Afterwords -- reflecting on revival
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" (John 14:6)
March 3, 2023
Dear friends,
In early March 1971, when I was in college fifty-two years ago, I called upon the Lord Jesus for my salvation. There was a significant work of the Holy Spirit across America, mainly among the youth, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This is the subject of a recent movie (which I have not yet seen), "Jesus Revolution" (2023). And more recently there has been a lively and extended worship gathering at Asbury University, which has been called a revival, which has drawn the attention of many evangelical Christians. So, I've been thinking about the subject of revival.
REVIVAL is a term sometimes used for evangelistic meetings, but in church history it refers to a remarkable moving of the Spirit of God which revives or awakens lethargic Christians, wins new people to Christ, and affects a wider community, group of churches, or even a nation in significant ways. Sometimes this is called an "outpouring" or a "moving" of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Peter spoke of "times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:20), and one example of this might be seen in Nehemiah chapter 8. Jonathan Edwards, during the Great Awakening (1740s), wrote on this topic. Read, for example, A Faithful Narrative (1737), describing the first local awakening in 1734-35, and also, Distinguishing Marks of the Work of the Spirit of God (1741), in which he gave guidelines for discerning what was God's work in true revival. (Both of these writings can be accessed from Edwards' collected works online at Yale.)
MIXED BLESSING? One reason we should not rush to determine whether the Asbury event was, or was not, from God is that revivals, like churches themselves, often are comprised of a mixed multitude of people (see, for example, Matt. 13:24-30, the parable of the wheat and tares). There will be a mix of motives, intentions, and dynamics involved with such a gathering. Some people are more attracted by the excitement of the event than in a change of heart within themselves. I remember during the 1970s seeing quite a few people who were more interested in catching a "Jesus high", or in the experience of being "slain" in the Spirit, as if God were more a power to be felt rather than a Person to follow. There is power, of course, but fundamentally it's about God calling us into relationship with himself. Our worship gatherings in the 1970s were warm and enthusiastic, the singing was loud, and it was sometimes a euphoric experience, but we never believed that this was the sum total of what it meant to be a Christian.
LASTING FRUIT. If the Asbury meeting is indeed a remarkable work of the Spirit of God, we should witness over time that some of the men and women (perhaps many) were changed for the good and for God's glory. There will be a deeper trust and obedience toward Christ. The Apostle John wrote in his first epistle that being born of God results in a love of truth (God's word, sound doctrine), and righteousness (obedience to God's standards), and acts of love and service to others. In the long run, revivals seem to serve as a kind of jump start or an accelerant for the normal Christian life. It becomes a stake driven in the ground, a new beginning, and a foretaste of heaven.
BIRTHED IN A REVIVAL. Many young people -- and older folks, too -- turned to Jesus in the early 1970s. People from all backgrounds were affected. It was a wonderful time, and I can testify that many are still walking with the Lord today. They have served as pastors, missionaries, teachers, elders, deacons, faithful husbands and wives, godly parents, and now grandparents praying for the next generation. Many of us became disillusioned with the "age of Aquarius", seeing only brokenness coming from the so-called new age of peace and love. However, at the same time, many of us began to sense God drawing us to Christ (John 12:32). This is a work of the Spirit of God, to make the truth of God be felt as real.
BEFORE coming to Christ, like many of my generation, I dabbled in a lot of alternatives. Our counter-culture community was supposedly free and loving, but there was so much wreckage among the people. Marxism was very attractive, but its answers were mainly political and economic, a utopia built upon violence. Another alternative, Eastern mysticism, drew me in, but lacked the personal dimension of warmth, goodness, and individuality, since ultimately, the universe was impersonal, beyond individuality and morality. I was coming to see -- and feel as a reality -- that I needed forgiveness and a relationship with God, a God who is personal, loving, holy, and true. I felt the burden of my own self-centeredness and vanity. And I knew, and sensed, the reality that there is a God, that Jesus is his Son, and that a day of judgment was coming (Jn 16:8-11). Late one night I called upon the Lord in prayer for salvation, and by faith thanked him for the gift of eternal life.
AFTERWARDS, for days and weeks, I was filled with the sense of God's love for me, in forgiving me and making me his child. There was a great inner peace, not because of a technique of meditation, but because of the reconciliation Christ accomplished. A sociologist might say that I had merely joined the "Jesus generation," a new religious demographic. But for me it was a big change, an internal one, with a totally new perspective -- new motives, intentions, hopes, and desires (2 Cor 5:7). I went on to attend campus meetings, grow in my faith, was baptized, and joined a church community for worship and teaching. Spiritual highs and lows came and went. But I devoured the Bible, and studied the writings of C. S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, J. I. Packer, and many others. Later I would add to that a seminary education. Yet, all through this time the majesty and glory of Jesus Christ shone forth in my mind and heart. Augustine wrote in his Confessions that we were made to know and delight in God, "Because you have made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you." (Confessions 1:1)
NO REGRETS. Fifty-two years later, I am still a Christian. I have no regrets about that decision and have no wish to deconstruct anything about historic Christianity. I have served the Lord over thirty years as a pastor. There have been disappointments and hurts along the way. People have deserted the faith, people have let us down, people get divorces, people abuse one another, people lie and deceive. There are hypocrites in the church, indeed. What else is new? The Bible is very candid and open about all that. Where the Lord works, the devil is working too. The only regrets I have are those of my own sins and failures.
RE-CHECK. Every couple of years or so I go through it all again. Was it just an emotional high? A passing fad? A mere leap of faith? I re-examine the assumptions and presuppositions of our secular world, which are clearly biased against God. I think again about the evidence for God's existence, the historicity of the gospels and other biblical accounts, and the resurrection of Jesus. I ponder what God has done in nature and in history, and what he has said about the future. I think about the remarkable tapestry of the Bible, written by many human authors over a period of 1500 years. There are many fulfilled prophecies, and much to come. I clearly see that there's one divine Author behind the Book. Then there's my own self-knowledge, namely, what I would be (or, would have been) without Christ and his forgiveness. I think of all the answered prayers, the supernatural changes of heart, the love of fellow believers, and the glimpses of a new creation among God's people. I marvel at the design and blessing of Christian marriage, which I have experienced. Also, the history of the church, though checkered, still bears witness to God, and has endured through the millennia. Again and again, I'm reminded that I'm a part of something much, much bigger than this world. To God be the glory!
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
-- What did Augustine mean by our "hearts being restless"?
-- What are the evidences of the Holy Spirit working within us?
-- Memory is "the glue that holds our lives together and imposes order and continuity amid the blooming buzzing confusion of sensations, thoughts, and activities that stream in upon our days. It is no exaggeration to say that a working memory is indispensable in the flourishing of the human person and of human culture." This is a very important address by Wilfred McClay in his 2021 Erasmus Lecture. A must-read in my opinion.
FINAL QUOTE. "If you have hitherto disbelieved in miracles, it is worth pausing a moment to consider whether this is not because you thought you had discovered what the story was really about? --that atoms, and time and space and economics and politics were the main plot? And is it certain you were right? It is easy to make mistakes in such matters." (C. S. Lewis, Miracles)
That's it for this week!
Sandy
Image credit: cover of the book, Jesus Generation, by Billy Graham (World Wide Publ., 1975). Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.