church.”  (4)

The Context:  Decline in all measures of institutional strength and the aging of the membership (4)

Primary Texts:  John 14:15-17; John 14:26; John 16:13

What Must We Do? 

“Our love and obedience to Christ and therefore to His Body requires us, particularly at this point in our history, to do everything in our power to correct past mistakes; to do everything we can to bring people into relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.   . . .. It is about being united with God, walking as Jesus walked, being taught and led by the Spirit, and serving Christ in the world.  It is about the Kingdom of God.” (5-6)

Four Questions (6)

1.  What are we doing now that we should CONTINUE doing?  (These are the Church's strengths.)

2.  What are we doing now that we should STOP doing?  (This is the Church's current reality.)

3.  What are we NOT doing now that we should START doing?  (This is the Church's essential and preferred reality.)

4.  What are we NOT doing now that we should NOT START doing.  (This guides the Church as to which choices to affirm and which to deny.)

The authors close this section by mentioning the importance of the vision and call “to radical assessment” articulated by Dr. Albert Outler of Perkins School of Theology.  (Dr. Outler died in 1989.)  They judge that Outler's vision and call “has gone virtually unheeded in the actions of the Church.” (7)

MEM COMMENTS

We must remember that the Church of Jesus Christ is always “Ancient – Future.” 

1.  We must understand clearly what Jesus what doing when we walked this earth.

Jesus' primary concern was not “personal salvation” as this term is understood by so many evangelicals today.   We are saved individually into community with others.  We are “saved to take our place in the mission of the corporate Body of Christ. Jesus was not into creating a new tribe of the spiritual elite.  Jesus was a living witness to the birth of a whole new way of living in the “New Creation.”  John Wesley understood this clearly so he addressed real world issues of justice and morality.  So must we. This is our God-given mission to respond to the darkness of sin we see around us. Only a God-powered Church can speak truth to power.  This is the “Ancient” dimension of our mission. 

2.  We must understand the culture in which we are called to witness and develop strategies that are appropriate and effective in today's cultural context.

This is the “future” part of the paradigm and the most problematic.  The speed of change in a high tech world makes it very hard for a “traditional” institution to keep up.  By this, I do not mean merely pursing the latest fad in the cultural. At the same time, we must learn to speak the language of the culture without compromising the Good News we have been given by Jesus.