spring 1999 quarterly review - theological resources for ministry

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Q U A R T E R L Y R E V I E W / S P R I N G 1 9 9 9 - . 7 . ( 1 1 )A Journal o f Th eolog ica l Resources for M inis tr

Minding WJiat W e SayThom as E. F rankProd a in i ii tg Salva tionMaking DisciplesWalter KlaiberThinking Theologicallyabout EvangelismW. Stephen Gunter


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Editorial Board

Ted A. CampbellWesley TheologicalSeminary

Jimmy CarrGeneral Boardof Higher Educationand MinistryThe United Methodist Church

Rebecca ChoppCandler School ofTheologyEmory University

Duane A. EwersGeneral Board of HigherEducation and MinistryThe United Methodist Church

Roger W. Ireson, ChairGeneral Board of HigherEducation and MinistryThe United Methodist Church

Jack A. Keller, Jr.The United MethodistPublishing House

Thomas W. OgletreeThe Divinity SchoolYale University

Harriett Jane OlsonThe United MethodistPublishing House

Russell E. RicheyDuke Divinity School

Patricia FarrisDistrict SuperintendentSan Diego UnitedMethodist Church

Grant HagiyaCentenary UnitedMethodist ChurchLos Angeles, CA

John E. HarnishGeneral Board of Higher Educationand MinistryThe United Methodist Church

Marjorie Hewitt SuchockiClaremont School of TheologyLinda Thoma s

IlifT School of TheologyTraci West

The Theological SchoolDrew University

Sharon J. Hels, EditorSylvia Street . Production Manager

Tracey Evans, Production Coordinator


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Quarterly ReviewA Journal of Theological Resources for MinistryV o l u m e 1 9 , N u m b e r 1

QRA Publ icat ion of The Uni ted Methodist Publ ishing Houseand the Uni ted Methodist Board of Higher Educat ion and Minist ry


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Quarterly Review (ISSN 0270-9287) provides continuing education resources for scholars,Christian educators, and lay and professional ministers in The United Methodist Church and otherchurches. QU intends to be a forum in which theological issues of significance to Christian ministrycan be raised and debated.Editorial O ffices: 1001 19th Avenue, South, Box 87 1, Nashville, TN 372 02. M anuscripts shouldbe in English and typed double-spaced, including n otes.QR is published four times a year, in March, June, September, and December, by the UnitedMethodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry and The United Methodist Publishing House.Periodicals postage paid at Nashville, Tennessee.Subscription rate: $24 for one year; $4 4 for two years; and $60 for three years. For all subscriptionorders, single-copy orders, and changc-of-address information contact Cokesbury toll-free, (800)672-1789, M-F 7:00 a.m.-6:30 p.m. CST and Saturday 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. C ST. Inquiries may alsobe sent in writing to the Cokesbury Subscription Services, Box 801, Nashville, TN 37202.Postmaster; Address changes should be sent to The United Methodist Pu blishing I louse, Box 80 1,Nashville, TN 37202.QR is printed on actd-free paper.Lections are taken from Revised Common Lectionary (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1992).Scripture quotations un less otherwise noted are from the New Revised Standard Version CommonBible, copyrighted > 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council ofChurches of Christ in the U S, and are used by permission.

Quarterly ReviewSpring 1999

Copyright 1999 by The United Methodist Publishing Houseand The United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry

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Vol. 19, No. 1 SPRING 1999

ContentsIntroduction

Sharon J . H els 1

ArticlesMinding What Wc Say: Rhetor ic in Chr is t ian ConferenceTho ma s E. Frank 5Proc la iming Sa lva t ionMaking Disc ip le s

Walter Klaiber 19Thinking Theologica l ly about Evangel ism

W. Stephen Gun ter 35Systematic Theolog y and Ethics in the Wesleyan T radi t ion:

Some Methodis t Ref lec t ionsTore Meistad 53

Holiness and Happ iness Shal l Cov er the Ear th: Tra jector ies ofWesley 's Theology of Miss ion Evangel iza t ion

Do uglas W. Ruffle 7 3Still Gringo after All These Years: The Minister in a

Cross -Cultura l ContextKenneth G. Davis 83

QR Lectionary StudyEarly Summer Reading: Ref lec t ions on the Gospel Lect ionsfor Propers 6-11

Raym ond F. Col l ins 93

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Introduction

A Matter of Decency7s there such a thing as a decent human being? I read this question inthe introduction to a book on spir itual direction a few years back,and it has haunted me ever since. Decency would appear to be a scarcecommodity in these days of relentless genocide, partisan politics,undisguised greed and self -absorption. As we shudder at the thoughtof these evils , we tell ourselves that we know many very good people.But decency is not about goodness in the sense of niceness orinnocence or good will or even vulnerability to danger or oppression.Dece ncy is harder than that . I t is primitive and elu sive. I t dr ives at thecore of a person. Essayist Joan Didion set decency on a dark, desertedhighway in Death Valley in the form of a couple who stopped at awreck, got help for the injured person, and stayed to protect frompredadtors the body of the dead one . Shad es of Antigo ne . Ar thurMiller put decency in Salem, Massachusetts during the witch tr ials(with strong analogies to the McCarthy investigations in 1950s) in theform of John Proctor, a ruined man who staked his life on his ownsense of honor, and lost . Decency lived in the person of Miep Gies,who saved the diaries of Anne Erank because they were private, and ifAnne returned she would not want her secrets to be spread around.

The question of decency takes us back to the wellsprings ofmorality, but i t also touches on one of the most basic assumptions ofChr is t ian theology the q ues t ion of hum an nature . This is usual ly abiblical t iopic, leaning heavily on that primitive story of origins inwhich humanity was created in the image of God, fell into sin, andwas redeemed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ . We may

INTRODUCTION 1


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add to it add to it To add complete that version we may turn to a defewcultural or philosophical sources that can be blended with theChristian gospel . But no matter how we arr ive at our concept ofhuman nature the point is the same: this is a n extremely potentgeneralization. Our vision of the human supplies the raw material of"the human situation" addressed by the gospel . Sinners in the hand ofan angry God? Children of God worn down by external evil? AverageJoes and Janes wh o jus t need a f irm foundation? N otice how quicklydiagnosis turns into tactics . Christian theology labors to construct anadequate pic ture of Everyman/woman; Chr is t ian evangel ism wil l usethe sketches as a blueprint for action.

So it is interesting to see the writers on evangelism in this issuedisclose their vision of the human. Erom Thomas Erank we get aportrait of the human being as a speaker, a conjurer of the word, ameaning- f ramer . T his hones t wom an or man know s that theexperience of forgiveness, assurance, and the yearning for holiness aredeep ly personal even ts in search of lang uage (and n ot ju st a set ofprinciples in search of corroboration) . The r ight words are able toconduct individuals into community andwhen the t ime isr ightallow them to participate in God's love for humankind. I t wasso in Wesley's time and it is so today. Erank is concerned with rightlanguage, but the vision behind the concern is broad anddar ingnothing less than the l inkage between the human and thedivine .

Bishop Klaiber writes about the people, the souls, who need thegospel in a particular way, and in doing so he reaches all the way backto the early Church and its needs. Those who live in danger andpoverty, who struggle to f ind meals, need it as the Kingdom of God.Those with an overwhelming sense of having gone wrong in life needthe gospel as the Cross which offers God's unconditional love andforgiveness . And those with a diminished sense of their own value andworthiness need the gospel as the Word Made Flesh which promisesadoption of lonely and alienated people as sons and daughters of God.In each case, what is human becomes clearer through the lens ofbroken relationship with God, which God has reached out to remedy.

W. Stephen Gun ter ' s essay on evangel ism and theology reminds usexplicitly of the connection between moral impulses and the origins ofpersonal faith. In his exploration of prevenient grace, Gunter traces theinner paths of God's work on a human spir it , and describes them witha theological balance and spir itual pragmatism that Wesley would

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have understood and approved. Tore Meistad moves us into the socialand political realm of the question by his portrait of the contrastbetween the Wesleyan and the Lutheran view of the human incommunity. They are two vastly different conceptions, and Meistadhelps us see what is at s take when we trade Wesleyan theologicalbalance hard as i t is to maintainfor Lutheran theological dual ism,deeply rooted as it is in basic Protestant thinking.

The question of human nature also works its way through two goodarticles by Douglas Ruffle and Kenneth Davis . Ruffle 's well-written,access ible exposi tion of W esley 's Arminianism explains the de l icatequestion of human freedom as the ability to respond and to thwart theactivity of God in their l ives . Davis addresses the question ofevangelism most directly, taking his own experience in Honduras andin the U.S. Hispanic community as a case in point, f t is this portrait ofcom mo n hum anity , mo ur our ability to love and to feel each oth ers 'wounds and misfortunes, that we need to remember as we pray forand offer aid to the people of Honduras following the devastation ofHurricane Mitch last fall . Ray Collins 's ref lections on Matthew,al though geared to the summ er m onths , can help us think of Jesus asthe visitor , the traveler , who sees into the depths of the human heart,and in whose service we may see ourselves most clearly. I commendall these ar ticles to your serious and prayerful consideration. May theyenrich your faith and proclamation in 1999 and beyond.

