“Revival is coming!” We have heard that cry for decades. So, why haven’t we seen the kind of full-scale revival we have been told to expect for all of these years?
It appeared, for a brief time last year, that revival was, indeed coming. I am still unsure what happened at Asbury about a year ago. It was truly a sight to behold: Students giving their lives wholly over to Jesus in earnest; people being freed from addictive chains; believers committing themselves to following Jesus. It was truly beautiful. But, eventually the news cycle moved on to other things.
On the one hand, revival is such a strange concept. Literally, it means that something is brought from death to life. But spiritually, it seems to mean something different, depending on who you ask. We talk about how we need revival, but we aren’t comfortable with admitting that it means we are dead. We want the cure, but we aren’t willing to admit there is a problem in the first place.
I think that what we often mean when we say that we want revival is that we want revival for “them”. Other people have problems that could benefit from revival. We want to see the revival. we don’t want to be the revival. And if some of the magic dust falls on us, then that’s even better. We just don’t want to do the work ourselves.
I do not deny that something good was, and possibly still is, happening there at Asbury, but my point is that it was happening there. A lot of people really wanted this to be the revival that would spark the next Great Awakening. Maybe it is and we just haven’t seen it yet. Maybe those students will go to lead our nation in spiritual renewal. Or maybe it was never their responsibility to make something happen where I am. Perhaps that was my responsibility all along.
The purpose of this writing is not to critique or applaud what someone else is doing. I, in fact, have remained mostly silent on the issue in order to take my time in consideration. (I think twelve months is an appropriate amount of time.) Bottom line- Ausbury is not my concern. I hope they are legitimately drawing near to God and that He is, indeed, doing a great work among them, but I am not there. My soul, my family, my church, my community, and wherever God may direct my attention are my concern.
Everyone applauds and says “amen” to the statement that we need revival. But do we really even have a clue what that means? Revival is such a glamorized ideal in our day and time. But what is it, really? Can it be observed? Can it be replicated? Can one campus revival do enough to truly change this country, let alone this world?
I cannot help but think of the scene in “The Incredibles” when Mr. Incredible is being watched by his young neighbor who previously witnessed one of his feats of strength. He asks the child, “Well, what are you waiting for?” who responds, “I don’t know. Something amazing, I guess.”
Most of us are that kid. We are simply waiting to see something amazing from someone else. The difference between us and that kid is that he could not do what his hero could do. Every Christian possesses the same Spirit that lives in people that we expect to do something amazing.
Our problem with revival is that we see it as a spectacle. We want to be affected by revival personally, but we do not want to personally effect revival. We want the fire, but we don’t want to be the flint struck to light the spark. We desire to see people saved, but we do not want to be the ones who share the Gospel with them. We want people to break free from sin, but we do not want to lead them in discipleship. In short, we want to be revived, but we do not want to become revived.
The truth is, revivals taking place miles away will not likely affect you spiritually at all. Going to a revival service is not likely to stir your soul if you are not already seeking God in your daily life. Change does not come by proximity. Change comes by pursuit.
I have been in many a church that believed that what we needed was a revival to get things moving. By this, they meant a series of services, featuring a guest preacher who could convince people to get saved or rededicate their lives to Jesus. In some cases this worked. People got saved and people got back in church, for a little while. The problem was not the people who got saved or who came back to Jesus. The problem was the people who made up the church in the first place.
We always want someone else to make a move spiritually. We usually blame the pastor. It usually boils down to his preaching style, his teaching, or something about his work habits. “If he would just (fill in the blank) our church could thrive.” But real, lasting revival rarely starts behind the pulpit. It starts at the altar. If we wait to observe it, we will miss it altogether.
So, when revival comes, it will not be televised. It may not even be observable by everyone else. You will not get to sit back and watch it. You will not get to stay comfortable. It is not something that we will get to piggyback on. Revival starts in our lives. Revival will never come if I expect someone else to do it. Revival will come when we give up control and stop resisting the One who can change us. We are the spark. Not someone else. Not somewhere else. Not some other time. Here. Now. Me. You.
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