John Wesley's The Almost Christian

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Recommended: Strengths and weaknesses of discipleship

A faith community, a macro-component of community, is just as complicated as the general concept of community. As I described earlier, my experience with faith communities has been plagued with an overarching sense of hypocrisy. But, for the sake of brevity, I will digress and focus instead on Wesley’s understanding of Christian ecclesiology.
In his sermon, The Almost Christian, John Wesley articulates his view on what it means to be an “altogether Christian”. Being influenced by the Reformation, Wesley believed that faith, and not works, was the initial step in his order of salvation. Those who stopped at faith, however, fall into what he classified as an “almost” Christian. Christians in this category are ones that did not display the characteristics of what today’s Methodists call a social religion. In other words, they merely appear to be Christians because they follow the rules of the bible, but do not feel the call to enact a loving image of God to their neighbors. They may have faith, they may love God with all their heart, but they ignore the suffering of their …show more content…

Many congregations can create an atmosphere to love God and do so every Sunday, or more, through worship. However, the process to create a loving environment for neighbors eludes many churches and their leaders. I suggest that the mission statement also include, “by enacting change and wholeness in our communities”. Jesus perpetually created space for change and wholeness. Jesus could not convince people to follow him without first addressing their needs. Wholeness cannot be attained without changing the circumstances surrounding a person(s) and change cannot occur without revealing a hope for wholeness. If an environment cannot foster change and wholeness in an authentically loving manner, then discipleship will never come to fruition and the hope for transformation is

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