Finally, I wan t to offer a word of than ks to you for the tim e andsupp ort you have offered this jou rna l . Th is is my f inal issue ; I leave totake up my own writing and occasional teaching. I t has been a greatprivilege to work with th e writers of this jou rna l on beh alf of itsreaders, whom I hold in the highest esteem. For 10 wonderful years, Ithank you all .

Sharon Hels

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Thomas E. Frank

M inding W hat We Say: Rh etoric inChristian Conference

his surely was one of Mr. Wesley's most tender, bold, r isky, andA. hopeful imperatives . The statement came at the very beginning of

the Large Minutes, the plan of procedure and discipline for theconferences of Wesley's day. Thus, i t set the tone for what Methodistsunderstood by "conference." Is this imperative stil l plausible forUnited Methodis ts today?

The statement invokes utmost seriousness in the "presence of God,"but it raises a host of questions and objections. What does it mean tospeak freely? Should I not always guard my speech in order to becertain not to offend other people? How "free" should speech be?Many people live in societies that suppress speech or only recentlyhave permitted open speaking, particularly about the government. Tothese people, "free speech" is precious and all too rare, somethingThom as Frank i s Asso cia te Professor o f Church Adminis tra t ion and Director o fMethodis t Studies in the Candler Schoo l o f Theo logy o f Emory Univers i ty inAtlanta, G eorgia. Th is article was first presented in April 199 8, at the ThirdInternational Consultation of the United Methodist Church in Europe in Vienna,Austria .

MINDING WHAT WE SAY: RHETORIC IN CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE 5

"It is desired, that all things be consideredas in the immediate presence of God;that every person speak freely whatever is in his heart ."


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worth f ighting for . Other people, l ike myself as a U.S. American, havefound that "free" speaking is often c areless, that wo rds "freely "spoken are worth exactly what I paid for them. Too many people talkmuch about li t t le or say many things that others do not need to hear .

And further , what exactly is in my heart? How do I know? Often Ifind out wha t is in my hea rt by spea kin g, and often I do not like wh at 1hear myself saying. Speaking from the heart reveals my anger and myinnocence. Much of what is in my heart is language that I haveadopted for myself uncritically from the culture of words and symbolsaround me. So what is really mine to say?

And w hy the heart? T his word is used as a metaphor, that is , a wordobjectively different from the thing to which it refers but used to standfor it or to bring a certain aspect of it to light. In the case of the heart,what is that point of reference? In the traditions following Wesley andhis journ als , we speak of having a "w arm hear t ," by which w e m eannot heartburn (physical pains of indigestion) but rather somethingspir itual stirr ing within us . By heart we try to express theinexpressible, the mystery that moves us, a love that is beyond words.Our "hearts" hold us to plain, honest speech, which is possible only"in the immediate presence of God."

The complexity of Wesley's simple phrase brings us to think abouta very difficult subject: the m anne r of our speech, the structure of ourexpressed language, in short, our rhetoric. This subject is complicatedenough w ithin a s ingle language . To address i t between or am onglangu ages is mu ch m ore so. Yet I believe it to be cr itical to ou runderstanding especially of the role of conference in our UnitedMethodist polity.

A broad definition of rhetoric has three aspects: our choice of words (especially important when translation of words

is going on) f igures of speech such as metaphor or analogy (one thing is l ike

another thing) which we use to evoke a response, express a feeling,or bring out a meaning that cannot be seen directly the structure of argument through which we try to say things that aretrue and persuasive to othersIf I say to you, for example, that i t is "springtime" in the United

Methodist Church, I intend to evoke images of blue skies, gentlebreezes, s inging birds, budding trees, f lowers bursting up from their



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bulbs into the bright sunshine. But I want you to consider the churchthrough those images as a living being with new life f lourishing. Awhole argument is implicit in the metaphor as I try to convince youthat the image is apt . Upon hearing about "springtime," however, Isuspect m any listeners would roll their eyes or sigh in frustration.They might even counter with images and evidence of "winter" in thechurchgray rain, chill , and death.

Our rhetor ic goes largely unexamined. Sometimes I think what U .S .Americans mean by "free speech" is that one should be able to sayanything one pleases and not have the words questioned by anyoneelse. We want to be taken seriously but not necessarily to be heldaccountable for what we say. This lack of care with what we say andhow we say it has hurtful consequences for our church. We thinkabout this hurt usually in terms of trying not to say things that willoffend others . For exam ple, we gen erally share a sense that i t is notapprop riate to make jo ke s or use express ions that will hurt a person ofan ethnic or cultural heritage different from our own . Bu t there ismuch more wor thy of examining in our rhetor ic .

R h e t o r i c i n P o s t m o d e r n S o c i e t i e sWe must f irst acknowledge the features of contemporary culture thatcontr ibute to rhetorical issues in the church. In Western societiesespecially, the twentieth century has brought a vastly accelerating"t ime-space compress ion," in geologis t David Harvey's terms .Com puters , je t t ravel , video, and countless other technolog ies havehad "a disor ient ing and dis rupt ive impact . . . upon cul tural and sociall i fe ." 2 Knowledge can travel instantaneously. Cultural forms can bestylized and traded interchangeably.

In the case of denominations as large voluntary associations, theauthority of church offices and officials, once reinforced spatially bysocial and geographic distance and the relative inaccessibility ofcer ta in knowledg e and resources , has been vast ly dim inished.Authoritative f il ters such as church traditions and accepted practicesare bypassed by a f lood of Internet data bits , television and radiosound bites, and alternative ways of speaking and acting offered byother organizations (especially business corporations) and religions.As people are pelted with new and sharply relativizing information,with li t t le cr iter ia for sorting it through, they develop what sociologist



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George Sim mel onc e cal led " the blase a t t i tude " for screening outunwanted data. 3 Loyalty, commitment, or obligation to the organization isless and less ascriptiveinherited or assumed. The organization mustprove its relevance or effectiveness in every imm ediate circu msta nce .

Moreover , " t ime-space compress ion" induces a contemporary-minded ness in which anything that happened "before us " fal ls awayinto an imponderable well of past experience. Organizations such aschurches that depend on an innate sense of "historical continuity andme m ory" s t ruggle might i ly to teach their own pract ices , includingtheir traditional forms of rhetoric. Meanwhile historic differences anddistinctions are washed out as sources from the past, l ike thearch itec ture of "pos tm odern" bu i ld ings , a r e "q u o te fd ] . . . in any k indof order ." 4 A loss of depth understanding of the past produces aninflation of language in which people make insupportable claimsabout what founding f igures taught or about a golden age whenchurches were full and families were wholesome and happy.

Thirdly, as space com presses , what wou ld have seem ed to be anoppor tuni ty for comm on discou rse becomes ins tead the occas ion forfragmentation and erection of sharper boundaries . 5 Localself -determination is the rallying cry. Parties or caucuses form aroundbuzzwords and slogans. The core function of religious bodies as"com mun it ies of m em ory " dis integrates as local associat ions asser ttheir independence and adopt their own rhetor ic . 6

R h e t o r i c i n O r g a n i z a t i o n sRhetoric plays a constitutive role in organizations, especially in thecultures of large national or international associations. One might evenargue that organizations are essentially rhetorical in nature. As GeorgeCheney proposed in his s tudy of Roman Cathol ic ism, "Much of whatorganizations do is rhetorical or persuasive and much of what isrhetorical in contemporary Western society is organized."

From the corporate or collective side, rhetoric enables a complexorganization to manage the "multiple identities" of its variousconstituencies or "stakeho lders ." By developing a corporate " w e" thatuses a certain grammar and vocabulary, a large organization attempts todemon strate the com mo n purpose and values of diverse groups within it .

