Where is the revival Oh God?

 

The word revival has become such a common term today that it is casually used in our preaching, singing, playing music, and in every other Christian setting without any serious implications. I hope we are really aware of the actual meaning to the context of the early Church history and Missionary movements. They were not talking about raising children, building happy marriages, being a member in the Church and so on but rather emphasized on sending, which is the mandate in Christ’s mission. These are the people who like Peter on behalf of all the disciples said in Matthew 19:27 “See we have left everything and followed you. So what will there be for us”. The reward Jesus articulated in this context was not assured happiness, prosperity & happy marriages on this earth but rather emphasized their place and their position in eternity. Today many preach, God is going to shower His abundant blessing on those who are serving Him, and there will be no lack, they will be prosperous and full always. Absolutely contradicting what Christ intends, when it comes to mission. It’s good to think about this, in the light of Christ’s mission and His mandate.

The problem today is, we are looking for comforts in Christian life and luxury in Christian service and name it blessing. We all are aware that the twelve disciples left everything including their families and scattered to different parts of the world and died as martyrs, including most of the missionaries. There were sacrifices involved in their commitment to follow Christ. But sadly, today we strive to find a comfortable position here on this earth and in the Churches.  

Christianity has been limited only to buildings, structures and sanctuaries taking the priority and successfully replaced the mission. You may fail to accept it, but that’s the truth. If this is not the case with your Church, praise God! People sit in the Church and pray for a revival and go home happy, thereafter. The question ‘who will go for me?’’ remains a paradox in this new era.

One of the challenging books by Leonard Ravenhill “Why Revival Tarries?” is a must-read book for all of us.  Leonard points out, “We have millions of Bibles, scores of thousands of churches, endless preachers-and yet what sin!” . “Going out” is being commercialised, today. How could we expect a revival in such a scenario? Leonard, in one of the many explanations says this to the response to ‘why revival tarries?’, “The answer is simple enough-because evangelism is so highly commercialized. The tithes of widows and of the poor are spent in luxury-living by many evangelists. The great crowds, great lines of seekers, great appreciation by the mayor, etc., are shouted to high heaven. All get publicity--except the love-offering! The poor dupes who give "think they do God service," while all they are doing is keeping a big-reputationed, small-hearted preacher living in Hollywood style.”.  What a tragedy!”.

Paul Rees remarks, “Revival and evangelism, although closely linked, are not to be confounded. Revival is an experience in the Church, evangelism is and expression of the Church”. Today most of the people think the failure to evangelism work is due to the lack of resources, which is untrue. We forget we have an unutilized resource; the Congregation members. Unfortunately, they are looked upon more only as our funders and donors. They are used for only one purpose and that is to invest in the church through their offerings and tithes and go home happy believing they have done a big service for God. Unless we are willing to break this myth and release them out, revival will remain a jargon. If your congregation members are resembling dry bones, it is probably because we have sucked them dry. It is time to revive the dry bones as we see in Ezekiel 37. Do we have enough tears to wail and do something about the millions who are going to Christless eternity?

A repeated cry of David Livingstone was, ‘‘Lord, when will the wounds of this world’s sin be healed?’’ But are we grief stricken in prayer? is a million-dollar question. Do we soak our pillows, as John Welch did, in our soul’s travail? The scholarly Andrew Bonar lay on his bed on a Saturday night in Scotland, and as people below tramped the streets from the taverns and shows, he used to call from his tortured heart: ‘‘Oh! they perish, they perish!’’ Alas, brethren, we have not so learned Christ. Many of us know only a slick, tearless, passionless, soulless round of preaching, which passes for the minister’s office these days. I urge you to do retrospection in the light of this blog.

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