The imminent revival -- part 4

Now that I've proclaimed in previous entries that revival is coming soon (and in some places has already started), the question comes up: How will we recognize it?

In good Jewish fashion, let me ask another question: What's the focus?

If it's on personal peace and happiness, cultural issues, church growth or putting on a show, walk away from that. If it's on desiring Christ's kingdom, freedom from sin, a craving to know truth and an emphasis on service to the world and in His church, you're getting warm. Let's keep in mind that God made us to glorify Himself and no other.

That said, here are some things to consider:

1) Folks 30 and younger will drive this revival. The reason is simple: Right now, the generation directly behind mine doesn't really have its own "move of God"; it's either submerged in parents' faith or running away from it. Therefore, it needs to reach its own generation in the way He dictates, and it needs to hear that. A couple of years ago at dinner I had the honor of telling a then-29-year-old man, "You're the next wave." The temptation for us in the "baby boom" generation, more culture-bound than we realize, will be to discount the ways in which God is moving in that generation; however, if it doesn't contradict the Scriptures we, like Gamaliel, should wait and see if this has staying power.

2) It will be interracial and multi-cultural. The generation behind mine was reared with "diversity" and this is used to it; as a result, it doesn't have the racial hang-ups that previous generations did. It will be the first generation to live Martin Luther King Jr.'s words about being "judged [not] by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." As a result, the faith will be taken places we've been afraid to go.

3) Abortion will be addressed and dealt with but only as part of a consistenly "pro-life" ethic. The biggest mistake that the anti-abortion movement made was to link itself to the modern conservative movement, which was interested only in defeating the other side for its own sake. Since that movement is, despite all the noise it makes, on its last legs, its eventual collapse will free us who oppose legal abortion to expand our reach to issues of poverty, the environment and other issues of social justice. In addition, the image of Margaret Sanger, the late founder of what is now Planned Parenthood, will undergo a makeover in large part because folks are now learning that, contrary to popular opinion, she was actually staunchly anti-abortion. (And that may actually help to split PP!)

4) The "evangelical left" will play a surprisingly large role. One thing God has always done is reach out to the marginalized and make them into His trophies of grace, and the evangelical left certainly has been marginalized by much of the rest of the church for not being "politically correct." However, it has always been close to the heart of God because of its love for people and its desire to change systems that hold people in bondage. Dr. King will be recognized as a true prophet of God, as will such luminaries as Ron Sider, Jim Wallis and Tony Campolo.

5) The church will get back to the Scriptures' true teaching on homosexuality. That is to say, it will be recognized as an outward sign of inward rebellion against almighty God -- no more, no less. Those "conservative" churches who teach and preach homophobia and the liberal ones who affirm homosexual behavior as a legitimate lifestyle will both become irrelevant.

6) Folks will reconcile with each other. As they comb through their lives and recognize the wreckage that their sin has caused they will seek to make amends on both a personal and institutional level. Doing so will strengthen the church because it will break long-standing barriers that have kept them apart.

7) Persecution will come -- from, believe it or not, "conservatives." Keep in mind that the movement at its heart always was secular and extremely combative and doesn't take kindly to disagreement. Not only that, they operate from a default attitude of fear, the exact opposite of faith.

If there are more, I will list them here.

Revival? Not just yet

In an earlier post, I had mentioned that spiritual revival in the American evangelical church was imminent because, with the demise of the national Republican Party in the last general election, it would finally abandon its idols of cultural and political power.

I was reminded last night why it hasn't happened just yet.

After a singles Bible study at my church, most of the attendees repaired to an Olive Garden for dinner and conversation, and one of the other men said that the media gave vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin a raw deal, something that she recently echoed. As I'm in the media, I immediately objected, responding that her own shortcomings doomed the campaign -- and then a heated discussion (I really wouldn't call it an argument) ensued. Among other things, he accused president-elect Barack Obama of being willing to "talk to terrorists" and thus endangering our national security, never mind that Obama wants to address the issues that spawn terrorism in the first place.

Anyway, Christians of the politically conservative variety, such as my dinner companion, have long complained about lack of respect from the greater society, usually failing to notice that they themselves have acted arrogantly toward people not of their party, and I made that clear to him. Of course he didn't want to deal with that, which didn't surprise me in the least, because scapegoating is far easier than self-reflection.