From the individual side, rhetoric enables a person to identify withan organization. Knowing the language both facilitates participation

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and reinforces the individual 's identif ication with the goals andinteres ts of the associat ion. In Che ne y's w ords , drawing onphilosopher Kenneth Bu rke, "Ou r corporate ident i t ies are vi ta lbecause they grant us personal m eanin g and because they place us inthe matr ix of the social order ." 7Thus, denominat ions have developed a dis t inct ive grammar andlingo of phrases, references, and acronyms that express a corporateidentity of shared meaning. United Methodists continue to use a lively,f luid vocabulary much of which has been passed from generation togenerat ion. Appointment, circuit, itineracy, bishop, ordination,conference, all are terms that have been in currency throughoutMethod is t his tory . Society, traveling preacher, temperance, or holinessare terms associated (for better or il l) with Methodism of years past .Apportionment and local church are terms that originated inM etho dism 's era of incorporat ion in the early twentie th century . Classmeeting, a Methodis t or iginal , has made something of a comeback.Neologisms such as discipleship and spiritual formation spring intouse as the denom inat ion take s up new interes ts and direc t ions . 8

A second function of rhetoric, inseparable from its role in identityand identif ication, is i ts capacity to construct situations and interpretperceived reality. Ou r rhetoric carr ies within it a framework forselecting a particular issue as important, for understanding the logic ofthat issue, and for persuading others that our framework is compellingor true.R h e t o r i c in C o n t e m p o r a r y U n i t e d M e t h o d i s mLet us examine some words and phrases cur rent ly in use amongUnited Methodist people that would benefit f rom critical analysis andfuller understanding: classical Christian ity

This phrase evo kes the im age of "clas sics," thos e texts or ideasthat originated in an earlier "golden age" of generativity andachieved wide enough consensus to be taught to newgenerat ions . The phrase appears to ignore , though, thestruggles and conflicts out of which one idea comes to tr iumphover another . Usually only the aspects of earlier t imes withwhich the speaker is in agreement count as "classic."



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Presum ably today one is not app eal ing to pract ices of s laveryor exclusion of women from public life that often markedancient t imes .But what exact ly is classic! Constant ine? Ter tul l ian? Thechurch councils with all their political machinations as well astheir f inely tuned creed s? All of the cou ncils , or jus t som e ofthem? W hat about la ter figures such as August ine, Aq uinas ,Hildegard von Bingen, Teresa of Avila, Luther , Calvin, andWesley? Are all of these theological giants with all theirparticularities and differences to be lumped together asclassics? Or jus t certain one s, or certain writings? Sin ce devou tChristians have many different ideas of what is "classic," thisphrase cannot be used to shortcut the hard work of theologicalconference .

heresyThis word has been used with increasing frequency in recentyears , sometimes accompanied by other terms such asabomination. The former has a more intellectual sense, as ofideas or opinions wrongly held. The latter adds the feeling toneof repulsion or taboo. Heresy suggests that there is a standardof truth, or arbiter of truth, against which to measuretheological discourse . The "or thodox" present the "r ight"teaching ins ide the community of bel ievers . The "heret ics"normally are a lso members of the community and deeplyformed by it . But since they now advocate "false" teachings,they and/or their ideas are to be excluded. This insider-outsiderdyn am ic r ings a jarr ing ton e in a theolo gical tradition likeMethod ism that has put pr imary e mp hasis on f inding outtogether , in conversation or conference, "what to teach, how toteach, and what to do." 9

opennessThis seemingly unobject ionable term has become a buzzwordin a church that speaks often of its diversity. Openness isassociated with civil or human r ights; all persons, the UMCon stitution states, are "elig ible " to participate in "any localchurch in the connection " 1 0 Many people advocate this as a"r ight . " Od dly en ough , the Const i tut ion does not use rhetor icof Christian hospitality. One might ask if the more compelling



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question is not whether all persons are "welcome" in any localchurch. Even the term inclusive implies that some peo ple arealready "ins ide " with the power to include others . Open m aysuggest someone ins ide "opening" to others .Moreover, in their zeal for "openness," many speakers do notexpress a balanced sense of expec tat ions . W hat exact ly is theway of life into which United Methodists are openly invitingpeople? W esley 's societ ies were cer ta inly open to anyon e, anyperson who came seeking "to f lee from the wrath to come."But once part of the society, they were called into a disciplineof holy l iving. 11 What is that discipline for today? This must bethe subject of conference.

chaosChaos theory originated as a mathematical formulation tomeasure predictability. Scientists and mathematicians found itinteresting at the time (over a deca de a go), but most have longsince moved on to other theories of predictability. Chaos becamea powerful metaphor for many people outside the physicalsciences, however, as a word that captured their experience ofestablished institutions giving way to uncertain new forms. Thepopularized theory of chaos in organizations like the churchprom ises that disorder has an inherent orde r to it, particularly ifone follows certain principles. To understand those, of course,one must turn to the "expert" who can diagn ose the em ergingorder or at least make the continuing disorder seem more hopeful.What is missing from "cha os" talk or many other forms of"systems theory" is analysis of the substance of belief andpractice that would actually explain what brings and holds peopletogether in a continuing community of faith.

quadrilateralWhile this word appears nowhere in Wesley's writings or in theBook of Discipline, over the past 25 years it has become a keyterm in United Methodist self -understanding. I ts strength as arhetorical device is i ts appeal to a balanced theologicalmethod. I t offers multiple cr iter ia and bases of authority thathave enabled many voices with varied points of view tocontinue in conversation. I ts weakness is i ts s tatus as arhetorical device, which inevitably led to the cr itique that i t

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marketed to consu me rs. To achieve this one must identify the"niche" or "target group" in the potential audience and devisethe message to appeal to the needs or wishes of the "niche."There is a certain hard realism about the term, as if one werenodd ing and say ing, "We ju st have to face it, it 's a com petitiveworld; and besides, we already have a niche, w e jus t h aven 'tbeen talking about it that way." This implicitly denies, ofcourse, that how we speak about things makes al l thedifference.

crisisNo rhetorical device has been more popular in this generationthan the appeal to an impe nding "crisis . " If one can convincean aud ience that their situation co nstitutes a "cris is," then onecan perhaps move them to take decisive action in the directionone is advoca ting. Th is requires that the audience adopt thepremise that this part icular si tuation, and n ot som e other one ,is the real "crisis" or that this reading of the evidenceestablishes beyond a doubt that a "crisis" exists ."Cr isis" rhetoric is essential ly a form of dram a. I t creates abuildup of negative factors or conflicting elements; identifies apoint of denouement or resolution; and shows a new direct ionthat wil l fol low from the speaker 's ideas. The most commonform of this dramatizat ion in the UMC uses membershipstatistics to induce a sense of failure, loss, decline, andimpending death. Detai led examination of the data, such as therole of a lower birth rate (a factor significant enough toaccount for the numbers, according to some sociologists) , isnot in the script. The script is about action that right-mindedpeople wil l take to "turn this thing around" and stop "losing"members (implying that people are "leaving," a claim forwhich there is some anecdotal but limited statistical evidence).

Many other rhetorical terms and devices could be added to this list .United Methodist wri ters and speakers pronounce and repeat manyother words in ways that could benefit from more critical thought orjudgment of appropriateness. All of us f ind i t easy to borrow phrasesfrom popular culture with little attention to expressions from withinChrist ian tradit ions that more authentical ly shape disposit ions of theChristian life. "I feel your pain" replaces 'The sufferings of this



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present t ime are not worth comparing with the glory about to berevealed to us" (Rom. 8:18) . "Be al l that you can be" supplants "Growup in every way into him who is the head, into Christ" (Eph. 4:15) ."We welcome you this morning to the fastest -growing church inMetro County" preempts "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us goto the house of the L O R D ! ' " ( P S . 122:1) .

C o n s t r u c t i v e P r i n c i p l e s o f R h e t o r i cThis brings us to a final question: What should we do in order "tospeak freely whatever is in our hearts?" How do we move beyondmouthing words or f igures of speech that we have heard or havepicked up from various cultural expressions and speak plainly andauthentical ly with one another in Christ ian conference?Here I suggest that w e remem ber a key term in rhetoric that is alsoan expression with utmost significance for the proclamation of God'sG o o d N e w s : kairos. In rhetoric kairos means the moment of f i t when aspeaker says just the right word at the right t ime. In discerning thekairos a speaker or writer is seeking the most approp riate word that isproportional to the situation she or he is addressing. Advertising oftenplays off this sense of proportion in order to get our attention or makeus laugh. Wh en w e hear a radio j ing le for "the event of the c entu ry"and then get the details on a Toyota sale, we smile, groan, or turn itoff. The principle of proportionality requires us to search carefullyinto the circumstances before we use words l ike shock, dismay, sick,conspiracy, or war. The less we care for our words, the more we aresubject to hype and language inflation that eventually dissipates ourl i s teners ' t rust .

The companion principle to proport ionali ty in discerning kairos isjust ice . W hen w e think of just ic e we are thinking again o f f it , of aperson receiving a "proper measure" adequate to what the si tuationm e r i t s . 1 4 The biblical prophets described just ice as everyone beingable to sit in peace under his own fig tree, or every orphan, widow, orrefugee having enough on which to l ive (which becomes a realproblem in a capitalist economy based on an inherent ethic of "get allyou can g et" ). Similarly, ju st wo rds are fair, adeq uate , and fitting tothe circumstances and to the person being addressed. The principle ofjust ice requires us to search carefully before we use words l ike traitor,heretic, wacko, or extremist.



