The Bible says:
“Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee.”
— Psalm 85: 6
There have been some noted religious movements that multitudes were involved in, but these movements didn’t revive or restore the Christian to obedience to the Bible, separation from the world or a life of holiness. There was motion, but no progress. There was no revival.
But what is revival? Simply put, revival is acknowledging and repenting of and turning from our sins back to a life of obedience to God, and walking in His fellowship.
It’s turning from being concerned about our morale to being concerned about our morals. It’s turning from being concerned about our happiness to being concerned about our holiness.
It’s turning from being concerned about our entertainment and excitement to being concerned about our edification. It’s turning from being concerned about temporal and material things to being concerned about eternal and spiritual things.
Martin Lloyd Jones said, “Any agency (the church included) that makes me feel satisfied when my relationship with God is not right, is of the devil, and is my greatest enemy.”
Someone else said, “If the church through some means has improved your morale while leaving you enslaved to low morals then the church has deceived, misled, and failed you.”
The church is still having revival meetings and yet the church has not been revived. When you see a lot of religion but no Biblical Christianity you need revival.
“Revival meetings” are held, but for all our excitement, energy, efforts, performances, and money spent, there’s no inkling of real revival.
Foy Valentine said, “We are revival-oriented, but revivalism ... is dead. It’s dead in spite of our frantic mouth-to-mouth breathing over it and even though we still respectfully hold one-week and even two-week memorial services in loving tribute to its memory.”
God’s people are intimidated, stimulated, and manipulated, but are not persuaded to repent of sin and live according to God’s Word. This is because our revival meetings are nothing more than pep-rallies; a “stimulus package” that sensa-tionalize the Word of God in order to stimulate the attendants.
Religion has become the latest form of entertainment. Performance has replaced worship.
The demand is for something that will make us feel good about ourselves and make us forget our troubles.
Attendees get excited and feel like winners during the meetings, but are dismissed still enslaved to sin.
Their feelings of defeat and loneliness are addressed, but not the real need to repent and obey God so that they can again have victory over sin and experience God’s fellowship.
The church needs a real revival, not another pep rally.
James H. Cagle is a Ray City resident who pastored several churches for a total of 11 years. Email him at pastorjameshcagle@ yahoo.c
om.
