The Great Commission and Global Mission
As taught in the Methodist / Wesleyan tradition
The call to 'spread scriptural holiness over the land' through evangelism and service.
In the Methodist tradition, the question of the Church’s mission is not merely a matter of administrative strategy or institutional growth; it is the fundamental question of the Church’s identity. The subtopic of "The Great Commission and Global Mission" answers the essential inquiry: What is the purpose of the people called Methodists in the economy of God's grace? For John Wesley and the early Methodist movement, the answer was unambiguous: "To reform the nation, particularly the Church; and to spread scriptural holiness over the land." This mission was never intended to be local or parochial. From the moment Wesley declared, "I look upon all the world as my parish," Methodism has understood the Great Commission not as a suggestion to a few specialists, but as the collective "connexional" mandate of the entire body of Christ.
By the end of this lesson
- **Identify** the specific scriptural mandates that comprise the "Great Commission" and explain their central role in Methodist ecclesiology.
- **Distinguish** between a purely institutional view of the Church and the "missional" view characteristic of the Methodist tradition.
- **Explain** the relationship between John Wesley’s concept of "prevenient grace" and the Methodist motivation for global mission.
- **Articulate** the meaning of "Social Holiness" as it pertains to the Church's responsibility to the world beyond its walls.
- **Trace** the historical development of Methodist missions from the 18th-century "parish" disputes to modern global connexionalism.
- **Defend** the Methodist emphasis on "free grace for all" as the theological engine for universal outreach.
- **Apply** the principles of the Great Commission to contemporary challenges of secularism and religious pluralism from a Methodist perspective.
- **Compare** the Methodist "connexional" approach to mission with more congregational or hierarchical models of global outreach.
Scripture
The full lesson, its study guide and questions, and an AI tutor that answers from Scripture with citations are free with an account.