The bigger issue is that Christians' insecurity and spiritual immaturity, the results of a refusal to trust God and His Word fully, are sabotaging our legitimate witness. Our obsession with cultural authority has led us down a path away from the "shalom" that our LORD desires and causes us to regard anyone who doesn't agree with us as an enemy, negating the grace of God through the cross of Jesus Christ. And our God is not obligated to bless that.

You see, many if not most people believe that revival will result in more "moral" behavior in society and hope and expect that the Holy Spirit will simply sweep non-believers into the church. It can't work that way because first God needs to deal with the idols already in the church before He can move -- because He will and should never share His glory with another. Last night was a reminded why, though I believe He will eventually move, He has not done so just yet.

The imminence of spiritual revival

I was attending a Bible study on Friday, and the leader -- who I didn't know until that night was a staunch conservative Republican -- said that, while he believed in the sovereignty of God, he couldn't see how God would use the Democratic Party's victory in last month's national election for His purposes. But I believe, at some point, it will be obvious.

For this reason: In God's time, spiritual revival within the Church of Jesus Christ will eventually break out.

Now, how can I make such an audacious claim, considering that the vast majority of white evangelicals supported John McCain and the Republican Party, who lost badly? But that's precisely why I do. Because you have to understand what "revival" is all about -- not that our nation will be purified because once again our laws and culture reflect a "Christian consensus" but that His Body will be. And that purification is taking place as I write.

You see, the rise of Barack Obama to the presidency has had the effect of unmasking considerable anger and bitterness toward him -- on the part of Christians. That attitude, of course, is unacceptable for followers of the Savior, who eventually will have to purge it from their souls.

That speaks to a deeper issue: Idolatry.

Since 1980 many Christians have made a god out of the political process, believing that electing the "right" people to office will turn this nation around morally and bring it back to what they consider its former splendor, similar to what Israel was hoping for when Jesus came. However, from the start doing so was contaminated by secular interests, many of which made alliances with nascent "Christian" organizations, the late Moral Majority probably the best known. Do you think that the issues of abortion and gay rights were chosen because they're "biblical?" Please -- they simply raised the most money for the cause, which didn't in the least bother the secular conservatives who couldn't care less about those two issues just as long as they got into office. And conservative Christians ended up being left behind -- because the secularists knew full well they couldn't get the evangelicals' program enacted as it was and thus never really tried.

More to the point, however, the rash of political activity in the 1980s spoke of, really, these same Christians' unwillingness to engage in spiritual warfare. Part of that is connected to the lack of self-examination to determine what, if any, wickedness -- such as arrogance, selfishness, resentment and racism -- was lodged in their own hearts. But that's what happens when you put labels on sin and specifically point out those of the "other guys" without dealing with your own because it's simpler to discern an enemy and try to defeat him.

At some point the "enemy" was bound to triumph -- witness Bill Clinton's presidency. The only thing that conservative attacks on him did in the long run was to expose the seaminess of the conservative apparatus, which Christians couldn't counteract because we were such a part of it. We were also not prepared to address the corruption of conservative Republican politicians -- the most obvious being former Rep. Tom DeLay of suburban Houston who reportedly was converted at a Billy Graham crusade -- that cost the GOP its majority in Congress two years ago. We said virtually nothing about the plight of the poor or immoral foreign policy, even though we are commanded to "walk in all of God's ways."

And that's why we're today on the outside looking in. Remember that our God does not allow His people to trade on His name to ignore good and countenance evil for very long, which explains the TV evangelist scandals of 1987-88. Think that resulted from the "liberal" news media attacking Christians? Not for a second -- God Himself arranged that to make a point.

So, what needs to happen? Well, coming to prayer and worship with an attitude of humility would start. But it also means digesting the whole of Scripture, not just the parts we use as prooftexts for what has been exposed as a bogus ideological agenda. It also means not being yoked with non-believers and taking secular money to do "ministry," which means withdrawing from the so-called culture war, now permanently lost.

This is not to say that Christians shouldn't be involved in politics; however, we need to get away from assuming that "God is on our side" and using Him for the sake of our own power. After all, doing so tells the world that God is interested only in being the Boss, thus sabotaging the Gospel of grace.

Because that, more than anything else, is what the world needs. There can and will be no revival unless and until we recognize that we are, have and can do nothing other than by the Holy Spirit. Fortunately, more and more believers are coming to that conclusion; as a result, I think that long-awaited revival is coming. Very soon.