Does Revival Come Softly?

Does revival always come with a "bang?"  Is there always a overt outpouring of the Spirit, or does he ever use subtler means?  When you hear about revivals and awakenings in the past, the stories include police men with no crime to stop, bars closed down for lack of patronage, families reunited, communities transformed, increased evangelism and missions work, animals unable to recognize their owns because of the drastic changes in personality, and multitudes of people turning away from sin to the living God, through Jesus Christ, and becoming fruit bearing followers who transformed their world.

These are the types of stories we hear most often in relation to revival.  But is that how all revivals happen? Are there any accounts were revival comes softly?  Are there examples where churches and communities have found themselves in the middle of a transformation that had occurred through the accumulation of a thousand tiny changes?

Come to think of it, how does one know when revival has come (or is coming)?  I think we can say the marks of revival are:

• Dissatisfaction with the status quo.  This is an awareness that all is not the way it should be.  Believers begin to realize that they have slipped into complacency, and desire to get out of the rut.
• The return to the spiritual disciplines.  This would include prayer, Bible study, meditation, evangelism, worship, etc.
• The desire for and pursuit of personal and corporate holiness.  Believers become increasingly aware of their sinfulness, and yearn to be more holy.
• The fruit of the Spirit is clearly visible among God's people.  During seasons of revival the fruit of the Spirit is in full bloom.  His presence makes people more loving, more merciful, more generous, more desirous of peace, etc.
• Genuine conversions that result in fruitful disciples.  During genuine revival, even the lost become increasingly aware of their sinfulness, and flee to Christ to be rescued.  Their lives are marked by change, sometimes drastic, sometimes more subtle, but the change is evident (and permanent).

The marks listed here give us a good starting point for answering the question, "How do we know revival is coming (or already upon us)?".  As I am thinking about these marks, it seems that they can happen in both subtle and dramatic ways.

Imagine a person sitting in church for years, and during a course of time coming to realize that there is something missing in his life.  Although he can't quite put his finger on it, everything just seems off to him.  As time passes, this uneasy feeling grows.  One Sunday, during the singing or the sermon, the Lord reveals to him what's missing: he has drifted away from the Lord, his affection has grown cold.  This situation is more subtle in nature, because the person gradually drifts toward the point of confrontation.

Now imagine a person sitting in church one day, unaware that anything is wrong.  Yet, during the singing or the sermon, the Lord reveals to her that she missing something.  Her heart has grown cold, and she no longer delights in the Lord.  This situation is more dramatic, because this person is confronted more abruptly.

Both individuals come to a similar point in their lives, but they take different roads to get there.  It just may be that sometimes revival comes softly.  Maybe it sneaks up on some people before they have the chance to harden their hearts, stiffen their necks, and muster a resistance.  Maybe it's just the patience of God expressed toward the object of his love--the church.

What do you think? Does revival ever come softly?  What are some of the marks of revival you look for?  How do you know when you have been revived?  I would really love to hear your thoughts.

Some Revival Principles

As I continue to think through revivals, I am beginning to see some underlying principles at work. Some of them that come to mind are:

1. Revival cannot be planned, but it can be earnestly sought after. I am not saying we shouldn't set aside time each year for special revival meetings, but without intense and earnest prayer revival will not come. God has given a prescription for revival (see 2 Chr. 7:14), and he will not send it until we obey.

2. Prayer should be incorporated into our planning. Not only should we pray for guidance concerning who should speak, who will lead the music, who will give testimonies, and the like, but we should also form prayer teams. If we will get a choir together for revival, we had better have a prayer "choir" as well. We should be praying for revival long before the meetings begin. We should have teams that meet and pray every week throughout the year, who pray for every sermon preached and every class taught leading up to revival. These small groups should have prayer meetings during the service, after the service, and during the services. This principle coincides with earnestly seeking the Lord.

3. It is almost always good stewardship to set aside time to hear God's Word faithfully proclaimed. In fact, the only time it wouldn't be is when those hearing the Word proclaimed are not trusting and obeying what they hear. Where people are earnestly seeking the Lord and praying with intensity, the preaching of the Word comes with power. Those who put the most into a service get the most out of it. In other words, if you are earnestly seeking the Lord, praying diligently for revival, and attending meetings where the Word is rightly proclaimed, you will not leave disappointed.

4. Revivals imply the need for repentance. When we say we need revival, we are admitting to ourselves and confessing to others that things are not right. True revival generates an atmosphere of humility and repentance. When revival comes sins are turned away from and confessed, Accountability and formative church discipline increase, and transparency becomes the norm. During a time of reviving from the Lord, people desire unity through faithful obedience to Christ and his Word.