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Kairos is also a word central to Jesus ' preaching of the gospel ofGo d's Reign. H is f ir st serm on, according to Mark (1:1 5) , was thes imple announcement: "The t ime (kairos) is fulfilled, and thekingdom of God has come near ; repent (metanoiete), and believe inthe good new s." In this case the kairos nam es a decisive point in t ime ,a turning point, a t ime when something is at last coming to fruition.The Gospels use the word in connection with harvest (e .g. , Matt .13:30) ; Paul uses it with the metapho r of pregnancy (R om . 8:18-23) .What is about to happen, what is decisively coming to pass, must bediscerned. Jesus wept over Jerusalem, "you did not recognize the t im e(kairos) of your visi ta tion f rom G od " (Luke 19:41-44 ) . And to discernrequires a mind (nous) turned around or upside down from above orbeyond itself (meta)a revolution of mind , a new mind , a min d thatwas in Christ (Phil . 2:5) .

So wha t time is i t in the ch urch? W hat is the kairos now as wecontinue to speak with one another in Christian conference?

First, I urge United Methodist people to avoid the language ofabstraction and generalization. We need to pay attention to thenarratives and experiences of the actual, particular individuals wemeet in the "connect ion" and dispense with labels and types . Somepeople will say that this approach is too subjective. But I would arguethat many of our abstractions, especially those that create politicaldrama turning our collective narrative into episodes of suspense anddenouement, in fact distort the world into the frame of the interpreter .Only by knowing and convers ing with one another can we name whatbinds us together in life experien ce and faith.

Second, the kairos is here in which we must claim and build uponthe theological method characteristic of John Wesley. He was bothcatholic and evangelical, both Reformed and pietistic . He constructeda theological synthesis in which both doctr ine and personalexper ience, both sacramen t and pr ivate prayer were ho nored. Hepreached a "catholic spir it" through which he insisted that i t ispossible for us to be both passionate about our particularcongregat ions and our ways of worshipp ing, bapt iz ing, and servingand compassionate for others with whom we share essentials of faithin the love of God and neighbor .

Love is the keystone, the master link in the chain that holds us inconnection. This is the third point of kairos. It is time for us to delightin the Christian affections, particularly the disposition to love oneanother that precedes our speech and proceeds through it . I t is t ime for

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N o t e s

1. "Large Minutes" of the Methodist conferenc es, John Wesley, Works, vol. 8(Jackson Edition), 299.2. David Harvey, The Condition ofPostmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins ofCultural Change (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1990) 284, 286.

3. Georg Simmel, "The Metropolis and Mental Life," in The Sociology ofGeorgSimmel, ed. and tr. by Kurt II. Wolff (New York: Free Press, 1950) 409-24.

4. Harvey, Postmodernity, 54, 58, 61, 85.5. Ibid., 44, 47, 117.6. Robert N. Bella h, Richard Madsen , W illiam M . Sullivan, Ann Swidler, andSteven M . Tipton, Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Comm itment in American

life (New York: Harper and Row, 1985) 152-62.7. George Cheney, Rhetoric in An Organizational Society: Managing Multiple

Identities (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1991) 16-23.8. For further historical study o f Meth odist rhetoric, see Russell E. Richey , EarlyAmerican Methodism (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1991).

9. 'Th e design of our mee ting" in the first Methodist conference in 1744 , Wesley,Works, 8:275.10. The Book of Discipline 1996 (Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing House,1996), para. 4.11 . Sec the General Rules, Discipline 1996, para. 62.12 . This is Timothy Smith's critique, quoted in Ted A. Campbell, 'The 'WesleyanQuadrilateral*: The Story of a M odern M ethodist M yth," in Thom as A . Langford, ed.,Doctrine and Theology in the United Methodist Church (Nashville: KingswoodBooks, 1991) , 154-61.13 . I am indebted to Professor Theod ore J ennings for this insight.14 . James L. Kinneavy, "Kairos: A Neglected Concept in Classical Rhetoric," in JeanDietz Moss, Rhetoric and Praxis: The Contribution of Classical Rhe toric to PracticalReasoning (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of American Press, 1986)7 9 - 1 0 5 .15 . The United Methodist Hymna l (Nashville: The United Methodist PublishingHouse, 1989) , 554.



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Walter Klaiber

Proclaiming Salvat ionMakingDisciplesThe Mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ ."With this statement "The Local Church" section of the 1996 Bookof Discipline beg ins . 1

In later t imes church historians may deem this as one of the mostimportant discipl inary changes made by the 1996 General Conference.Such a clear and biblically founded goal should help us in the UnitedMethodist Church as a whole to focus with more determination onwhat is really our charge and to avoid dissipating our energies onevery issue before us.Nevertheless, we have to admit that this sentencealthoug h it isalmost a quotation from the Great Commission in Matthew's Gospelishardly a traditional M ethodist slogan. In fact, wh en M r. Wesley discussedwith his helpers what special mission God had given to the people calledM ethodists, he used two qu ite different p hrases. O ne wa s this: "You havenothing to do but to save souls. " Wesley n ever tired of impressing thisnotion upon his preachers. Th e mo st astonishing exam ple of it ma y befound in the Large Minutes, Question 26 ,11 ;

Walter Klaiber is a Dishop of the Germany Area of The United Methodist Church,W ilhelm -Lcus chne r-Stras sc-8, F rankfurt/Main 1, Germany. He taught N ew Testament from 1971 to 1979 at the Theological Seminary in Reutlingen. He is theauthor of Call and Response: Biblical Foun dations of a Theology of Evangelism(Abingdon, 1997) .

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You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spe nd andbe spent in this work. And go always, not only to those thatwant you but to those that want you most. Observe: It is notyour business to preach so many time s, and to take care of thisor that society; but save as many souls a s you can; to bring asmany sinners as you possibly can to repentance, and with allyour power to build them up in that holiness without whichthey cannot see the Lord.2

The last sentence of this quotat ion leads us to Wesley's secondcharacterist ic defini t ion of the purpose of Methodism: "What may wereasonably believe to be God's design in raising up the preacherscalled M ethod ists? Not to form a ny new sect; but to reform theNation, part icularly the church; and to spread scriptural holiness overthe land." 3

Making disciples, saving souls, reforming the nation, and spreadingscriptural holiness over the land: four different descriptions of the taskof a Methodist church! How are they related to one another and whatsort of mandate do they give for our work today? The Discipline triesto put them all together by saying, "Whenever United Methodism hashad a clear sense of Mission, God has used our church to savepersons, heal relat ionships, t ransform social structure, and spreadscriptural holiness, thereby changing the world. In order to be trulyalive, we embrace Jesus' mandate to make disciples of al l peoples." 4I would l ike to explore the biblical roots of this statement, w hichmust be clear if the church's mission is to have its full resonance intoday's world. I wil l do this by dealing with three quest ions:

1. What is the biblical meaning of salvation?2 . What is the biblical descript ion of the mission of the church?3 . What does this mean for our task as United Methodist Churchtoday?

W h a t I s t h e B i b l i c a l M e a n i n g o f S a l v a t i o n ?"W hat mu st I do to be sav ed ?" the jai l er in Phil ippi asked Paul andSilas, according to Acts 16:30. What he originally meant may bedisputed. Was he asking for help in a difficult situation? Did he needprotection once he discovered that he had obviously maltreated themessengers of a mighty God and had provoked God 's wra th? Or did



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he, having basic doubts about his condition in the face of God,therefore ask with regard to his eternal salvation?

The Greek word soteria ("to be saved") has a broad field of meaning.This is taken into accoun t by mo st translations. "Your faith h as mad e youw el l" is a formula w hich is often used b y Jesus and co uld b e translatedliterally: 'Your faith has saved you." 5 We find this translation in Ep h. 2:8:"By grace you have been saved through faith," and in many other placeswhere the context seems to indicate that a religious connotation is ats take . 6 To be saved m eans prima rily to be rescued from the wrath that iscom ing (see 2 Thess . 1:9; Rom. 5:9). But soon the formula com es todescribe the more general acceptance into the salvific communion withGod (John 3:17 ). The point is that biblical languag e has no unifiedconcept for what we call "salvation" today.

