Revivalism is marked by a commitment to technique. It is an essentially man-made phenomena, driven by the wisdom of men. We are a people bent on bending the will of others to our own liking. Advertising is the medium of our age. What determines who will be our nation’s leaders, when it is not one of those rare occasions in which the courts decide, is marketing. Money is raised by political candidates for one fundamental purpose, advertising. Even the more high-brow approach of political debate has devolved into a charade, where candidates are concerned not with a carefully reasoned defense of the policies they are committed to, but instead labor to project a particular image, where a history of smirks are overcome with charm, and a history of wonkism is undone by appearing as an “alpha-male.”
NEW and IMPROVED!
All our lives are spent in an endless stream of consumer decisions, with the masters of Madison Avenue trying their best to pull our strings. It’s all about technique, and the church, as is its wont, has swallowed the bait. We have succumbed to the advertisers’ advertising, believing their over-blown promises that if we will but put our product in their hands, they’ll find us a viable market.
Technically Speaking
How then do we tell the difference between revival, a good thing, and revivalism, a not so good thing? If technique is central to the folly of revivalism, and it is, how can I help us not to fall for the huckster’s hustle? I cannot give you “Three Easy Steps to Recognize The Folly of Three Easy Steps to Revival.” I cannot provide a technique to help you eschew technique.
Old Time Religion
So let me propose this technique- the eschewing of technique. Instead of man-made measures let’s confess our dependence on God made treasures- repentance and belief. I’m persuaded that genuine revival, wherein fishers of men find their nets full and the already caught mature and grow, only comes when the already caught are caught up in the glory of the gospel. When the redeemed enter more fully into their own sin they enter more fully into God’s grace. When they enter more fully into God’s grace, God’s grace comes more fully out of them. When the message is, “Be like me, successful and clean” we will ever drive the dirty away. When the message is, “Lord be merciful to me, a sinner” the humble will be made clean.
Power and Glory
The Spirit will show up with great signs and astonishing wonders. The blind will see, the dead are made alive, and the lame will leap for joy. That, of course, is what happens at every revival, even a revival of one. The power and the glory is dunamis power, resurrection power, making dry bones live. When we embrace the sheer wonder of the redemption of souls, when we gasp at the chains of besetting sins being loosed, when we weep for the oil in Aaron’s beard, the unity of His body, the Spirit will come. When we get out of the way the harvest is plentiful and the feast is forever.