Holiness and Salvation ( long)

Recently, a friend called me and we started talking about a meeting they were in. They were asked if they had any issues with the church and were asked to be completely honest (unlike most people who go through this process?). The issue is one that I find myself wondering about as well.

The opening statement of the Wesleyan Church's discipline states:

"The Wesleyan Church has grown out of a revival movement which has
historically given itself to one mission- the spreading of scriptural
holiness througout every land. The message which ignited the
Wesleyan revival was the announcement that God through Christ can
forgive men and women of their sins, transform them, free them from
inbred sin, enable them to live a holy life, and bear witness to their hearts that they are indeed children of God. "

I agree with everything that is stated above. I 100% believe that we are called to holiness through the transforming power of Jesus Christ. I believe that you be freed from inbred (the sin nature) sin and that God enables us to live a holy life. I support that wholeheartedly, that is the reason I became a Wesleyan.

However, after having gone through the ordination process and hearing this story from a friend, I can't help but wonder, Are we as Wesleyans putting the cart before the horse? Are we calling people to live holy lives that haven't even experienced the first work of grace- SALVATION?! I will grant that most of the people that attend our churches have had some sort of salvation experience. However, it seems to me that our mission as a church has shifted so dramatically inward that we are more concerned about getting people sanctified rather than saved! You don't hear many holiness messages, I have never preached one, still...our discipline says that it is our one mission, " the spreading of spiritual holiness". Shouldn't our one mission be to share the GOSPEL!?

This friend was told that they needed to find a mentor and essentially needed to get things straightened out in their head before they came back for their exit interview for ordination. So I wonder, do you think that I am just blowing smoke or is there something behind all of this that we can learn from?

I will finish with this: For the assignment that I had to do for my ordination, I had to: list 20 books that I had on holiness, write a reflection paper on holiness, write a sermon based around a passage on holiness and what did they talk most about when I was there? Holiness.

I love the Wesleyan church. The leaders truly are men and women of God. However, I fear for the church when we start focusing on Church Growth and give awards to pastors who had an increase in attendance and persons sanctified among other stats. We are so concerned about growing our churches from the inside out that we are forgetting those on the outside looking in. Holiness unto the LORD...we must live holy...but as Jesus said in his final commission: "Go and make disciples"...he didn't tell them to sit around and become more holy and live more holy lives. He told them to go and make others aware of what he has done...still, salvation comes first. Then, as we mature, holiness falls into place as it should. What gets us eternal life? Is it holiness? Or is it salvation?