Michael W. Benson 1
When Will We Be Ready
When Will We Be Ready?
“There is so much more I want to tell you,
but you can’t bear it now” (John 16:12).
I was a bit taken back recently when a pastor said to me, “Have you figured out
what to call revivals these days? My church needs one but won’t come out for it.”
I had no quick answer for him. I slid into a funk over the ideas that must be
floating around (or sinking!) concerning so-called “revival” services.
Eventually I stripped it down to this question: “Is the apparent death of revival
services simply a matter of terminology?”
Would resurgence be a better word?
How about recovery? Or is that word used too much these days?
Revitalization sounds like an economic stimulus package.
Renewal has a softer sound but is it just surface deep? Like restoration.?
According to StrengthsQuestTM, one of my signature strengths is context.
Persons with this strength understand the present by researching its history. Thus, a
biblical, theological context requires me to think about this subject beyond labels. “The
desire for a spiritually vibrant people exists in the heart of God.” Doesn’t the theology of
full salvation, of being saved “to the uttermost” presume a work of God’s grace beyond
forgiveness and on toward the mark of Christlikeness. The goal of revival is to live at the
level that God has taken us or is calling us.
Here is another underpinning of spiritual emphasis: “something important that
happens at what we have traditionally called “revival services”. Spiritually sharpening
moments are embedded in when time is allotted for Spirit led reflection. Whatever we
call it or however it is structured, these services provide an opportunity to “keep on being
filled with the Spirit”. If not during a special series of meetings, then when?
There’s one other thought that comes to mind regarding the Spiritual work of
revival. It is the certainty that people mature at different speeds from one another. Eugene
Peterson has rightly observed, ‘people grow in stages or phases; you can’t rush stages.”
Do not forget that truth. Nor do all even share the same hunger for spiritual
growth. This should not surprise us. Yet, it has in an accidental or inadvertent way
deterred us from planning variety in spiritual vitality and growth.
Here is a way to look at the variety that is already at work in the local
congregation. We are use to some natural divisions in the church body. There is teen
ministry and children’s ministry. There is the choir ministry. There is men’s ministry and
women’s ministry. Not everyone attends Sunday School, etc. In fact, there are few
programs or platforms in the church that deliver something to everyone in the
congregation at the same time, which is one of the frustrating parts of attendance taking.
Consider, instead, ways to bring renewal to these groups and then look at the
accumulative effect of that as the church’s revival effort. I’m suggesting that you provide
and promote renewal in these pockets or mini-congregations. Provide for a women’s day
in February, teen revival in late spring, VBS in June, Prayer seminar in the summer,
Men’s overnight outing in the early fall, and revival meeting in late fall, Winter ski
retreat for teens—all are items in the calendar year that can have special spiritual
emphasis and could be part of the larger picture of revival and spiritual growth in the
church.
To be sure, you would have to begin to think about spiritual efforts in eighteenmonth or two-year blocks rather than the usual annual four-day event. For some of these
plans you might engage a professional or called minister while others could be lay driven
and led. By doing so we could soon learn if there is some value for the larger
congregation in general to live throughout the year in a spirit of revival. When you look
back you might be able to say, “we had revival.”