Furthermore, no single biblical term conveys the entire breadth ofthe early Christian notion of salvation. Everything that is told aboutGod's saving activity for his people in the stories of the Bible, in boththe Old Testament and the New, is relevant to the question. In mybook Call and Response I have attached the crucial points of the NewTestament teaching of salvation to three areas of tradition. 7 Althoughsuch classif ications may appear overly schematic, I want to keep tothem in order to be able to represen t the data as differentiated as isnecessary and as clearly as possible.The Gospel of the Kingdom. The essence of J e s us ' teaching onsalvation is found in his announcement of the coming of the kingdomof God. The Syno ptic Gospels are unanim ous in their witness thatJesus ' proclamation that " the kingdom of God has come near" (Mark1:14) stands at the very center of his teaching. Whereas John theBaptis t ' s teaching emphasized that the Kingdom would br ing God'sjudgment , Jesus declared that the kingdom would br ing God'ssalvat ion. Another bas ic summary of Jesus ' teaching, Luke 4:18-19,reflects the proclamation in Isa. G\\\ff. "The Spirit of the Lord is uponme, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor . Hehas sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight tothe blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of theLord's favor" (cf . Luke 7:22) . What is meant by this may be explainedbest by the f irst Beatitude: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours isthe kingdom of God " (Luke 6:20, probably the or iginal vers ion of thisBeatitude; cf . the parallel phrase in Mark 10:14, which says that thekingdom of God belongs to the chi ldren) .

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Jesus promises that those people who may no longer expectanything from the society they live in may expect everything fromGod; that their lives will be enriched by the communion with God inhis Kingdom and under his gracious rule. Their daily needs will not beforgotten; those who are hungry and weep are blessed and, therefore,promised that they will have enough to eat and will be able to laughagain. But whereas this bounty is promised for the future, the verbtense of the blessing of the poor is open. This may indicate that thepromise is already beginning to be realized by the proclamation of thenearness of the kingdom of God.

Jesus shows the present reality of salvation through the immediatecoming of the kingdom in another instance. The saying "But if it is bythe finger of God that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God hascome to you" (Luke 11:20) is very important for understanding Jesus'calling. The Greek text indicates that Jesus may well have originallyused a particular Aramaic word which expresses almost graphicallythe idea that God's reign stretches out so close to human beings that ittouches this world and its needs. Although it still does not embrace allthings, in Jesus' healing and liberating actions the kingdom hasalready come.

These and similar words outline the need to which Jesus' savingactivity responds: alienation from God which results in enslavement tothe destructive power of evil. This alienation may manifest itself indiseases and also in the social ostracism and marginalization of peoplewith problems or in need. The personal guilt of these afflicted personsis not ignored or trivialized. But their personal guilt does not affectthis larger view of human need: men, women, and children come intothe picture not only as perpetrators but also as the victims of morecomprehensive structures of evil from which God's reign liberates andsaves.

In Jesus' teaching and action, therefore, two things are happening:first, people are already experiencing in their lives the saving power ofGod's kingdom. At the same time all that they now witness is only anincomplete token of a future fulfillment, the beginning of theoverwhelming abundance of the kingdom of God.The Word of the Cross. "God has raised Jesus from the dead." As thefundamental experience and confession given to the disciples afterJesus' violent death, this sentence became the central confession of theearly church and the foundation of its calling. It speaks first about

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God's act toward the Crucified One but obviously includes the notionthat , with the raising of Jesus, God's eschatological work of raising al lthe dead has begun.

But this statement in i tself does no t explain the m eaning of J e s us 'death. Early Christ ians, guided by scripture (especial ly Isaiah 43 and53) and probably by the recollect ion of Jesus' own comments, soonbegan to understand J esu s' death as the vicarious sacrifice o f his l i fe .Through the acceptance of our guil t and sin by Jesus as God'sanointed one, his death effected atonement and reopened ourcom mun ion with Go d. The confession quo ted by Paul in 1 Cor. 5:3-5shows that this notion of Jesus' death and resurrection becamefundamental for the Christian conception of "salvation in JesusChris t . "

The problem of guil t beco me s crucial in this context . Especial ly forPaul , this means more than simply resolving difficult ies brought aboutby transgressions of the law. After al l , such transgress ions are only thesymptoms of the fundamental sin of al l human beings since Adam,that is, rebellion aga inst God in which they place their own being inall its fragility and tra nsito rincs s (or, as Pau l calls it , their "flesh ") atthe center of their existence and therefore miss their true vocation tolive their lives in the presence of God.

Because Jesus died the death of a sinner and thus acceptedalienation from God and the curse of the law, he took upon him self(that is, he "bore") the dead ly cons eque nces of unsett led guil t. At thecenter of God's saving activity is forgiveness of sin; but forgiveness isonly part of the much more comprehensive process of reconcil iat ion,as well as the inauguration of a new communion with God (2 Cor.5:18-21) . This same concept can be expressed with the terminology ofjust if icat ion. In Hebrew-biblical legal thought justification means averdict of not guilty; but the declaration "He or she is justified"includes also a posit ive jud gm ent: "He or she belongs to ourcommuni ty ."

On the theological level this mean s that when w e are just if ied Godacquits us, for the sake of Jesus Christ, from the charge of havingfailed to reach the goal of our life (which is to live in God's presence).He abolishes our fai lure by accepting us into God saving communionand by giving our lives the right direction and the right goal,

It is important to notice that this theologically based notion offai lure can assume different forms in a human l ife . Some maytransgress the law outright , violat ing both God's wil l and the rights

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and l iving space of others . Others may m anipulate the law cov er t lyand m aintain the appearance of jus t i f icat ion. But their ownachievements are made absolute; the memory of their ownshortcomings is suppressed; the will of God is missed; and thepotential of others is hinderedand all this in a much more subtle andhidden form than that of the open transgression of the law.

The me ssag e of justif ication do es not apply only to situations inwhich people del iberate ly seek God's gracious acceptance; i t a lsospeaks to those who struggle in general for meaning and worth in theirlives . I t proclaims salvation to those who are aware of theirbrokenness in lives that are spoiled and lost an d to those who pretendthat they have "justif ied" their own lives through success, property,power, reputation, or eff iciency but who nevertheless sensebe itconscious or unconsciousthat this is not true life . True life is alwaysG od 's gif t . Tha t is the mes sag e of justif ication thro ugh Je sus Ch rist,even for the people of our time.The W ord became Flesh. The third line is connected closely with thesecond. I t is marked by the fundamental confession of the Johanninetradition: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, sothat everyone wh o bel ieves in him m ay not per ish but may haveeternal l i fe" ( John 3:16) . The Johannine phraseology of God's "givingup the So n" in this text cor respond s to a s imilar pat tern of a Go d's"send ing the So n" (1 John 4:9 -1 0, 1 4) . We f ind here the furtherstatement that the Son is given up unto death. The purpose of theseformulaic structures is to describe the saving effect of the Son ofGo d's adoption o f our hum an n ature . We find a s imilar dynam ic inPaul , a l though he emph asizes the death of Jesus Chr is t (cf. Gal . 4:4- 5;Rom. 8:3-4 with Rom. 8:32; Phi l . 2 :6-8; Gal . 2 :20) .

Th e whole t radi tion is c losely connected with the t i t le "Son ofGod"; the deep connect ion between Father and Son is expressed bythe words only or own. God gives himself through the Son. Thissoter iological sch eme also im putes a motive to G od 's saving act ivi ty:love (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9- 10; Rom . 8:37 -39; Ga l . 2 :20; Eph . 5:2 ; cf.Ro m. 5:8) . Th e deepes t eviden ce of Go d's love is the fact that the Sonhas given himself into the world and unto death!

Whereas the Johannine "sending of the Son" formula descr ibes thesaving effect of the sending in terms of atonement and vicarious death(cf . I John 4:10; Gal 4:4-5) , the formula of the "giving up of the Son"character izes God's saving act ion in a much more comprehensive way.



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In Rom. 8:31-39 this formula appears with another s ta tement of God'smotivation for acting on human behalf: God is "for us . " Throu gh theSon, God enters into human need, even death, the deepest and mostextreme dis tress of human exis tence . The Son's abandonment of selfauthenticates God's yes to us, which is valid even when all externalcircumstances seem to speak against i tbe it our own sin (vv. 33-34)or the heights and depths of human ex is tence (vv. 38- 39) .

According to this tradition, what salvation gives is life: life withGod, eternal l ife . Even more remarkable, the Gospel of John dares tosay that all wh o by their faith in Jesus C hrist have bee n received intothe communion with God have this l i fe a lready. God's becominghum an, even "f lesh," fdls the " lack of G od " in human beings . Now,even after we have fallen short of the doxa of God (Rom. 3:23) , theglory of God is seen again in the face of Jesus Christ .

The proclamation of salvation in this tradition responds to theGod- forsakenness of hum an beings . Of course , i t is not that God ha sforsaken them but rather that they have forsaken God; this is thesource of their isolation, loneliness, and forlornness . People are lostnot only in the eschatological sense, that they are doomed to the f inalcondemnation, but also in a ontological sense, l iving in loneliness andisolation amid st the infinite co sm os. I t is this dreadful hum an "an gst "that attacks, weakens, and erodes the foundations of our lives . Thepain of this experience drives us to secure and defend our lives forourselvesa path that leads to aggressiveness toward others and theend of real life with them.

