To Grow Again The United Methodist Church needs a Holiness revival based on Matthew 25 not an Evangelical Revival based on Matthew 28

How Can The United Methodist Church experience renewal and revival?  In my last blog I shared some of my thoughts about why reorganizing our denomination is unlikely to have the intended effect of renewal.  Truth be told, without spiritual renewal any reorganization is simply rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic before it sinks.  What is really needed is rediscovering the purpose John Wesley gave to the people called Methodists -- "To spread scriptural holiness throughout the land."

The Discipline of our Church tells us that the church's purpose should be "to make disciples for the transformation of the world."  It is true that this restatement of the great commission is a good general purpose for all churches.  But I think we need to think about what is the particular purpose of our Church not churches in general.

For many the call to make disciples seems to be more about increasing the names on membership rolls or perhaps the numbers in worship or involved in projects.  Do names on a list really mean disciples? And if other churches do this better than us, what makes us unique?

John Wesley's call was to "spread scriptural holiness throughout the land."  These words may seem old and outdated.  We often think of holiness as acting "holier than thou" or living an austere lifestyle but true holiness is much different.  John Wesley gave us his "General Rules for the United Societies" to explain what living a holy life might be like.  Until recently they were almost forgotten. The details were enmeshed in 18th century culture and we often wrote off the rules as an outdated historic document.

Recently Bishop Rueben Job in his books, "Three Simple Questions" and "Three Simple Rules" reminded us of the importance of these "General Rules."  I like to call them the "method" of Methodism.  Bishop Job reminds us that at its heart the General Rules were there principals easy to understand and difficult to live out:

     1. Do no harm
     2. Do Good
     3. Do what you need to do to stay in love with God (attend upon the ordinances of the church in Wesley's words.)

The main point seems to be that the measure of our faithfulness isn't the type of worship we attend, the creed  we give assent to, or pious words we speak.  The measure of our faith is living out God's commands to love our Lord, love each other, and be a blessing as we've been blessed.

When I think about it, we've focused so much on the Matthew 28 command to make disciples; we've forgotten Jesus' story in Matthew 25 outlining what a true disciple who inherits eternal life will be -- one who acts toward the least among us as if they were Christ.

I truly believe all the reorganization of the Church will be in vane unless we take the "General Rules" and Bishop Job's writings to heart.  We must rediscover the "method" of Methodism.  Growing in our ability to do no harn, do good, and stay in love with God is to grow in holiness.  Calling and inviting others to share this lifestyle is to spread scriptural holiness.  I believe there will be no renewal in our Church until we once again embrace holiness as the measure of our faith and invite others not simply to worship, not simply to programs, not simply to membership, but to living a holy life in which we love God, love others, and become a blessing.