On February 7, I attended a webinar sponsored by Exponential, a leader in championing church planting and multiplication. The panel included Dr. Ed Love, Director of Church Multiplication for The Wesleyan Church, Kim Gladden, Director of Discipleship for The Wesleyan Church, and Dr. Winfield Bevin, Director of Church Planting at Asbury Seminary and author of the ebook, “Marks of a Movement: What the Church Can Learn from the Wesleyan Revival.”
Here is the advertising copy for the ebook which was the basis of the ensuing discussion:
“What would a multiplication movement look like in the West? There is no better example of church multiplication than the Wesleyan revival, which grew exponentially in the early years. The movement started with only a handful of people in the 1700s and grew into a movement that reached thousands of people and established hundreds of societies in England and the United States. From 1850 to 1905, American Methodism averaged planting more than seven hundred churches per year. Do the math!
“In this eBook, Winfield Bevins identifies the principles that propelled the Methodist movement and are present in other church multiplication movements. As Bevins says, “the mark of a true leader is their ability to prepare their organization to outlast themselves,” so we should take notes from John Wesley whose influence lives well beyond his own life.
“10 Marks that Characterized the Methodist Movement
- Movements start from personal encounter
- Movements are built upon prayer
- Movements empower lay leaders
- Movements spread rapidly
- Movements are led by apostolic leaders
- Movements unite evangelism and discipleship
- Movements create disciple-making systems
- Movements engage in holistic mission
- Movements outlast their founder
- Movements reproduce everything”
The conclusion of the panel was that Wesley’s movement was propelled by meeting needs in the community, intentional discipleship, and creating structures to empower people to do the work of the ministry. These Wesleyan leaders asked us to follow up with them about anything that might be holding us back as a denomination systemically or structurally.
I’ve been reflecting on that webinar over the past week, and today I sat down and read the ebook from cover to cover. First, let me say that I applaud Winfield Bevins for bringing Wesley back to life by recounting his story and pulling from it some great insights on how and why movements succeed.
But perhaps the greatest lesson of the book was what appeared on nearly every page, but which was never highlighted or formally recognized.
Let me back up to the Forward to the book. Alan Hirsch, author of The Forgotten Ways, mentions that there were two “movement killers” that precipitated the drastic decline in Methodism: the requirement of ordination of clergy (1850) and the decision to not require classes and bands (making discipleship optional; 1860).
I find it interesting that no note was made of the Methodist church’s opposition to holiness movements stemming from the camp meetings just after the Civil War. At the 1889 Methodist conference, they passed “rule 301,” which prohibited local preachers or laymen to hold services “within the bounds of any mission, circuit, or station, when requested by the preacher in charge not to hold such services,” which was their attempt to keep itinerant holiness preachers away from their jurisdictions. During this time of near animosity toward holiness preachers, nearly 100,000 people left Methodist churches to form holiness denominations. I distinctly remember in one of my college courses at United Wesleyan College (back in the early 80s), that there was a specific date when the Methodist Discipline dropped holiness from its official doctrinal statements. I searched the Internet today to try to find an exact date for you but was unsuccessful. I do remember that the action was a direct response to the holiness camp meetings of the mid- to late-1800s, and I would contend that it had something to do with the denomination’s subsequent decline.
This brings me back to my observation about “Marks of a Movement.” Over and over, the author quotes Wesley and his message of inward holiness. Those invited to join Wesley’s societies desired to “flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved from their sins” (p. 28). Wesley hand-picked leaders who were “men and women of piety and experience” (p. 28). “These early Methodist lay preachers were men of deep Christian devotion and holy living. They were committed to spreading the Methodist message of God’s love and holiness throughout the Colonies” (p. 30). Bevins quotes Wesley (p. 32) as saying in a letter, “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God…such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven upon earth.” And yet the author’s conclusion is, “The main thing we can learn from this chapter is that movements happen when they focus our energy on identifying, training, and empowering the next generation of leaders.” It seems to me that he misses the entire point. It was the MESSAGE that made the difference. It was HOLINESS and the commitment to holiness that propelled the movement, not simply the fact that leaders were identified and empowered. It has to be the right leaders for a movement to become contagious. The message has to be the right message. A compelling message. A message that makes a difference.
In my opinion, the main reason why Wesley and Methodism had such a profound impact on Britain and America was precisely because of the message. Sure, Wesley’s organizational genius and commitment to ongoing discipleship were integral. But it was the message that resonated with people. It was the message that transformed lives and subsequently transformed society. Sanctification. Christian perfection. Holiness of heart and life.
