(With Pastor Friend Jorge Rodriguez - July 2008)
Revival has become an angel we entertain unaware - if we entertain it at all. In four years with revival as my focus, I’ve about reached the conclusion that we no longer know what we are praying for or expect to see happen. And therefore, when whatever we expect does not take place, we walk away shaking our heads having arrived at some self-concocted conclusion. Something along the lines of, "I guess revivals don’t work anymore" or "Maybe we used the wrong worship style" or "If only the preacher had invited a different speaker."
Revival is of God! God wants His church to experience revival more than the average church wants to rattle the gates of hell. Our reluctance to be about our Father’s business might have something to do with the unsettling truth that the rattling of those gates would be an inside job in most American churches. Legend goes that Jesus actually showed up as the mysterious preacher of one Texas revival recently and frustrated the local congregation to the point of agitation! One deacon took it upon himself to meet Christ at the back door before services on the next to last night and said, "Get the hell out of my church!" Jesus smiled at the invitation and quipped, "That’s exactly what I’m trying to do, brother!"
Hell hath no fury like a Baptist without a say. And therein might lie a hint regarding the crippling of many would-be revivals. Revivals are the Holy Spirit’s work! The Holy Spirit knows what is needed in His church. The Holy Spirit blows where He wills and stirs who He wants. But before He can bring revival, He must have control. And let’s face it - that’s way too high a price for most self-appointed kingdom monitors to ante up! If God really starts to move and the whirlwinds of revival uproot the congregation from it’s spiritual foundations, we might find ourselves jockeying for a new position of power after the dust settles - provided it ever does!
Since genuine revival cannot be controlled, we are left with one of two options. Lock out the possibility of a Spirit-takeover by banning revival services altogether. (When you consider the number of denominations and churches that once held revivals fifty years ago, but who no longer do so, one can’t help but wonder if this might be the reason why.) Or host revivals on your own terms. Say one thing - mean another. Say revival is for the church, but expect to see a lot of lost people get saved as a result. Get the Holy Spirit to move by osmosis. Prayerfully point out the specks of sin in the lost lives around your church - the Spirit will be too busy to notice the idol beams that protrude from the eyes of the fellowship. Appease your conscience by going through the motions of revival services, be proud you belong to a church that still conducts revivals, and conveniently blame the lack of results on the great falling away associated with the end times.
Could it be that the church has become a barrier to genuine revival? Could it be that the church is choking the kingdom of God from blossoming in our communities? Could it be that we pray for revival amiss? We expect God to speak through the storm and miss the whisper. We expect revival to come wearing a Brooks Brothers suit thumping John 3:16; instead, it shows up wearing khakis expounding Revelation 3:3 and we flat out miss the point. We arrogantly chant, "God’s gonna do what God’s gonna do" and ignore the truth that "God often does only what He is permitted to do by those who twiddle the keys of the kingdom!"
Simply put, planned revivals are invitations for the Holy Spirit to show up. For that reason alone, they are still worthy of serious consideration. If we would but learn to take our hands off of God’s plans and surrender our wills to the powerful wind of the Holy Spirit, we might see just what we claim we want to see - the glory of God revealed through genuine revival!