Inside every person, there exists a yearning - a hunger for something more than what we have. It can create an ever-deepening void of loneliness and uncertainty. It is often mistaken as a need for new things, new experiences, or new friends. We find ourselves dissatisfied, discontent, and unfulfilled in our jobs, our friendships, and even in our faith experience.
We may attempt to acquire more possessions and greater wealth to fill the void. We may change jobs or even think that ending a relationship is what's needed. Worse still, some may even dare to consider that this emptiness has come from within their marriage.
Within the Church, we may try to fill this emptiness by chasing after the latest movement hoping that it is a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit even though it may have no biblical foundation or historical precedence. Frustrated and fed-up Pastors leave existing churches and start new ones. Hundreds of Pastors leave the ministry each week due to burnout. Churches ask many to leave because their needs aren't being met.
The void within gets bigger and deeper every time we try to fill it with anything, or anyone, other than Jesus. Our God is calling us to have an intimate and vibrant loving relationship with Himself. Our learning must be from Him not just about Him. We must begin to work with Him, not just for Him. Our great creator, God, longs for intimacy with us, His Bride!
Here in the United States, the church has convoluted the Great Commission by thinking about what Jesus can do for us, not what we can do for Him. Churches have become convalescent homes for Christians. We seek "new" manifestations of the Holy Spirit and flock after "new" teachings. We use Madison Avenue marketing techniques to reach the lost. We "book' celebrity speakers, musicians, and comedians to attract a crowd yet the Great Commission is all about leaving the 99 to find the one.
We have abandoned the sacred and holy and filled our churches with programs and not His presence. We start more and more ways to meet our 'inner' needs. Self-help groups abound everywhere. We build worship services and sermon series around what people want to hear, not what God wants to say. We preach multi-step messages on how to have a great life using Scripture out of context as a pretext for a proof text to support our self-suppositions and confirmation bias. We are more sensitive to the spiritual seeker than to God.
We are trying to give the world a new definition of the Gospel rather than a new demonstration of its power. We spend more time getting our clothes pressed than pressing into God! We want the "power of the resurrection" but not the "fellowship of His sufferings" (Philippians 3:10). Rather than pursuing a prophetic word from God, we settle for a pathetic word from man.
We exert all our resources preparing buildings and "felt need-how to" messages to attract visitors rather than becoming attractive, taking on the holy fragrance of Christ as we prepare ourselves for a Holy visitation. Our churches are focused more on becoming "healthy" rather than becoming holy, conforming to human whims rather than conforming to the will of God. We are driven more by purpose than by His presence.
Throughout the world, we are seeing supernatural outpourings of the Holy Spirit, which is resulting in record numbers of new Born-Again believers and church growth. Yet, here in the United States, three out of five churches are either stagnant or dying. More churches close their doors than open them. New churches are being planted daily, yet statistical evidence says that less than 50% of them will survive. Church leaders are crying out for renewal and revival, but the simple truth is that God cannot bring more people into the church beyond their capacity to disciple them. Our churches have become weak, emaciated, powerless social clubs. The anointing of the Holy Spirit has departed and Ichabod is written across the doorways.
The term 'revive/revival' does not exist in the New Testament. Modern-day 'revivalism' has its roots in Pelagianism and should be studied for its actual effects on the church. The closest Greek word to the English word 'revival' is "anazopureo," a word that means to re-kindle like a fire, and is used only once in the NT directed explicitly at Timothy "to fan into flame the gift of God" (2 Timothy 1:6). It has nothing to do with making something dead regain life or consciousness, which is the definition of 'revive.'
The word 'revival' has developed into many complicated interpretations, including calling it such things as 'cultural transformation,' 'community awareness, '‘renewal,' 'outpouring,' 'reformation,' or 'restructuring.' Some say it is a mighty move of God in the Church, and Christians repent of their hidden sins and then spill over into the community so that non-Christians are convicted of their sins in the streets and cry out to God for salvation. Others say it is using 'power evangelism' where all nine gifts of the Holy Spirit are operating to heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, walk on water, multiply food, have angelic visitation, and so on (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). Most say it is about living like Jesus. Yet, they never operate in the supernatural because they believe Jesus stopped the supernatural gifts at the end of the first century even though He never changes and is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8). The New Testament is very clear that the normal Christian walk includes all those things which are why it doesn't mention 'revival.'
True revival will come about as a result of a deep hunger for God just as a helpless infant cries out and doesn't care where they are or who hears them cry when they're hungry. We must be willing to cry out to God and become humble servants of all, just as Jesus; "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant" (Philippians 5:6 NIV).
