Revival Begins Within

Let's cut the crap of who has the authority to deem something a revival or not; internal circumstances matter far greater to God than external.

If you haven’t heard, the world of religious social media has been aflame the last 7+ days as “revivals” are breaking out at different college campuses, starting with Asbury University in Kansas City.

No one seems to agree on whether or not we can legitimately call these “revivals”.

Do you know what “truth” people seem to be after in this debacle?

• Is this a REAL revival? What’s the agenda here? What will change from these students/faculty (now over 15,000 people from all over the nation) worshipping for days on end?

Some of the skepticism I’ve seen involves:

• How will a mostly white collective of protestants change the social justice we need to see enacted for people of color?

• Will Asbury change their stance on affirming queer ideologies because of this? (This idea evolves into “If not, then that’s not real revival.”)

• Is the gospel actually being preached?

• Queer people are leading worship?!

• This isn’t happening WITHIN the “church” so it’s faulty at best.

• What are the parameters of these gatherings? There needs to be a board of elders overseeing it (which it seems there isn’t because it’s all student-led, and the college doesn’t align with a single denomination).

• What’s truly being said and done? If people aren’t repenting publicly, then this is not a revival.

I have to be honest—this is not the tone I wanted to bring into this Truth Balm newsletter, and it likely won’t be moving forward. I needed to send this because, well, it’s a truth bomb that should hopefully still be a balm for your soul if you’re anything like me and caught up in all this nonsensical debate.

Jesus came to know and be known.

“Revival” or not, there is a huge wave of people completely transformed in the last two weeks because they finally felt known by God and decided to fully turn their lives to know Jesus.

Everyone is begging the question, “what is a revival”?

How would you answer that? My first thought was reviving something, bringing something back to life.

re·viv·al
/rəˈvīv(ə)l/

noun
“an improvement in the condition or strength of something”
“renewed attention to or interest in something”

What would it look like to have our faith improved in condition and strength? Individually and corporately? As a believer and as the body of believers?

What would it look like for us to renew our attention to and interest in God as the giver of life, the reviver of souls, and the healer of our bodies, hearts, and minds?

I think what many seem to be missing about this “revival” at Asbury (and now many other college campuses) is that God doesn’t care as much about the statistics or the antics of this moment.

“For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

For the record, this verse is not talking about revivals or media coverage of live worship events or standards for prayer houses, etc. God is telling Samuel to not be concerned with the literal physical appearance of David (the newly appointed king who was young and short).

But this is still relevant in so many aspects of our lives.

What’s going on at Asbury has captivated the nation because it’s obvious that something is stirring within those students’ lives. What’s going on inside of us as we watch from near or afar is concern because all we see is the outward appearance, and the fear of the unknown becomes greater than our faith in God’s movement.

We hear that the gospel is preached, students are worshipping nonstop, and lives are changed, but all we can see are students/teachers/community members dancing and singing, unsure of transformation within their hearts.

Have we started trusting our own vision, authority, and limited perspective more than trusting in God’s Sovereignty?

Have we deemed ourselves saviors over the standards and expectations of how people worship and who gets to share their testimony?

Have we been granted the right to gatekeep what the presence of God looks like in the lives of others?

Have we become so skeptical of the world’s influence on our faith that we forget the power of our God’s influence on the world?

Have we grown such fear in our hearts that to shun any possibility of revival is safer than stepping into the gray area that God himself might be inviting us into?

The truth today, friend, is simple.

• God is sovereign.

• He is the one who sees within, and there’s nothing we can do to prove or disprove a revival because what’s within matters more than outward appearance.

• Worship is not confined to the walls of a church building (spoiler alert: people worshipped God long before concrete was invented).

• No matter what sin we find ourselves inclined to, we each have a place at the table to share in the feast God has prepared for us, and every testimony is valid, every soul is welcome to worship.

• Only God gets to define His presence in our lives.

Jesus came to know and be known, and when students of this next generation gather for unplanned hours on end to know and worship, love and honor, learn and turn toward God—that sounds like an improvement in the condition and strength of their hearts, their faith, and their beings.

Whether this changes social justice matters in our society or not; whether this changes the school’s stance on sinful nature or not; whether this changes the world’s perspective on Christianity or not; there are still hoards of people who have renewed attention to and interest in the person of Jesus Christ.

That sounds like a revival to me.

If not to you, just let it be. Trust that God knows, and He is still on the throne.

Revival can happen anywhere, within your own life and heart, in your community, through a church service, or around your dinner table. When we’re willing to step aside and trust God to move, He is faithful to reveal His presence with us in every moment.

May revival find you, too.