Talkin' 'bout Revival

I had a discussion with my cousin M tonight. He's a very theologically astute chappie who, like me, is a little left of center when it comes to dealing with church and church people. I prefer to diplomatically say that we've grown up in Christian circles and we've seen, as Judy Collins would sing it, "Both sides now". Tonight, we were discussing the topic of 'revival' and what it meant

Now and then, you here this word bandied around. In Malaysia, invariably because of the huge Pentecostal/Charismatic influence; it is usually taken to mean manifestations of 'signs and wonders'. However, in the past, this was different things to different people.

Was the reformation a revival? When Constantine instituted Christianity as the main religion in the Roman empire; was that a revival? I would argue "Yes"

Now here is the crux. And it is a contentious one. A revival brings about change. Duh, you say. Of course it does. But most Malaysians have a one-dimensional view of a revival. It goes something like this:

1) My faith gets revived
2) My CG is energised
3) My church and other churches get revived
4) My country gets revived

Sorry, folks. It's a tagline. A slogan. It means beans. You may personally feel revived. Great, so does a group of stressed out office professionals after a motivational course. And lets take it one step further, let's say people are streaming into your church and it's filling to the brim. Now, you say, the country is ripe for a revival. Okay, so why are your numbers still a single digit percentage of the population?

It's because in any true revival, no tells you of the nasty pain and problems that follow. During the reformation, we had the 30 year war. Brutal, nasty stuff. People died as a result. Revival in the U.K, puritans were chased to the New World. In most cases, a real revival is not followed by a period of peace or prosperity; but chaos and strife. Why?

Because anything that is truly of God is offensive to the world. The gospel is offensive to the world because it pokes it's eye and thus engenders a spiteful response. And this only happens when it deems the people who are revived to be a threat.

If all I do is claim that a revival is at hand when my fillings turn to gold; then I run the risk of claiming something that is counterfeit as real. How do I know this? Simple - the world will ignore you as a kook. It will continue to regard the church as irrelevant and inconsequential. You will be shunted out of discussions regarding world affairs, the environment, geopolitics, bio-ethics and the like. You are a primitive child to them and they will be happy to leave you alone in your corner messing about with 'signs' of blessings or the coming rapture or whatever.

Because your voice is inconsequential.

You will know a true revival when there is cost. Unbelievable cost. And what follows will not be the light drizzle that dries up as soon as the clods clear and the scorching sun comes out. It's the rain, the water that goes all the way down to the roots of the heart. And it makes it grow.

That is a true revival.

Stop! Don't pass Go first...

Stop.

Breathe.

Think.

When was the last time you really thought about where your ministry at church was going? No, I'm not talking about the time you got together in a huddle, prayed for a 'Word' or heard a goofy 'still, small voice'. I'm talking about a time you sat down, used your grey matter and said " Hang on, what are we doing here?"

We have some seriously smart people in Church. The historical church had some superb contenders of the mind. For example,mI love D.A Carson's writings and sermons. I don't get all of it but what little I get knocks me away. And some of the smart people we have in church have professional qualifications up the wazoo and jobs to match, which begs the question:

Why do they leave their brains outside the church when they go in?

The gym where I train Jujitsu has this motto:"Leave your ego outside before you come in". Anyone who's ever served in a ministry capacity at most churches know that some of the people you work with usually left the wrong stuff outside.

When did the sudden ostracisation of the rational process and the deification of the 'experience' come in? Some of it may be due to the era we live in - a postmodern self-seeking oriented media fed culture. Some say this started when existentialism took off in popularity. I'm not sure but this will be addressed in later posts

The separation of the mind from all of this has dire consequences. It means that decisions regarding religious matters are more likely to be made based on all emotional based receptors; a dangeorous propostion for a pilot will tell you that there's a reason why a plane is flown with the aid of hundreds of objective gauges and instruments, and not a pilot's "gut feel"

So how do you engage the mind? The answer is simple. Stop. Just stop.

Emotions are like eating potato chips. They taste good, so you eat more. The trouble is that you don't know how much you've eaten until you've become large enough to have your own postcode. So if you want to cease eating - you've got to stop first

Take a breath. Go for a walk. Are you really hungry after that? Chances are that you weren't and you were just greedy. Same with some church experiences. You aren't really in communion with the Lord, that was maybe 20 minutes ago but you say " I'll keep singing that chorus 20 times to get that feeling of closeness nback and there's people crying on the floor, so I'll keep doing it till I get there'

You aren't really hungry. You've been filled, you just don't know it

Think. Think. Think.

For example, who told you to 'let go and let God?'. Your spiritual mentor? What's his authority? When did you last question the content of a sermon or did you just laugh at the jokes and file away three Joel Osteen-like points from it?

Thinking is hard work. It involves upsetting your own apple cart so a lot of people hate to do it. But when you take the time to do it, your Christian walk becomes so much richer and deeper. I am convinced that when we surrender our minds, the world will corrall us into a corner and happily zone Christians out of any influential decision making processes that affect the world at large. My deeper fear is that Christians will accept this demarcation and adopt a form of tribalism where they will only concern themselves with matters of a pseudo-religious nature; which the world happily tells us is our domain

Pretty soon, the church will end up like one of those houses suspended in water, where you shake them and the snow falls on it. The type you get at Christmas. And that's what we'll be - a small plastic representation of the real thing; brought out only once a year.

Stop. Breath. Think

SDG

Under the chestnut tree

It's not easy being different.

I am not Emeth

He is a Calormene warrior in C.S Lewis' "The Last Battle". When the Pevensie's find him, he is under a chestnut tree. Pauline Bayne's artwork is spot on. She captures him pondering, wondering and a peace with himself. For why not? He has met Aslan himself.

Now a little about me...

I am a 5 Sola, TULIP, cessationistic, Amillenianist, Covenant Theology Reformed Calvinist in Malaysia; where 99.999% of Protestant Christians hold opposing views to the above. (Okay, I exaggerate, it's something like 99.2%.

So I am kind of used to being a different kind of Christian. And this is frustrating to some of my dear brother's and sisters in Christ who just wish I would stop thinking and theologising so much, just 'let go and let God', wave my hands in the air like I don't care and just stick to the Purpose Driven life

Nope. Sorry. Homey don't do dat :-)


I'm going to share my opinions about certain issues relating to Christianity and the church on this blog. If you don't like them, please keep in mind that this is my garden and no one has forced you to come here. But you are welcome to visit and I do appreciate civilised behaviour from genteel guests, so a little respect and courtesy when commenting will be the rule for the day. Ok? :-)

Sola Fide