Thursday, May 03, 2007

Where Have all the Arminains Gone?

WESLEY


In the church planting world these days there seems to be a great revival of the Reformed theological mindset. This seems to be most prevalent among those in the Acts 29 network. This is good and brings some needed theological reflection on why we do what we do in church planting and whom we do it for. There is nothing wrong at all with those of the Reformed persuasion and their voice is an important one.

Where are all the Arminians though? Is there room for a distinctive Wesleyan strain of church planting. Is anybody out there applying Wesleyan thought to church planting? I have not seen anyone?

What can a Wesleyan theology contribute to church planting reflections and practice? We might start with Wesley's way of salvation (the ordo saludo) which gives us a refreshing picture of the whole breadth of God's grace and moves us from a theology that focuses almost exclusively on justification.

Prevenient Grace- the grace that comes before a person even believes. Church Planting- God is already working on people and is present in a community before anybody begins to plant a church there.

Justifying Grace- the grace that is imputed to us whereby
ARMINIUS we experience forgiveness and are made right with God through Christ's work on the cross as well as the whole of his life, death and resurrection. Church Planting- this is the good news! Lost people matter to God and it is God's will that ALL should be saved. Christ's atoning work on the cross is for all.

Sanctifying Grace- the grace that sustains us and grows into the image of Christ. Church Planting- though broken, through the power of Christ's life, death and resurrection persons can be restored. This is the way of discipleship as persons move toward wholeness (perfection).

We certainly need more theological reflection on Wesleyan distinctives when it comes to church planting.

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