Since this has been a topic rolling around in my mind for a while with not really a good way to approach it, this feels like the perfect opportunity to address “Revival.”
I’m not here to speak on what is going on in a specific place, or any of the other places people are claiming “revival fire” is popping up. What I want to do is address Christian’s obsession fascination with “revival” and do we really know what it means. If “Revival” came to our doorstep, would Christians recognize it?
First, it’s important to define revival. Initially, when I think of the word revive, or revival, I think of something that was once dead or almost dead, revived. Brought back to a state of living. For instance, if you have a houseplant, that you say……forget to water and when you walk by, what was once growing upward, has now become wilted and sad not that I would know anything about that. You have a very small window to water it so that it will be happy and return to its natural state, or if you continue to neglect it, the roots completely dry up and there will be no amount of water that will return it to life.
So far, not a good look for the Church. That’s probably another post. But let’s look at what Merriam-Webster says about Revival-
a: an act or instance of reviving : the state of being revived: such as
b: renewed attention to or interest in something
c: a new presentation or publication of something old
1): a period of renewed religious interest
2): an often highly emotional evangelistic meeting or series of meetings
Before I lose you completely and y’all fuss, I want to take you way back…to a galaxy far away….
..just kidding…
I want to look at what I feel makes for a true revival in scripture. One, ironically enough, before the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in every Believer.
In 2 Kings 22 we see an overview of the reign of Josiah. Josiah was a king in Judah. In previous overviews of the rulers in Israel and Judah, we see how many did evil in the sight of the Lord. We also see how some did right in the sight of the Lord but failed to tear down the high places. Those were places of pagan worship and many evil things happened there.
Since previous kings were not following the Lord, the temple of the Lord had fallen into disrepair. If you read through chapter 23 you will see they were using the temple to store everything from items made for Baal, Asherah, and all the starry hosts (v4) to housing male prostitutes (v7). Not a stellar start. So in all of this, Hilkiah the high priest finds the Book of the Law. He gives it over to the king’s secretary who reads it and then reads it to the king. Josiah hears all of this and is appropriately horrified and distraught. He sends his minions to go inquire of the Lord about what was found in the book. They go and find Huldah the prophetess and she has a pretty harsh message. The Lord isn’t happy about what has been going on with a people who are supposed to follow His ways and be an example to the rest of the world. The Lord is going to bring about justice, but because Josiah’s heart was responsive and he humbled himself before the Lord, the Lord declared he would not see the disaster He would bring about. (22v15-20)
Josiah hears the word Huldah spoke from the Lord and takes immediate action. In Chapter 23 Josiah gathers all the people, reads the Book so they can hear it, and renewed the covenant to the Lord to follow Him and keep His commands and the people did the same.
Then King Josiah gets to work. He removes all of the pagan idols, items, priests, mediums, fortune tellers and the like. He didn’t just take them down, they burned the items and/or ground them into dust. He tore down and defiled all the high places so they couldn’t be reused. He did what the other kings wouldn’t do (save Hezekiah).
"Josiah did what the other kings wouldn't do"
Now that you have that short history lesson, let’s look at the following responses Josiah and the people made when they understood something was very much amiss and they were not following the Lord.
- You have a people who have turned away from the Lord and have been worshipping other gods.
- When it was brought to Josiah’s attention they were not following what the Lord had instructed, he was distraught and tore his robes. He understood they were in for big trouble.
- There was repentance and a decision to follow completely the ways of the Lord.
- There was an immediate removal of everything that was not Holy.
Mmmmmm that last one tho. Gonna have to circle back to that.
I grew up of the Southern Baptist varieti, and when we talked about revival, that consisted of a week, or maybe a Wednesday-Sunday evening services of someone who was not our regular preacher. You’d sing some hymns, have a sermon, maybe some people would get saved or rededicate their lives to Christ (awesome!), eat a potluck (because that’s what Baptists do well hello) and call it a success. I know other people who recall tent revivals as I guess having your meetings in a tent outside constituted for more of a “revival” atmosphere instead of just being hot or humid.
Now when I hear people talk about revival, what they really want is a “move of God” or “move of the Spirit” and for many (by no means all), that means a super long worship service where they feel a tangible presence of God. It means “feeling” something. To some it means demonstrations of the Spirit, falling out, laughing or something like what was experienced at the Brownsville Revival.
I am not here to pick apart people’s experiences, nor the Brownsville Revival or what has gone on in the more recent years. So before people fuss… People tend to have a lot of emotion tied up in this subject. What I do want to highlight is what would a revival look like and is revival even something we need to be striving for? That is, if we are looking at this word as Christians look at it currently. And at the moment we are..
When we gauge whether something is “Revival label worthy” I want to look at a few things and they are going to parallel my points above.
- There is going to be a tangible, “Oh poo moment.” An “oh no, we have not been following the Lord like we should and a move to rectify it.
- There is going to be true humility and repentance. No place for pride if we want a move of the Spirit.
- There is a realization that the Most High is Holy and we are called to be Holy like He is holy
- There is an immediate removal of everything in your life that is not holy. You identify the high places in your life and tear them down at all cost.
Many times people groups and church congregations may get to #2 and maybe even #3. But like the kings of old, we fail to completely tear down the high places in our lives. What may have sparked a flame dies off quickly as there is no lasting substance to it. We get our emotional high and maybe our lives change for a time, but it doesn’t last because we. don’t. tear. down. the. high. places.
Why not? Why didn’t the past kings of Israel and Judah tear down the high places? Probably several reasons. But likely, they knew it would make many of the people disgruntled. They liked their pagan gods and rituals. It pacified the people groups that had moved in and married in.
In 2 Kings 17:41 it says that while these nations feared the Lord, they also served their idols. Ouch.
As Believers, we might be born-again, but what are we also serving or allowing in our lives that is keeping us from holiness?
What do you tolerate because if you got rid of it, stopped doing it, stopped watching or listening to it, it might make you look like the weird holy roller to your friends, coworkers or family? Maybe you don’t get rid of it because you have justified it, or just want to outright continue _______.
Whatever the reason, next Sunday when your arms are lifted and you are crying out for revival, remember it can start with you. What are you willing to do for what you determine is a revival?
Normally, I like to end on an uplifting note, but I really feel we need to redefine and discern how we are using this word.
I hope it will initiate a look into how to discern what people are so quick to label as revivals.
Does this Nation and Church (Ecclesia really) need a change? Absolutely. But maybe we need to stop looking for a Revival when what we really need is a complete overhaul. More on that in the future. 😊
~enjoy the journey!