What About Revival?

In my travels and conversations with churches, I’m hearing a general and consistent story (with some notable exceptions, of course). The main story goes like this: People are showing up for worship—mostly. I say mostly because a number of reports suggest that although folk are coming back to worship, they may not be back as consistently as they were before the pandemic. The more striking thing is that although people may be returning to worship, they are not necessarily showing up for Bible studies, small group meetings, ministry work, volunteering for children’s ministry, and all of the related networks that have historically defined congregational life. 

Just finding a few volunteers can be a challenge! 

A lot of reasons for this “vanishing” emerge. Even though people were isolated throughout the pandemic, they stayed busy. And that busyness only continues. Families have rigorous schedules of travel sport leagues, music lessons, tutoring, and more. Single-parent families are often simply buried with an overwhelming array of challenges. Older members often travel or are helping with grandchildren. Fewer people simply have open and adjustable schedules to accommodate a Tuesday night Bible study or to volunteer for VBS. 

Yet there is something else—something deeper than just the rapid pace of our culture—that is impacting congregational life and vitality. Using the metaphor of food or diet, I would say that what is happening among many Christian people today is a change in their food source, and a new menu is being developed.

There was a time when most of what shaped your spiritual life was what was learned from worship, Sunday school, and other forms of teaching practice learned in the rhythms and practices of local congregations. That is not the case today. The rise of social media, podcasts, vlogs, and more has created a vast network for almost anyone to say something or teach something. This technological shift, along with the rise of voices seeking to influence the culture by integrating Christian ideas with social commentary, has created a cacophony of voices. What we have in American public life today is a wild and largely lawless “west”—where people are saying and sometimes shouting all kinds of things. And in the spirit of free market, sometimes the most provocative and bizarre ideas are the ones that get the most play. 

So non-attending members of your congregation are certainly being fed. It just may not be from Sunday’s sermon. Or, it might be someone else’s sermon in some other church! The question that presses me in this season of American Christianity is twofold: 1) Is it possible that we have lost the gospel? 2) Could we find that the content and practice of the Christian faith is being distorted in all of the craziness around us?

I believe that the answer is a resounding “yes” to both of these questions. 

And a “yes” brings me to wonder if we should worry less about maintaining programs and pray more for renewal. The American church has had the capacity for generations to survive and to thrive—without necessarily asking for divine intervention. Those days are over.

The way forward for our churches is a way marked by dependence upon God’s action and shaped by a posture of dependence upon God’s leading. In a word, I’m speaking about revival. Spiritually, revival is not something one can do. I can restore a house, rebuild a car, or renew an old orchard. However, when it comes to congregational life, revival is God’s work alone. 

So what do we do? May I offer some suggestions?

• The practice of prayer is the way of remembering that God is the source of all good things. As Paul noted, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Cor 3:7).

• The gospel—that is, the announcement that God is arriving among us in the person of Jesus Christ and acting decisively to transform us—calls for repentance and faith (Mark 1:15). The practice of believing and repenting is actually a word to the church before it can be a word to the world. The church must believe and repent.

• Waiting on the Lord is a time-honored practice of God’s people (read Isaiah 40 and Acts 1). Of course, this waiting is not goofing off; it is the disciplined wait of persons in prayer who are paying attention to the work of God’s Spirit.

• The content of the Christian faith must be passed on. We can not assume that is happening in our current climate. This work may well require a reordering of what Christian education, discipleship, or formation looks like in your congregation. Knowing the Bible matters; yet knowing the God of the Bible matters more. And knowing the content of the faith—what is outlined in the ancient tradition and the rule of faith by Christians of earlier days—is a trustworthy guide.

It is a sobering time. There is work to do. However, the work is not about busyness, and trying to find more ways to get people to show up at our worship services and programs is not a likely answer. Rather, I encourage us to take the posture of attentiveness toward God’s activity, relearn the gospel that will lead us to repentance and faith, and practice passing on the faith to another generation of believers. And most of all, pray for revival—beginning with those of us who lead!

Blessings,

Carson