John Wesley’s concept of discipleship and spiritual formation is immensely deep & theologically rich. Many theologians have created well-integrated theologies that would be sufficient to know God in his fullness and be transformed into his image.
But John Wesley was able to create a system to communicate and organize the journey of spiritual formation into a manageable, duplicatable journey. In his writings, he articulated a view of discipleship that was clear and consistent enough to be followed by both those who were learned and those who were laborers.
In this theological reflection, I’ll examine Wesley’s discipleship plan, from within a theological framework, but with special attention to his opinion about how to execute a discipleship plan effectively.
A summary of Wesley’s discipleship theology & process:
Discipleship is the natural fruit of salvation, that begins with prevenient grace, creating by faith spiritual life and love for God, that produces increasing holiness, through the means of grace, in the context of community, resulting in a recapturing of the full image of God.
Let’s break down and examine each part of this theology of discipleship, which shows the progression.
Discipleship is the natural fruit of salvation…
John Wesley’s idea of salvation is that it is a loving act of God that causes a loving response in man. This is, of course, mainstream Christianity. Yet many theological systems separate the idea of salvation from discipleship in practical, pastoral theology.
But for Wesley, salvation and discipleship were not two opposing goals. Discipleship was not separate from salvation. The goal of salvation was to become a disciple, producing holiness in the heart and life of man.
That begins with Prevenient Grace…
We will not spend time here, except to note that Wesley’s idea of “grace before grace” is fundamental to his understanding of discipleship. Sinners are dead in sin, not self-motivated. God’s grace initiates and saturates the entire process. And, even though we will discuss “means of grace” later, it is worth noting that God’s grace precedes any desire or movement that humans may have toward those means.
Prevenient grace causes "the first wish to please God, the first dawn of light concerning His will, and the first slight transient conviction of having sinned against Him." (Sermon: On Working Out Our Own Salvation)
“If we take [salvation] in its utmost extent, it will include all that is wrought in the soul by ..."preventing grace"; --all the drawings of the Father; the desires after God, which, if we yield to them, increase more and more…” (The Scripture Way of Salvation)
Discipleship, then, is all of grace.
Creating by faith, spiritual life and love for God…
Wesley’s discipleship was entirely accomplished by “faith, which works by love.”
This began in the very moment of justification by faith, “...in that very moment, sanctification begins. In that instant we are born again, born from above, born of the Spirit: there is a real as well as a relative change. We are inwardly renewed by the power of God. We feel "the love of God shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us"; producing love to all mankind, and more especially to the children of God; expelling the love of the world…” (The Scripture Way of Salvation)
Wesley had no time for creating those who had “the form of godliness” but lived without its actual spiritual power. That spiritual power had no beginning whatsoever until the New Birth & the love for God “shed abroad in our hearts” in that moment.
That Produces an increasing Holiness…
"But what good works are those, the practice of which you affirm to be necessary to sanctification" First, all works of piety; such as public prayer, family prayer, and praying in our closet; receiving the supper of the Lord; searching the Scriptures...fasting or abstinence as our bodily health allows. Secondly, all works of mercy; whether they relate to the bodies or souls of men; such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, entertaining the stranger, visiting those that are in prison, or sick, or variously afflicted; such as the endeavouring to instruct the ignorant, to awaken the stupid sinner, to quicken the lukewarm, to confirm the wavering, to comfort the feeble-minded, to succour the tempted, or contribute in any manner to the saving of souls from death. This is the repentance, and these the "fruits meet for repentance," which are necessary to full sanctification. This is the way wherein God hath appointed His children to wait for complete salvation. (The Scripture Way of Salvation)
Through the means of Grace…
Dr. Chris Lohrstorfer refers to this as “spiritual respiration.” It is the soul seeking to exchange the earthly for the heavenly as regularly and naturally as breathing out and in.
Here are relevant quotes from Wesley on the "means of grace" to see in his own words, what he means by the phrase.
