Text: Philippians 2:12-16
OPEN:
If you were forced to use one word to summarize John Wesley, what would you choose? Without hesitation, I would choose the term, 'discipleship.'
Founded on Jesus’ blueprint for discipleship, John Wesley developed a simple plan for maturing and equipping the saints. Wesley said, “The Church changes the world not by making converts but by making disciples.”
Wesley was unashamedly disciplined in his approach to following Christ.
- His approach had its origin in the spiritual accountability group started by Wesley when he was a student at Oxford — a group that detractors called "The Holy Club." Critics made fun of the Holy Club. There was a popular ditty that went:
"By rule they eat, by rule they drink, By rule do all things but think.
Accuse the priests of loose behavior,
To get more in the laymen’s favor.
Method alone must guide ‘em all
When themselves “Methodists” they call."
But criticism didn’t stop the Wesleys. They went on to practice their accountability and eventually began a movement that now includes millions of Christians around the world. - Holding each other accountable without unchristian judgmentalism. This was John Wesley’s secret to making reproducing disciples of Jesus Christ.
A great many Christians are in a state of confusion today when it comes to understanding the meaning of discipleship. A flood of discipleship materials has swept over the church in the past 40 years and yet people today seem as confused as ever as to what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. If I were to ask how many of you can say confidently that you are a convinced disciple of Jesus Christ to raise your hand, few hands would go up. Then if I were to ask how many of you are convinced you are a true Christian, the majority of the people here would raise their hand. People are sure about being a Christian, but they are confused as to whether or not they are a disciple of Christ.
“Perhaps the greatest single weakness of the contemporary Christian Church is that millions of supposed members are not really involved at all and, what is worse, do not think it strange that they are not. As soon as we recognize Christ’s intention to make His Church a militant company we understand at once that the conventional arrangement cannot suffice. There is no real chance of victory in a campaign if ninety per cent of the soldiers are untrained and uninvolved, but that is exactly where we stand now.” -Elton Trueblood
Christian Discipleship is God's desire for each of us, and it's goal is nothing less than the transformation of society.
I. God's Great Pleasure is to Produce Christian Disciples (vv. 12-13).
"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure."
1. Christian discipleship is a personal responsibility for every believer to grow in Christlikeness.
D. Bonhoeffer: “When we are called to follow Christ, we are summoned to an exclusive attachment to his person. Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”
Christian Discipleship, then, is not a program, it is an intense, intimate, constant, radical walk with the Person Jesus Christ.
2. God is the driving force behind our desire to grow in Christlikeness.
3. God gains pleasure from our growth as disciples, and we should too.
II. Christian Disciples Produce Personal Holiness for the Purpose of Transforming Society (vv. 14-16).
“So that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world. It is by your holding fast to the word of life...”
Wesley took his approach to discipleship from the way Jesus developed his followers:
- Jesus ministered to the multitudes at least 17 times according to the Bible.
- However, there are approximately 46 mentions in the Bible where He spent His time in private with His disciples. In those smaller group settings He trained His committed followers for their own ministries. He ministered one-on-one, one-on-two, and one-on-three. At other times His ministry was conducted one-on-twelve.
- He also provided on-the-job training with the 70; and spent some apprenticeship time with the 120 as well as placing some emphasis with the 500 in Galilee.
Wesley’s Four Basic Convictions for Discipleship:
(These thoughts inspired by http://www.transformativechurch.org/2013/01/23/john-wesleys-secret-to-making-disciples/)
1. The Necessity of Discipleship:
John Wesley wrote, “I am more and more convinced that the devil himself desires nothing more than this, that the people of any place should be half-awakened and then left to themselves to fall asleep again.”
2. The Necessity of Small Groups for Discipleship:
- In 1743 John Wesley organized a society. “Such a society is no other than a company of men having the form and seeking the power of godliness, united in order to pray together, to receive the word of exhortation, and to watch over one another in love, that they may help each other to work out their own salvation.”
