By Sherwin Goff
People need to be nurtured once they have come to Jesus. According to Steve Harper in John Wesley's Message for Today, "One of the major emphases in [Wesley's] ministry was to nurture people in their faith" (Harper, 1983, 75). People have overshadowed John Wesley's emphasis of nurturing by the stories of his evangelism. Yes, in his evangelism, he was often in a town for less than a full day, nevertheless, "while it is true that Wesley traveled far and wide to win people to Christ, it is equally true that, having won them, he sought to make disciples out of them" (Harper, 75). Wesley wanted "more than bare converts or spiritual infants" (Harper, 75). Though Wesley may not have called it this, there was a dynamic and timeless threefold direction in his ministry.
Win to Christ: Wesley was a convert-maker, but "He wanted more than bare converts or spiritual infants" (Harper, 75).
Disciple-Train: Wesley wanted to make the converts in to disciples. He "wanted people to be able to live the Christian life day by day" (Harper, 75). Then, "having won them, he sought to make disciples out of them" (Harper, 75).
Send-Out: Wesley wanted to disciple people so they "could in turn bring others to faith" (Harper, 75). This is outward thinking. According to Jim Garlow, Wesley trained 653 Lay preachers; of that number 57% stayed with "it."
Simply stated, our mission as Christians is to Win-Disciple-Send.
Win: We're facilitators. The Worldwide Church of God right now is putting a lot of stress on helping people to Jesus Christ – whom the Father "draws" (John 6:44). This means we teach them to repent from sin and embrace a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and His free gift of salvation by grace.
Disciple: We make disciples (Matthew 28:19) of those who are "the called" (Romans 8:28). Jesus tell us to "feed [His] sheep" (John 21:17), and "teach them all things [Jesus has] commanded [us]" (Matthew 28:20).
Send: Having made disciples (Matthew 28:19-20), we send them out to repeat the process. As Dan Rogers of the Worldwide Church of God puts it, "Our mission is to make disciples who make disciples." And all of this flows from a mandate that never changes, which is to instruct those whom the Father is drawing to Jesus Christ (John 6:44).
Sherwin Goff is a deacon in the Worldwide Church of God in Glendora, California and a 2001 Master of Arts graduate from Azusa Pacific University.