"The chief of these means are prayer, whether in secret or with the great congregation; searching the Scriptures; (which implies reading, hearing, and meditating thereon;) and receiving the Lord's Supper, eating bread and drinking wine in remembrance of Him: And these we believe to be ordained of God, as the ordinary channels of conveying his grace to the souls of men." (The Means of Grace)
"...according to the decision of holy writ all who desire the grace of God are to wait for it in the means which he hath ordained; in using, not in laying them aside." (The Means of Grace)
"Constantly to attend on all the ordinances of God; in particular, —
1. To be at church and at the Lord’s table every week, and at every public meeting of the Bands.
2. To attend the ministry of the word every morning, unless distance, business, or sickness prevent.
3. To use private prayer everyday; and family prayer, if you are at the head of a family.
4. To read the Scriptures, and meditate therein, at every vacant; hour. And,
5. To observe, as days of fasting or abstinence, all Fridays in the year." (Directions Given to the Band Societies, 1744)
In the Context of Christian Community…
A robust accountability to and support of the whole Christian community was crucial in Wesley’s view of discipleship.
Wesley the theologian asserted,
“Directly opposite to this is the gospel of Christ. Solitary religion is not to be found there. ‘Holy solitaries’ is a phrase no more consistent with the gospel than holy adulterers. The gospel of Christ knows of no religion but social; no holiness but social holiness.” (Hymns and Sacred Poems, Preface, 1739 Ed.)
This worked itself out practically as an aggressive plan to provide significant accountability & support structures within local churches.
Wesley created structures that would require his disciples to
“meet the Minister and the Stewards of the society once a week; in order to inform the Minister of any that are sick, or of any that walk disorderly, and will not be reproved; to pay to the Stewards what they have received of their several classes in the week preceding; and to show their account of what each person has contributed.” (Nature, Design, and General Rules of The United Societies)
Giving, holy life, attitudes, and more were subject to regular examination by leadership. However, the goal of this was not in any way (to use a modern buzzword) “spiritually abusive.” Instead, it was to provide weighty spiritual counsel & prayer support.
Wesley says “the design of our meeting is, to obey that command of God, 'Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.'” (Rules Of The Band-Societies, 1738)
To this end, we intend, —
1. To meet once a week, at the least.
2. To come punctually at the hour appointed, without some extraordinary reason.
3. To begin (those of us who are present) exactly at the hour, with singing or prayer.
4. To speak each of us in order, freely and plainly, the true state of our souls, with the faults we have committed in thought, word, or deed, and the temptations we have felt, since our last meeting.
5. To end every meeting with prayer, suited to the state of each person present.
6. To desire some person among us to speak his own state first, and then to ask the rest, in order, as many and as searching questions as may be, concerning their state, sins, and temptations. (Rules Of The Band-Societies, 1738)
Resulting in a recapturing of the full image of God!
Wesley consistently writes about the recapturing of the created purity and blessedness of mankind. He begins with it in his sermons on The New Birth and Justification By Faith, and continually pointed to the recovery of “the mind that was in Christ” as the means to recapture “our first estate.”
To Wesley, the point of salvation (and its subcategories of sanctification and discipleship) was nothing less than a new humanity, redeemed and rebuilt into the Imago Dei!
One final passage from his sermon “One Thing Needful” will serve as a fitting conclusion:
“To recover our first estate, from which we are thus fallen, is the one thing now needful – to re-exchange the image of Satan for the image of God, bondage for freedom, sickness for health. Our one great business is to rase out of our souls the likeness of our destroyer, and to be born again, to be formed anew after the likeness of our Creator. It is our one concern to shake off this servile yoke and to regain our native freedom; to throw off every chain, every passion and desire that does not suit an angelical nature. The one work we have to do is to return from the gates of death to perfect soundness; to have our diseases cure, our wounds healed, and our uncleanness done away.”
This -- THIS -- is the goal of discipleship in the Wesleyan tradition. We should accept nothing less. Let us fix our eyes on it, and encourage others to lift their eyes to it as well!
To recap the entirety of Wesley's concept of discipleship and spiritual formation:
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