When John Wesley preached the life expectancy of an average person in England was on the rise, but still in the late 30s or 40s. Death was a constant companion and most people had probably seen death up close.
I wonder if that explains in part why evangelical preaching was so powerful. Eternity was constantly around the corner – even for the young. Without the wealth and health care system we enjoy, people in Wesley’s day did not have the ability to ignore questions of eternity. They may have gotten caught up in the psychological problems of that the young and middle-aged face today, but they certainly could ill afford time to dwell on them.
As life has changed, it seems to me, the nature of the gospel has splintered. Where once a good rousing conversation about eternal security could always find an eager ear, the age and lifestage of the listener is more important today.
Erik Erikson’s stages of development outline several key psychosocial crisis that people move through as they age.
For teens the questions revolve around identity or role confusion. What is my place in the world? And the most important social group are peers.
For young adults, the big question is about successfully establishing intimacy and solidarity with another person or persons. Any wonder why marriage sermon series are such a big deal in young congreations?
For older adults the question is about finding meaning and productivity. It is when the transmission of values to the young is important. It is when the departure of the young forces us to find new meanings in our lives. If we fail, we can become self-absorbed or stagnant.
For the advanced in age the question has to do with looking back with a sense of fulfillment rather than despair at the life that has been lived and the future that is being left to new generations. Facing death without fear is a crucial problem.
I can imagine people in these different groups hearing the gospel differently or needing to understand it differently. I’m not sure how that shapes what we present, but it seems important to think about.
I am a part-time local pastor serving 
The doctrine of original sin is surely more humbling to man than the opposite: And I know not what honour we can pay to God, if we think man came out of His hands in the condition wherein he is now.
Also, how do you do this in a mixed congregation? Of course, not as hard in England where the church has mostly the last group you mentioned… But, what do I say to the few in the congregation who don’t fit that category? Good thoughts, John.
Death was a constant companion and most people had probably seen death up close…I wonder if that explains in part why evangelical preaching was so powerful.
I suspect that it absolutely was part of the issue. The other backdrop to his preaching, I believe, was the social backdrop of Puritanism which directly connected material success and health with God’s blessing and poverty and illness with an absence of God’s blessing. Yes, the same Puritanism that founded America and from whence the Protestant work ethic sprang.
Wesley’s message that God loves the poor and the ill and has not abandoned them must have been a powerful message when death was part and parcel of everyday life.
By the way, a friend with whom I attended theology college just died suddenly at the age of 43. Our culture does not take death seriously.
I am saddened to read of your friend’s death.