The imminent revival, part 15 — “Black Lives Matter”

I’ve believed and said for quite some time that spiritual revival was coming. And with the recent outpouring of support for the “Black Lives Matter” movement, seven years old but renewed with the death of George Floyd last month in Minneapolis, that time may be at hand.

If that sounds crazy, consider that revival never happens in isolation or among the powerful — it often comes from the streets. And the choking death of Floyd at the hands — or more accurately, under the knee — of now-former officer Derek Chauvin, has galvanized the nation like nothing in a half-century.

Why do I say we’re ripe for revival? Well, the Christian Gospel is designed to speak to “the least of these,” not the high-and-mighty who have no need of things to change.

And this is where the “religious right” and its sympathizers and sycophants have always missed the boat. They believe that once they established themselves as the authority in this country things would turn around morally; the ideology Independent Network Charismatic teaches that it could happen should Christians climb and take over “seven mountains of culture.”

Now, some folks have denounced BLM not simply due to its support for black lives but also those in the LGBTQ community. I’m not feeling that, for the simple reason that they too have been marginalized for similar reasons — and if you really want to go there, most gays have already understood the pain of rejection and, as Philip Yancey wrote in “What’s So Amazing About Grace?”, judgment.

Even the cliché “Hate the sin but love the sinner” comes out as judgment, in large part because such folks haven’t completely dealt with their own sins, which they consider “lesser than.” Of course, in the final analysis it doesn’t work quite like that.

On top of that, Scripture calls Christians to “mourn with those who mourn.” Many of us have refused to do so, saying that we can only when the demonstrators behave properly. That misses the point because, really, in effect we’re telling people not to express their rage and, even more arrogantly, not even to feel it. The irony is that, were such victims known Christians being persecuted for their faith, we would complain that no one is supporting us. (Perhaps our refusal to stand with those who aren’t like us is the reason.)

Anyway, the folks demonstrating in the streets I now see as an invitation from the Holy Spirit to join in and pray, contend and work for justice for all of God’s creation, to “seek the welfare of the city.” If that happens, we’ll have more revival than we know what to do with.