- Discipline was the key to this level of holy living.
- Wesley created 3 strands of discipleship: Societies, Classes, and Bands.
1) Society: Strand 1 - The Crowd (these were the multitudes)
Purpose: To Bring About A Change in Knowledge
- This meeting included those in a geographical area, much like a typical, congregational meeting in today’s church. These large groups of people met once a week to pray, sing, study scripture, and to watch over one another in love. There was little or no provision made at this level for personal response or feedback. John described a society as "a company of people having the Form, and seeking the Power of Godliness."
2) Class: Strand 2 - The Cell (these were Jesus’ 12)
Purpose: To Bring About Behavioral Change
- A class was the most basic group structure of the society. The class was composed of 12-20 members, both sexes, mixed by age, social standing and spiritual readiness, under the direction of a trained leader. It was not a gathering for academic learning. They met weekly in the evening for mutual confession of sin and accountability for growing in holiness. This group provided the structure to more closely inspect the condition of the flock, to help them through trials and temptations, and to bring further understanding in practical terms to the messages they had heard preached in the public society meeting.
- Membership in a class meeting was non-negotiable. If you wanted to continue in the society you had to be in a class. In 1742 in one society in London there were 426 members, divided into 65 classes. Eighteen months later that same society had 2200 members, all of whom were in classes. Every week each class member was expected to speak openly and honestly on the true state of his or her soul.
3) Band: Strand 3 - The CORE (these were Jesus’ inner circle made up of Peter, James, and John)
Purpose: To Bring About A Change of Direction, Heart and Position
- Composed of 4 members, all the same sex, age, and marital status. They were voluntary cells of people who professed clear Christian commitment, who desired to grow in love, holiness, and purity of motive. The environment was one of ruthless honesty and frank openness.
- There were specific rules about punctuality and order within the meeting. - He introduced accountability questions which everyone answered openly and honestly in the meeting each week:
Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?
Do I confidentially pass on to others what has been said to me in confidence?
Can I be trusted?
Am I a slave to dress, friends, work or habits?
Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?
Did the Bible live in me today?
Do I give the Bible time to speak to me every day?
Am I enjoying prayer?
When did I last speak to someone else of my faith?
Do I pray about the money I spend?
Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
Do I disobey God in anything?
Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
Am I defeated in any part of my life?
Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?
How do I spend my spare time?
Am I proud?
Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?
Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I doing about it?
Do I grumble or complain constantly?
Is Christ real to me?
- You can see from these questions that there was no place to hide in a Band. Bands became the training ground for future leaders. This group held to extreme confidentiality in a “safe place”, mutual submission where matters of indifference were yielded to the released leader, and godly stewardship. This was the group that could intensively pursue goals and vision together.
3. The Necessity of Leadership in Discipleship:
- A small army was needed to provide the leadership for this 3-Strand Discipleship Model, and, just as is true today, professional paid staff simply was not available. Wesley trained and mobilized a massive army of leaders, putting as many as 1 in 10 of his members into leadership roles - barbers, blacksmiths, bakers, men and women. The job description of those who looked after societies and classes was: “preach, teach, study, travel, meet with bands, classes, exercise daily and eat sparingly.”
4. Holiness and Service as the Goals of Discipleship:
- Wesley’s goals for this entire process were: godliness and goodwill - spirituality and service to others.
- This system and process produced a new kind of citizen at a period of history when crime and every form of public sin were rampant. These men and women reformed both the church and the society in which they lived.
- The end result of Christian discipleship is the transformation of society modeled after Jesus' own declaration of purpose in Luke 4:18:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
CLOSE:
Are you personally experiencing transformation and growing in Christlikeness?
- Why or why not?
Are we individually and collectively seeking and influencing transformation of our society?
- Why or why not?
What would change if we made the following our criteria for everything we do:
"How will this contribute to making disciples; How will it help transform society?"
(Dr. Dane Fowlkes)
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