Watchman Nee wrote in 'The Normal Christian Life,' "At the beginning of our Christian life we are concerned with our doing, not with our being; we are distressed rather by what we have done than by what we are. We think that if only we could rectify certain things we should be good Christians, and we set out therefore to change our actions. The more we try to rectify matters on the outside the more we realize how deep-seated the trouble is. Then we come to the Lord and say,' Lord, I see now! Not only what I have done is wrong, I am wrong.'"
We don't feel good about ourselves because we aren't supposed to! We know the desires of the flesh must be put to death and yet we're afraid of dying to self. We want the power of the resurrection, yet we forget that we have first to experience the Cross.
We have become a generation of people trying to find ourselves and discover who we are. We are facing an identity crisis. There are many hurting, fearful people in the church. We seek tolerance and understanding, but we aren't looking for answers. While we live moral lives and are faithful church-goers, we lack contentment, freedom, joy, and peace. This pursuit of self-fulfillment is an endless task. No matter how hard we try to change our lives, we discover we can't. As Paul wrote, "I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out" (Romans 7:18 NIV).
Presenting the Risen, Living Savior
When we present the risen, living Savior in all His glory and majesty, the riches of His kindness, goodness, tolerance, and patience will lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4). Jesus said that when He is "lifted up" He will "draw all men" to Himself (John 12:32). It is the responsibility of the Church to see that Jesus is lifted up so that the whole world will be drawn to Him.
Many churches are lifting Him up and they are showing record growth. But the Jesus they proclaim is often just the 'gift giver'- or the 'blessing giver'- or the 'wealth maker'- or the 'peace provider' – or the 'great healer.' Church leaders have focused their attention on buildings, bucks, and bodies, not the broken, battered, bruised, beaten, and bloody body of the crucified Lord of lords and King of kings, who shows us by His example that we first must die before we can be revived. As long as we continue attempting to meet our own needs, we will only be confronted by our sinfulness. But, when we set our hearts on things above, we will find ourselves looking to Jesus first and finding our true identity (Colossians 3:1). We must lose our life by dying to self before we can find His life (Matthew 10:39).
All the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all the different manifestations of God are to draw us to Jesus. Signs and Wonders should come alongside the preaching of the Word and direct us to Him. Repentance and holiness come as a natural result of standing in His presence. Seeking after the gifts and not the giver of the gifts results in unfulfillment and emptiness. The Gifts of the Spirit will one day cease (1 Corinthians 13:8). It is when we lift Jesus up that the world will know the Father has sent Him (John 8:28).
When we acknowledge the fundamental call to obedience and holiness, we will first seek His Kingdom and His righteousness, and our needs will be met (Matthew 6:33). Seeking Jesus first will bring peace. Bowing at His feet is where we will find rest. Teaching repentance and reverence for God is of primary importance for the spiritual seeker because it will help bring purification to the Body of Christ and perfect holiness from within (2 Corinthians 7:1). But we must go beyond the fundamentals and stop the incessant pabulum preaching of "turning away from evil deeds" or just having more "faith in God" (Hebrews 5:11-6:3). Saving faith is the most fundamental requirement of Christianity. It is just a tricycle with training wheels! We have the faith of Jesus! (Romans 3:25) We must teach faith in His blood and offer spiritual meat so that the Church can become mature in the understanding of who Jesus is, what it means to belong to Him, and what He desires of us.
If a Born-Again Christian wants to find personal 'revival' then they should follow the advice given to Timothy and "stir into flame" the gift of the Holy Spirit they have allowed to lay dormant like a sleeping ember after already receiving Him at the moment they became Born-Again. What they need is to walk daily in true supernatural power through repentant holiness, esteeming everyone more highly than themselves, and casting ALL their cares at the feet of Jesus in trusting-faith,
Our number one priority should be to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission by making disciples wherever we are! (Matthew 28:19-20) We must disciple people on how to build strong families and live productive lives. God expects us to bring what we receive in the church to our homes and impart it to our children, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. We can't fulfill the Great Commandment unless we love others and prove it by what we do and say. Loving one another is an impossible task because we are filled with self. We must cast all our worries, cares, anxiety, and fears daily at His feet and walk away from them, letting Jesus do what He does best - being God! (1 Peter 5:7) We must ask Jesus to give us His love so that we can love Him back, and in so doing we begin to love others effortlessly (See Romans 12:1-21).
The Parable of the Ten Virgins tells us as ministers of the Gospel that we must help prepare the Bride to meet the Groom (Matthew 25:1). Everyone is invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb, and those who accept the invitation will spend eternity with Jesus! (Revelation 19:9) Our God is calling out for His Church to return to her first love (Revelation 2:4). The yearning and insatiable hunger that comes with the dissatisfaction of all that this world has to offer exists because only Jesus can truly satisfy. When people finally gaze upon His transcendent beauty, contentment and rest will be found because we were created for His Glory.
