July 4: Being Saved

When the Declaration of Independence was signed, the Congregationalist Church was the largest denomination in the colonies. In the southern colonies, the largest denomination was the Church of England. Only 2 percent of colonial Americans were Methodists. However, by 1850 Methodists numbered 34 percent of the U.S. population. Episcopalians had dropped from 27 percent to 4 percent since 1776. The driving dynamic of Methodism in that era was bringing new people to experiential faith in Jesus Christ as Savior from their sins.

What happened to the Congregationalists and Anglicans in colonial America can happen to United Methodism in the 21st-century U.S. Mine is no nostalgic call to go back to the language of the frontier or the fabric of the revival meeting. However, it is to follow the wisdom of Isaac, to "re-dig the wells of our fathers." Sin is real. Our condition remains precarious. Our souls are on trial along with our jobs and savings. The context has changed; the text has not! We still need the experience of saving grace.

[Dr. Donald W. Haynes, United Methodist Reporter, Oct. 17, 2008.]