Salvation is the gift of a new existence from God; it is the gift ofbecom ing children of God : "God sent his Son . . . so that we mightreceive adoption as children" (Gal. 4:4-5) (or in the words of"Amazing Grace," "I once was lost but now am found . . . " ) . With thisgif t we regain our original trust in God, which conquers "angst ." Weare author ized and empowered by God to be mature and responsible ,providing the basis for a new relationship to the people with whom welive.

We have seen that the New Testament speaks in different waysabout salvation, but all agree that salvation is rooted in the encounterwith the saving God. I t is the coming of God's kingdom in the workand teaching of Jesus which delivers the oppressed and exalts thepoor. It is the revelation of God's r ighteousness in the death andresurrection of Jesus Christ which justif ies sin ners and rec onc ilesene mie s. And it is the light of God's glory in the person and life of the



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Son of God which stil ls the hunger and thirst for life and heals thedeep anxiety of being lost in a hostile world.

Likewise, we have seen that God's saving activity and itsproclamation meet different human needs. Again, there is also onecommon denominator . Alienat ion f rom God leads to the deadlyalienation of human beings from themselves . This alienation is feltdifferently by those who are possessed by evil spirits than it is felt bythose wh o boast that they lead r igh teou s lives; it will be felt differentlyby children or women who are marginalized than it will be felt bythose who are r ich and honored but are in danger of losing their l ivesbecause they care only for themselves . To use examples from ourtime: the single parent struggling to support herself and her children inan urban slum will need to hear the gospel message of salvation in adifferent manner from that of the business man who has fallen in lovewith his own success or the one who is dying of AIDS or thewell - to-do woman who spends her t ime at the gym and the beautyshop .

But it is the same Gospel that is preached to each of them. Thechurch is not a drug store selling spec ial pills for each dise ase; i t is nota supermarket with discount coupons for special needs . The churchoffers to everyone the gospel which proclaims the saving God. ThisGod has spoken the divine yes to each of us, while saying no to manythings we do or suffer from. To meet God and God's love through theproclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and in the life of thechurch is salvation is real life.

W h a t I s t h e B i b l i c a l D e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e C h u r c h ' s M i s s i o n ?Our second question has to do with the biblical guidelines for themission of the church, i ts primary task in reaching out for otherpeople. What objectives of this mission have to be achieved in order tofulfill the mission, and how are those who are not yet saved includedwithin the process of salvation?

If we look into the New Testament, we will f ind three differenttypes of the comm iss ion w hich sug ges t the hor izons of C hr is tianactivity in the world.Proclaiming the kingdom of God. W hen Jesu s of Nazareth sent out hisdisciples , he commiss ioned them "to proclaim the kingdom of God



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and to heal* 1 (Luke 9:2; cf. 10:9; M att . 10:7 -8) . Th ese f irstmiss ionar ies of Jesus were to proclaim the good news that G od 'skingdom has come near to the poor and to perform acts of liberationand healing for those who live in distress and despair . Although thegeographical horizon of their mission did not reach beyond Galileeand Judea, i ts theological horizon was extremely broad. I t implied thatwhile there may be people w ho exclude them selves by their denial ofthe message (cf . Matt . 10:12-13), the effectiveness of the mission doesnot depend on the listeners ' reactions. They are expected only toremain open for God's healing and liberating power . That is what theSynoptic tradition calls faith! Of course, that Jesus called somedirectly to follow him shows that the reality of God's coming kingdomis not without consequences for the personal life . But initiation intothe Kingdom of God is basically the activity of a God who reaches outespecially to those who are not able to help themselves: the poor, thechildren, those who are possessed by evil spir its , the sick, and thelepers .Making disciples. The Risen Lord ' s commiss ion to his disciplesbroadens the geographic scope of the mission into the universal: "Gointo all the world and proclaim the Good News to the whole creation"(Mark 16:15; although this is a part of the so-called "secondaryen din g" of M ark ' s G ospel , i t represents old t radi t ion) . At the samet ime , the goal of the mission becomes more specif ic: "Go thereforeand m ake disciples of a ll n at io ns" (M att . 28:19 ) . To be a disciple ofJesus is no longer a special call for some who are called into anexemplary relationship of life and work with Jesus. Rather , to be adisciple is the description of the fundame ntal l ife-giving relationsh ipwith Jesus and with all he has lived for us. The tradition whichMatthew passes on in the Great Commiss ion makes qui te c lear howthe nations arc to be "made disciples": "baptizing them in the name ofthe Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spir it and teaching them toobey everything that I have comm anded you ."

Making disciples therefore means to incorporate a person into thereality of God's saving act in the death and resurrection of Jesus bythe sacrament of bapt ism (w hich includes , accordin g to theunderstanding of early Christianity, also the initial faith) and to leadhim or her on the way of fol lowing Jesus ' commandments . Accordingto this model of the Christian mission the goal of the missionaryactivity is inclusion in the church. But making disciples is much more

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than jus t recruiting new church m em ber s . It is imm ersion into thereality of God's love in Jesus Christ and introduction into the lifelongprocess of learning the consequences of this love, that is , following inthe footsteps of Jesus . To par t ic ipate in com mu nion with Jesus Chr is tis a reality which creates new life . I t is an experience which shapesour life according to his example. And that is the essence ofdiscipleship!Preaching the faith If we look into the reality of Christian mission asrepresented in the epistles of Paul and the missionary speeches ofActs , then the focus of the miss ionary work beco mes even sharpenThe goal of all preaching is the call to repentance and faith for all wholisten (cf . A cts 2:38 ; 3:19; 16:31; Rom. 1:16; 10:10,14-17) . I t is thecall to accept personally the reconciliation which God has wrought inJesus Christ and which is proclaimed in the gospel . Or, as Paul puts itin 2 Cor . 5:18-20 the magna carta of evangel is t ic preaching"inChrist God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting theirtrespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliationto us . So we are ambassado rs for Chr is t , s ince God is mak ing hisappeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled toG od ! " T he invitation to faith is the call to salvation and the invitationto a life in peace with God.

How do these three different types of the commission of the churchrelate to one another? Does their sequence represent the gradualnarrowing of the gospel of Jesus f irst as the proclamation of God'sunconditional and liberating activity, then to a church-dominatedconcept of salvation, and then further to an individualistic view of thenecessity of personal repentance and faith? Or does this sequenceguide us into a deeper and dee per unders tanding of the gospel ,widening at the same time to include all of humankind, as well assharpening the focus r ight down to the innermost depth of the humanexistence? In fact, missionary movements have often chosen one orthe other of these m odels .

The f irst one serves as a pattern for the understanding of missionwithin liberation theology as well as for evangelistic activities withinthe char ismatic mov emen t which d er ives f rom i t the emp hasis on a"twofold co mm iss ion": to preach and to heal . The second type servedas model for the conversion of whole tr ibes or nations and asjustif ication of the situation in state chu rche s, or wh at is called inG e r m a ny Volkskirche, where almost all people are baptized as infants



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in order to be educated later on as Christians, a method which oftenleads more to a superf icial Christianization than to an authenticevangelization of the people. In a different way the church growthmovem ent has chosen the "d iscipl ing" of people as the majorobjective of its missionary endeavor (cf . DAWN: Discipling a WholeNat ion) . The th i rd mode l r epresents the pa t te rn of evange l i smwhich is typical for the who le evange l ical mo vem ent . T he cal l tofaith is interpreted as a call for perso nal "d ec isio n," anunder s tand ing which i s cha l leng ed by r epresenta t ives of theBar thian Wort-Gottes-Theologie ( W or d - o f - G od T he o logy ) , w h ic hclaims that we have only to te l l the people that God has a lreadydecided to save them in Jesus Chr is t .

