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Wesleyan Life

Transformed People, Transforming People

By Phil Stevenson

When the Indianapolis Colts went to the Super Bowl in 2007, only three players on their roster, Adam Vinatieri, Anthony McFarland and Ricky Proehl, had been to a Super Bowl before. Fearing that team members might become distracted by the hoopla surrounding the championship game, head coach Tony Dungy asked the three veterans to address the team prior to their departure for Miami.

The three did an excellent job in setting the level of expectation for their teammates. They told the team, "Going to the Super Bowl is a fun and unforgettable experience, but the point of the game is to win."[1]

It is easy to become distracted and forget the point of what we are engaged in doing. We must never forget the point of our Wesleyan movement. We must keep our mission and vision clear. I suggest three ways of keeping the point.

Know the Point

Our point is to fulfill the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment. It is Great Commission living (Go and make disciples, Matt. 28:19) with a Great Commandment heart (Love your neighbor as yourself, Matt. 22:39). In 2 Cor.5:15-18, Paul tells us that we are a transformed people who are engaged in the business of transforming people. This is the essence of fulfilling the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment.

In all we do each day, we must keep this in the forefront of our minds. No matter what our specific task, job, or ministry may be, we are engaged in fulfilling the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment.

Sharpen the Point

To sharpen the point is to keep it in focus at all times. It is looking toward the horizon and staying fully aware of where we are headed. Here are five good reasons to keep the point sharp.

The sharpened point sees a world transformed through people.

The sharpened point sees the world changed one person at a time.

The sharpened point is central to every church, in every community, in every nation in which we have a missional presence.

The sharpened point has the audacity to believe we can actually make a difference.

The sharpened point will guide all we do.

Each of us, working together, has a unique contribution to make. This is what makes the fulfillment of the vision a possibility.

Make the Point

All that we do should drive toward fulfilling the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment. If this is genuinely our vision, there is no room for compromise. Everything will be filtered through this grid. We must be so consumed with the vision that when people tell us it can't be done, we are too busy accomplishing it to argue with them.

We are living out in the twenty-first century what Jesus challenged us to in the first century: Go and make disciples! This is not an easy task, but it is worth our very lives.

- Phil Stevenson is the general director of Evangelism and Church Growth for The Wesleyan Church, Indianapolis, Ind.

1. Tony Dungy, Quiet Strength (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2007), 289.

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