5. True revival generates passion and compassion. When the Lord sends revival to his people it awakens in them a passion for his glory. They yearn to see him lifted up and praised by all of creation. They become bolder to speak of the Lord's work in their life. They are more grateful for the blessings they have received. They long to be near him and to be like him. As they draw closer to him, he begins to widen their hearts. They begin seeing the lost family members, friends, and neighbors as straying sheep in desperate need of a shepherd. They see the lost sinking down into death and earnestly desire to see them rescued.

This list isn't exhaustive. There may be other important principles that I have missed. Feel free to list other principles in your comments. When you think of revival what do you think of? How do you know if you have experienced revival?

Evaluating Revivals

I have been thinking about revivals. Since I came to the Lord and began to serve him in 1995, I have been to several revival meetings. I have even had the privilege of preaching in a few revivals. At the end of every revival I have experienced, I find myself trying to evaluate its effectiveness. How does one measure the effectiveness of a revival? Two measurements are often used to gauge the success or failure of a revival: the number of decisions and the emotional response of the attendees. However, these two measurements are not adequate to gauge whether or not a revival is successful.

I once heard Billy Graham tell a reporter that he assumed 75 to 80 percent of people coming forward were not genuinely converted. Many "decisions" are made in response to pressure from family or loved ones. Some make a decision because their friend made a decision. Others make a decision because they have been manipulated into through scare tactics, bait-and-switch tactics, or other high pressure tactics.

Decisions are easy to get (although it is getting harder to get even these), but what we should be aiming for is repentance. Asking Jesus into your heart is not always the same thing as turning from your sin and trusting Jesus' atoning sacrificial death and subsequent resurrection as the only source of salvation. When I was seven I sat through a gospel presentation after visiting a church. After hearing a very vivid description of the eternal torments of hell, the group of us youngsters were told, "If you don't want to go to hell, say this prayer." In the conventional terms, I made a decision to ask Jesus into my heart. The only problem was I was lost. I wasn't called to repent of sin. I wasn't told what it meant to "trust" in Jesus.

For nearly twelve years, I lived under the assumption that since Jesus was "in my heart," I was okay with God. However, I had never abandoned sin. After years of studying Scripture and reflecting on my life, I have come to believe that I was saved after surrendering to the ministry when I was around twenty years of age. It wasn't until that point that I begin to hate sin. It wasn't until then that I felt the real need of salvation. When I saw my sin and understood God's righteous judgment, I cried out to Jesus to rescue me from sin and I clung to the cross as my only hope of forgiveness and cleansing.

Biblically we should aim for repentance when we preach. By repentance I mean a genuine turning away from sin. I mean that thorn bushes and thistles become fig trees and grapevines. I am not talking about an external moral event, where someone "cleans up" their life, but an internal change of character and attitude. Repentance is no mere whitewashing of the tomb, but it is the resurrecting of the corpse within the tomb. The kind of repentance that leads to life, bears the fruit of righteousness. It isn't a flash in the pan, but a steady burning flame that will continue to burn, until the Lord returns.

The other gauge, emotional response, is likewise inadequate to measure the success of a revival. Emotions are not static. They change constantly. If you are speeding down the highway and see blue lights behind you, you might get a knot in your stomach and "feel" stupid. However, if the blue lights speed past you in pursuit of some worse transgressor, you may "feel" elated. Emotions are easily manipulated.

It has been know for a long time that music can affect the hearer. That is why Hollywood spends so much time and money on scoring movies. The music sets tone for the picture. If you see kids swimming in the ocean and happy music is playing in the background, you assume the scene is capturing a joyful moment. However, if you see that same group of kids in the ocean and hear the "Dun, Dun, Dun, Dun" theme from Jaws, you know someone is going to be eaten by a shark.
Likewise, music can be used to make a crowd more energetic. For that reason, you hardly hear sad music at a ballgame. The music is usually geared toward working up the crowd.

Emotional stories or expressions can be used to move people as well. Billy Boyd's performance in The Return of the King always leaves me teary-eyed. His character, Pippin, starts of childlike in many ways and throughout the film he matures into a reluctant warrior. His face reflects such heartache and shame, such doubt and confusion, that I find myself mourning his loss of innocence. But its just a movie. Pippin isn't real. However, real stories can be told in such a way that they generate an emotional response.

I am not saying that we should not preach to the heart, but we should not play on the emotions. Preaching that brings revival stirs the affections. It strikes at the heart, but not in a way that is manipulative. It strives to describe sin in all of its dark and horrible hues, to set before the listener the reality of judgment, and to extend to them the gracious offer of salvation. Preaching that brings revival moves the heart to repent of sin and to trust in Christ.

When we attend a revival or hear of one going on, we should measure its success by the change it produces. Are saints and sinners brought to repentance? Is sin openly confessed and turned away from? Are people actually different? Is Christ exalted through the proclamation of his Word? Is the Church more evangelistic? Is it more prayerful? Does the congregation long to hear the truth of God's Word rightly divided by his appointed servant? Are those involved more compassionate? More giving? Ready to serve? Well, then they may have experienced a revival.