I am deeply convinced that all these different patterns of thecomm iss ion of the church within the Ne w Testament are determ inedand shaped by one basic concern: impressing God's saving love on allhuman beings and including them, with all aspects of their l ives, in thedom ain of Go d's reconci l ing and heal ing act ion in and through JesusChr is t . These three Ne w T estament m odels for miss ion are notalternatives from which to choose; they are aspects of the samecommission. We may emphasize different aspects in differentsituations, but we should never separate them from one another orplay them off against one another . Wherever we f ind people who are oppressed and possessed by evilspir its of money, power, addiction or greed, wherever we meet humanbein gs who are ma rginalized and ostracized , exploited or m isuse d,poor or disabled, we are called to proclaim to them that God's reign isat hand and to set up signs of love and ho pe, of justic e and healingamong them. Our f irst task is not to ask people for their personalresponse to this messag e . Th e mo re impo r tant thing is that theirbattered lives are reached by the reality of God's saving and lovingpresence and that they are ready to receive what God has done andwill do for them. Wherever people are caught in a deep crisis of self -esteemif theytry to justify their l ives by religiou s ach ievem ents, by money , pow er,honor, beauty or success, or they despair about their failure to f ind realvalue within their l ives or when people are haunted by open orrepressed guilt , we are called to tell them that God has said yes totheir l ives in Jesus Christ, and that in Jesus ' death God has taken onhimself all the nos which people experience as threatening their l ives .W hat m atters now is Go d's yes to us , which jus t i fies , es teems, and



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validates our lives, whether we are threatened by the no which isspoken by our guilt or the no through w hich w e feel jud ge d by others,or the no which ou r own hear ts speak ag ains t us . Because thismessage aims at our self -awareness it asks for a personal response.Th e gospel of justif ication co me s to its fulfillment wh en peop lebelieve that their l ives are accepted by God. The message ofreconciliation becomes effective when people realize and accept thatthey are reconciled. Wherever people are suffering from isolation and alienation,wherever they are longing for personal growth and maturity, we arecalled to show them the path of discipleship. The call to follow Jesusleads into a community of learning and sharing, of mutual support andcreative cr itique. Those who try to make disciples invite people intothis com mu nity of fol lowers o f Jesus and ask for the comm itmen t oftheir whole lives as a part of the body of Christ and instrument of thelove of God.

Although I have singled out different conditions of people withtheir need of different aspe cts of the gosp el, i t should be evident thatwe cannot really divide people into separate groups or put them intodifferent boxes or drawers, suggesting that they need only one aspectof the gospel . All need the whole gospel as the expression of theal l -embracing love of Godbut not a l l need i t with the sameemphasis a t the same t ime.

W h a t D o c s T h i s M e a n f o r t h e T a s k o f t h e U n i t e d M e t h o d i s tC h u r c h ?Methodism first began with the commission to preach the faith."Preach faith // / / you have it , and then, because you have it you willpreach faith," was the famous advice of Peter Boehler to John Wesley. 8What we sometimes call his conversion at Aldersgate Street Wesleyhimself remem bered as his personal assurance of salvat ion, sola fide?John W esley once wrote to "John Sm ith" that "No ne is a trueChristian til l he experience it" and cites his Aldersgate experience asthe reason why he preaches only salvation by faith.]01 hope that we asUnited Methodists will not interpret the definition of "makingdisci ples" as it is given in Ma tt . 28:19 -2 0 ("bapt iz ing them . . . andteaching them . . . " ) in a nar row sense, thinking that bapt iz ing infantsand nu rturing them in a Ch ristian co m m un ity is the full exten* of our



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I

P R O C L A I M I N G S A L V A T I O N M A K I N G D I S C I P L E S 31

com mission to mak e disc ip les ." The quest for a personal faith is stil lat the heart of our mission.

Indeed, i t is one of the distinguishing marks of Methodism that i tdoe s not confine the task of "m akin g dis cip les" to the sim ple call toconversion and the assessment that those who become believers aresaved. John Wesley gives "John Smith" a remarkable rationale for hisown preaching: "[ it is based on] such a love of God and men asproduces all inward and outward holiness, and springs from aconviction wrought in us by the Holy Ghost of the pardoning love ofG o d . " 1 2 This is John Wesley's theology in a nutshell . I t shows us howthe task of making disciples by teaching (and learning) to obeyeverything that Jesus has com m and ed u s wa s fulf illed in M etho dism .The Wesleyan path of Christian discipleship is nothing other thanscriptural holiness as God's gif t and as a permanent challenge to letour lives be filled and shaped by the love of God. And because there is"no other hol iness than social h ol in ess ," 1 3 i t was always clear toMethodists that we can take this path only together with others . Tocreate in our churches a lebemmum of grace , that is , a space for theliving out of G od 's grace and love, wh ere people ma y f ind freedom as >well as guidance for developing what God has meant for their l ives,where people may grow into the maturity of lovethat is a genuinelyMethodis t way of making disciples .

But the horizon of the m ission is broade r than the quest for a personalfaith and a common pilgrimage as disciples of Jesus. When Wesleydefines why God has raised up the people called Methodists, he saysfirst, 'To reform the Nation (rcsp. the Contine nt), especially the church "As far as I know, he never clearly explained how this should happ en. jMay be he thought this would be the natural consequ ence of "spreading (scriptural holine ss over the land." But this is a clear indication for us thatin Methodism "to proclaim the K ing dom " has always mean t more than {only proclaiming the faith and striving for personal holiness. The Good iNews for the poor is surely a very personal assurance that God loves eachhuman being, however miserable the circumstances of her or his life maybe. But Good Ne ws for the poor must also include the prom ise of a life ;which is adequate for peop le who are created into the im age of God, aswell as the conviction that God calls and em pow ers us to struggle forliberation and justice .

Therefore, wh en we define the mission of the church as the m akin g ,of disciples, we include both the call to faith which is always personalbut never remains private and the proclamation of the kingdom, which


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reaches out to those wh o desperate ly need the presence of G od 'sliberating love and jus tice in their l ives . Th e Boo k of Disciplin e setsforth this dual aspect of this process for carrying out our mission:We make disciples as we:proclaim the gospel, seek, welcome and gather persons into thebody of Christ;lead persons to comm it their lives to God through Jesus Christ;nurture persons in Christian living through worship, baptism,commu nion, Bible and other means of grace;send persons into the world to live lovingly and justly as servants ofChrist by healing the sick, feeding the hungry, caring for the stranger,freeing the oppressed, and working to make social structuresconsistent with the gospel, andcontinue the mission of seeking, w elcoming and gathering personsinto the comm unity of the body of Christ.14What is necessary to foster this process? I will mention three issueswhich I think are important .

1. Rediscovering the power of the gospel. We of ten wonder how wewil l be able to comm unicate the me ssage of the gospel to thoroug hlysecularized people. The f irst s tep, I think, should always be to askourselves whether we ourselves really live from the gospel and rely onits power . We can offer to others only the food we ourselves are livingfrom. I am convinced that wh en w e are real ly moved by thegospelas church and as individualsit wil l be much eas ier toinclude other people within our faith. The love of God which f ills ourhea rts will transform into the love of tho se wh o stil l do no t know thegospel . Paul once disclosed as the key to his miss ionary "suc cess" hisdetermination "to share with you not only the gospel of God but alsoour own selves , because you have become very dear to us" (1 Thess .2 :8) .

2 . Reclaiming our connection as a comm unity of those who togetherfollow Jesus. This me ans that we are a com mu nity of those who seekand those who bel ieve, of those wh o learn and those wh o teach. Weunderstand that we will not all be at the same place in this process oflearning and that we will have to change sides from time to time. Thisprocess should begin on the local level where we stil l need more smallgroups (c lasses, discipleship groups , house church es) , wh ere p eoplecan speak openly and confidentially about questions and sorrows, andwhere all search for answers from God's word. This process shouldcontinue in our Annual Conferences and throughout the whole



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connect ion. How can we as a whole denominat ion be a community ofmutual learning and support? That biblical words such as confessing,reconciling, and transforming have become partisan slogans is not agood sym ptom o f the s i tuat ion of our com mo n discipleship .

3 . Regaining our call to those who are outside our precincts. We aresent to the poor and to all people who do not f it into the patterns ofsuccess or eff iciency which are valid in our society. The EpiscopalInitiative on Children and Poverty or the Special Program onSubstance Ab use and Related Violence ma y help us as a denominat ionto work within this perspect ive . But general prog rams are not eno ugh.We stil l have to identify the groups in our local or regional contextthat most need our a t tent ion and ca re . In m y country, Germany , thosewh o come f ir st to mind are unem ployed y ou ng people ( from unski l ledlaborers to fully educated academ ics) wh o are in danger of becom inga lost generation.I would l ike to c lose with som e ques t ions fol lowing Ro m. 1:13-17.In v. 14, Paul say s that he has a respon sibility to b ring the gosp el to allpeo ple: "1 am a debtor both to Gre ek s and to barbarian s, both to thewise and to the foolish." To account for his "eagerness to proclaim thegospel" to the people of Rome, Paul says, "I t is the power of God forsalvation to everyone who has faith" (v. 16) . Paul adds that this is trueof "the Jew first" and also of the Greek. How do we experience in ourown l ives the saving power of the gospel? Do es our exper iencemotivate us to include others in our faith and invite them to bedisciples of Christ? Let us continue to look for those people to whomwe are eager and unasham ed to say that the saving power of thegospel is also meant for them.

N o t e s

1. Cf. The Book of Discipline 1996, chapter 1, sec. I (p. 114) and para. 401.2. Minutes of Several Conversations between the Rev. Mr. Wesley and Others. TheWorks of John Wesley, 3rd ed. repr. 1984, Vol. 8:310.3. Ibid., 299.4. The Book of Discipline 1996, 115.5. Matt. 9:22; Mark 5:34; 10:52; Luke 7:50 ; 8:48; 17:19; 18:42 .6. Cf. Luke 8:12; A ct s4 :1 2; 1 Cor. 1:18 and often.



