JOHN WESLEY'S IMPACT

I invested much of my youthful energies in seeking to be an effective preacher, so I was tempted to compute my success in terms of how many people might be attracted to my preaching. But in the reading of [church] history, for example, I learned that something more than preaching would validate the effectiveness of my ministry.

[In the 1700's] George Whitefield could easily have claimed a much larger number of responses to his preaching than could John Wesley. But soon after both men were dead, it was clear that Wesley's work would impact future generations far more than Whitefield's. The reason? Wesley organized his followers into classes (a form of small groups); Whitefield never did. I came to understand that preaching without the reinforcement of deep community isn't really worth all that much.

-- Gordon MacDonald


#3550