Under the Wesley Influence

I just got home from speaking at Wesley Theological Seminary, where I was asked to participate in their CUES Theological Diversity Series. It was really cool walking around the chapel before the service started. The first picture I encountered was of...who else...John Wesley.

Wesley has always been a hero of mine because he built a movement based on the power of relationship. From his class meetings to the coaching of younger preachers, Wesley recognized that his influence and legacy was dependent not only to his gifts and skills but also on the gifts and the skills of those he discipled. Even today, you can visit the chapel that he built at Bristol in which he installed a glass window above the sanctuary from which he could watch his young emerging ministers preach. Afterwards, he would meet with each of them and evaluate their progress.

As I encountered the picture tonight, I felt in some strange way like he might be peering down from the cloud of witnesses to evaluate, and I shuddered to think how he might feel about the teaching I would be giving to his spiritual descendants.