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7. Coll and Response: Biblical Foundations of a Theology of Evangelism. AbingdonPress, 1997, 29-74.1 am confirmed in my description of the New Testament traditionby M. Scils, Heil und Erlosung IV, TRE 14, 1985, 622 -63 2, esp. 626-627f, wh odistinguishes three 'lines of interpretation" in the whole history' of Christiansoteriology: the concentration of the early church on incarnation, the emphasis onsalvation through death and resurrection of Jesus in the Middle Ages and the time ofthe Reformation, and the modern interest in the saving reality of the life and teachingof Jesus. The se three lines correspon d in reciprocal sequ enc e to those I have foundin the NT tradition.8. Journal 4 Mardh 17 38 , (Works, 18:228).9. Cf. Letter to "John Smith," 30 De c. 1 745 , (Work s, 26 :18 3).

10. Ibid, 182.11. I am still anxious that our baptismal study "By Water and Spirit" may have thiseffect!12. Ibid, 183.13 . Preface to "Hymns and Sacred Poems" 1739, (Works, 14:321).14. The Book of Discipline 1996, 115.



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1

W. Stephen Gunter

Thinking Theologically aboutEvangelism

Joh n W esley has traditionally been know n as an evangelist and*J denom inational fou nder rathe r than as a theologian, at least in thetechnical sense of that word. However, those who know the Wesleycorpu s well have begun to reevaluate his theolog ical co ntributions,especially given current developments in praxis-oriented theologicalthinking, which is more congenial to Wesley's frame of mind. The praxiswhich continually interested Mr. Wesley was w hat w e usually refer to asevangelism although w e should note that it is anachro nistic to speak ofevangelism d uring W esley's time, since the term in its current sense islargely the product o f the late nineteenth century.

Wesley's thought helps us understand the natural connectionbetween the practice of evangelism and serious, praxis -orientedtheology. For Wesley, evangelism and theology are connected at theroots . Even Wesley's vocabulary for describing the theologicalenterprise evokes the topic of evangelism as we might define i t today:a set of intentional activit ies or experie nces that enable s peo ple to beconsciously and conscie ntiously Ch ris tian. Wesley often writes , as heW. Stephen G unter is Arthur J. Mo ore A ssoc iate Professo r of Eva ngelis m at theCandler Schoo l of The olog y at Emory University . (T his paper represents a part ofthe research for a larger work on evangelism entitled The Symphony of Grace:Evangelism in the Wesleyan Spirit. It was presented to the Evangelism WorkingGroup at the Oxford Institute of Meth odist Theo logic al S tudies at Som ervil leCol lege , Oxford, England, August 1 8 - 2 1 , 1 9 9 7 . )

THINKING THEOLOGICALLY ABOUT EVANGELISM 35


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does in his "Letter to Dr. Middle ton," that there is only on e thing that reallymatters: "genuine Christianity, whether we speak of it as a principle in thesoul, or as a schem e or system of doctrine."1 Th e dominant note in Wesley'stheology was therefore soteriological, that is, concerned with theuniversality of the gospel claim: "The Lord is not slow about his promise,as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any toperish, but all to com e to repe ntan ce" (2 Pet. 3:9). R eferring to this verse inhis Explanatory Notes on the New Testament, Wesley emphasizes that oneshould not conclude that "the time fixed for it [salvation] were pa s t . . . [forit] shall surely be fulfilled in its season. " Salvation is the on ly real issue, andGo d will bring it to pass.

The particular question that concerns us in this essay is theWesleyan account of how God brings i t to pass and what role, if any,we have in God's saving activity . The classic Protestant principleholds that salvation is sola fide and sola gratia, but the W esleyanexpression of this truth recognizes that salvation does not occur inindividual isolation or in an exis tential vacuum (i .e . , faith and graceonly, not faith and grace all alone). Th ere is a crucial differencebetween soter io logy as a meta - theologica l ca tegory which may beexplored only by scholastic methods and soteriology as a l ivingrea l i tyGod's love enf leshedthat demands a synergis t ic workingamong creatures and Creator . The latter is clearly the Wesleyan vis ion.

In order to understand the nature of salvation as a living reality, it isnecessary to use theological terms, specifically, a doctrinal category(prevenient grace) and a praxis category (deeds of mercy). This is notas s traightforward a task as i t might seem, however, s ince theologianssince Wesley have often misconstrued the meaning of both terms,causing difficult ies in appreciating the unique Wesleyan heritage ofmiss ion-or iented theology/ theologica l ly -or iented miss ion . I wi l lsuggest that evangelism rooted in the Wesleyan tradit ions would bebetter served by doing evangelism as far as we can in Wesley's ownstyle: by connecting the theological precept of prevenient grace to"deeds of mercy," wh ich , as Mr. W esley wa s fond of saying, were tobe desired above deeds of piety.

T h e P r o b l e mWe begin with the difficulties involved in defining prevenient graceadequately. Wesley used the phrase prevenient grace, or "preventing



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gr ac e" as he was prone to express it, quite li terally ( it is based on theLatin praevenire, to come before, to go before, or that whichprecedes ) . 2 In order for us to see how we reach the set of conclusionsdescribed above about Wesley's theological use of this concept, welook f irst at how prevenient grace has been defined by scholars in thetwentie th century . 3 We find that every writer makes an almostexclusively voluntaristic application of this term, referr ing toprevenient grace primarily as God's restoration of human freedomfrom the limitations imposed on human will and action by "originalsin." The accent falls , then, on the power of God that enables thesinner to repent. This definition assumes that humanity's sinfulestrangement from God renders every person incapable of respondingto salvation overtures apart from Go d's " enab ling gra ce." I t is thistendency to abstraction, making grace an abstract, s tatic conception ofGo d's "power ," that concerns us here .

No w granted, the most prominent W esleyan theologians in thetwentieth century have defined prevenient grace in a way that revealsthe extent to which deeds of mercy (and acts of charity) have informedWesleyan practice. But even scholars writing on Wesley's social ethicshave given way to an abstract understanding of prevenience tendingin this case to err in the opposite direction by emphasizing humanmoral agency. In fact, they all do what vir tually every Methodist s incethe r ise of the "social gospel" has tended to do; confuse the deeds ofmercy with the gospel that offers regeneration and transformation.

This is a mistake Mr. Wesley never made. To appreciate Wesley'sf irm grasp on these subtleties, we will survey the latest attempts todescribe the theological dimension of evangelism in Wesleyan termsusing the language of prevenience. All these positions are interestingand important in themselves, but they pale in comparison with a freshreading of Wesley himself.

S i g n i f i c a n t T w e n t i e t h - C e n t u r y I n t e r p r e t e r s o f P r e v e n i e n c eColin Williams. In reference to the "very great significan ce" ofprevenience in We sley's soteriology, Colin W illiams im plies that, to acertain extent, prevenience qualifies Wesley's emphasis on total depravity:

Thus because G od is directly at work within even the naturalman, man is responsible; not because he is naturally free to do

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God's will, but because he resists G od's grac e. This is not tosay that this prevenien t grace, appare nt in the conscien ce, isenough to enable man to turn to God in faith. Further gifts ofgrace are necessary to enable m an to come to repentance andthen to justification.4

The sense of this is that God has taken the initiative to intersect witlil ife in such a way that the natural human inclinations away from Goddo not preclude a sensitivity to the things of God. Williams carr ies hislogic to its soteriological conclusion, namely, that prevenient grace'srestoration of human freedom to respond to its own "revelations" aswell as to promptings from God may lead to "a response to the[prevenient] grace within us bringing] a further gif t of grace,"resulting in faith and justif icatio n. 5 Williams knows quite well that thisentranc e into reconciling and justifying grace is not withou t itsobs tacles , especial ly the problem of hum an s infulness. But for t iu s ,too , prevenient grace has an adequate answer . Prevenient grace maybring the person to recognize his or her sinful condition and enableone to do works of repentance, even prior to an actual saving faith. 6Will iams sees this gracious enabl ing as potent ia l ly c omp rehensive,enabling one not only to "hear" the demands of the Law but also to" s e e " the promise of the gospel . Further , by the "hearing and seeingmade possible by prevenient grace, man is given the freedom to acceptor reject the redeeming grace which enables him to walk in the way ofsalvat ion." 7 For Colin Williams Wesley's concept of prevenient graceis properly defined as the restoration of freedom to respond to God'soffer of grace, to come to repentance and its fruits, and to accept orreject the gift of justi fyin g faith whe n freely and uni versa lly offered bya seeking and saving God.William

spring 1999 quarterly review - theological resources for ministry

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