Read the secular histories of Wesley’s time. They attribute the Great Awakening for saving Britain from gin. That wasn’t a typo. Gin was destroying London and the surrounding areas. There was an epidemic of drunkenness, poverty, promiscuity, and crime. [See William Hogarth’s print Gin Lane below, public domain, for a picture of the degradation of society during that time period.]
Wesley taught thrift, cleanliness, honesty, salvation, and holiness above all else. Contrary to the popular view of his times, that men were powerless to change their state, Wesley and the early Methodists taught that God’s salvation and freedom from sin were available to anyone, regardless of social status. And they shared the expectation that people actually live out their relationship with Christ through piety.
“His exhortations to live perfectly in love today seem harsh, but consider the effects on his congregations. Swearing stopped in factories, men and women began to concern themselves with neat and plain dress, extravagances like expensive tea and vices like gin were dropped by his followers, neighbors gave one another mutual help through the societies.” [Revival and Revolution, Christian History Institute]
If our desire is to create a “movement” akin to the early Methodist movement, it will definitely require Bevin’s 10 characteristics. But it will take more than that. It will take a counter-cultural message involving the power of God to completely transform lives and a call and expectation to live above the world’s standards. There is a tendency in today’s preaching (among all denominations, but not necessarily all pastors) to placate congregants. Pastors don’t want to sound harsh or judgmental or legalistic. They want to be perceived as open-minded and loving toward sinners. So, they don’t quite call sin “sin.” They want to be liked and to be approachable.
Now, I’m all for being liked and approachable, but not when it comes to the absolute truth of God’s Word. And I believe God’s Word proclaims holiness on every page. I also believe this is the message that the world is longing for, even though they don’t realize it. Whether they admit it or not, people want and need to know that there are moral absolutes. They need to see that there is another way to live that is actually freeing. Instead, many churches are allowing people who are trapped in their sins and slaves to their lusts to continue in their sin, without giving the hope of a way out. Sinners pray a prayer of salvation and then they are told they don’t have to give up their sin. They can listen to the same music and watch the same filth on television and keep using the same profane vocabulary and exercising the same habits, but they get to go to heaven. I don’t know about you, but when I got saved at the age of 18, I wanted something different from what I had. Radically different. I wanted to hear about a better way and a deeper life.
We have the most amazing message to offer the world, but sometimes it seems as if even Wesleyans are ashamed of the word holiness. Sure, some people in our history tended toward legalism and the message of holiness was obscured by “rules.” But we have lost something by throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Our world is in desperate need of the holiness message. And it’s in desperate need of seeing living examples of holiness.
So, what can we do?
- Live it, live it, live it. Live a holy life without being ashamed. Pray for God to show you your sins and to help you die to them. I know I’m praying that even as I type these words.
- Preach it. If you’re a pastor, don’t shy away from preaching holiness. And I don’t just mean the “social holiness” that reduces holiness to civil service or social action. That’s not what the early Methodists meant by “social holiness.” They meant a holiness that was lived out with others, where Christians gathered and held each other accountable for living righteously. If you’re not a pastor, still preach it, but not in a preachy way. Use your own life as a witness and give testimony when you’re given the opportunity. Believe me, people notice when you are different! Don’t be ashamed of that.
- Expect it. If you have an opportunity to disciple new Christians, don’t set low expectations. Set them high. Mentor them and share with them about the experiences of Christians who sought and achieved the deeper life. Help them to yearn for holiness and to pray for sanctification in earnest. Help them to overcome sin in their lives and to develop a biblical worldview.
- Read. Read “Marks of a Movement,” but look for the message that empowered the movement. Find ways to infuse the message in everything you do to advance the movement. Read some of the books that influenced Wesley and led to his Aldersgate experience (e.g., Thomas à Kempis’s The Imitation of Christ, William Law’s A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, and Jeremy Taylor’s Rules and Exercises of Holy Living and Holy Dying). Read your Bible so you remember what God said about holiness and His expectations of His people. His expectations of us don’t change with changing social standards.
- Pray for a reawakening of the church to the splendor of holiness. Pray for conviction and another Great Awakening. Pray that the Church will rediscover the transforming message of the Gospel and preach it without apology.
- Don’t be a spectator. Ask God what He wants YOU to do to promote holiness. Give yourself completely to the Lord to be used as He sees fit. If you are willing, He will use you to change your part of the world
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