The Mission
I’m on a mission. I’m searching for one hundred godly men.
John Wesley once wrote in a letter…
“Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen, such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven upon earth.” (From a letter by John Wesley to Alexander Mather in 1777)
For Wesley, “preachers” didn’t have to be what we call professionals. Instead, the proclamation of the Gospel and the witness of and for God’s Kingdom was to be done by every person who follows Christ. The undergirding biblical witness of Wesley’s words inspires and provokes in me a strong desire to see one hundred godly men in my community fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God. If such a faithful fellowship of one hundred brothers in Christ could be cultivated and encouraged, it would transform our little corner of the world for Christ.
A Grand Vision
Is this too grand a vision? Thomas Chalmers once said, “No matter how large, your vision is too small.” In other words, nothing is impossible for God and therefore, we must dream big. I believe this vision for one hundred godly men is well within the reach of a sovereign and gracious God. Of course, my desire is not only for my community. Instead, my prayer is that bands of one hundred godly men will spring up in countless “little corners of the world.”
The Nature of the Call
This is not a call to nominal or cultural Christianity. It is a call to what John Wesley described as Scriptural Christianity (what I referred to as Kingdom Discipleship, earlier in the book). Following Christ in such a way steers clear of halfhearted and mere intellectual belief in Jesus. Instead, it’s the terrifying and exhilarating call of discipleship our Lord warned must be responded to first by counting the cost of following him daily. This does not produce a privatized or compartmentalized faith. Instead, it develops a faith that is passed from one person to another, from one generation to the next. As salt and light, this faith permeates every sphere of a person’s life, in homes, workplaces, communities, cities, and, ultimately, the world.
The Real Counterculture
I once heard pastor and writer, Tony Evans, preach these words,
As the man goes, so goes the family
As the family goes, so goes the church
As the church goes, so goes the community
As the community goes, so goes the city
As the city goes, so goes the state, the nation, finally the world
This, I believe, is nothing less than Scriptural Christianity, than Kingdom Discipleship.
Our world is in great need of such men of God, for they are truly, in our day and age, the real counterculture and one of God’s primary provisions for a lost and hurting world. Such men are ambassadors of the King of kings, and therefore, minister and bear witness to the kingdom of this world under his authority and according to his agenda. They have no message but his. And not only are they called to proclaim this message, but they must also live it out before a watching world. The motivation of their mission is love for their Lord and their neighbor.
Join Me
This mission to find such men is part of God’s call in my life. Through Bible studies, small groups, one-to-one discipling, mentoring, spiritual direction, counseling, and writing, I am prayerfully working to help and encourage available and willing men become the kind of men God has created, redeemed, and called them to be. I believe God is calling you to be such a man.