Revival Does Not Exist

Revival

Christians from all walks of life often declare that what the Church really needs is a “revival.” This is a statement that always brings a sly smile to my face. Please understand that there is no disdain in this look, merely the inquisitive entertainment that I enjoy from having heard hundreds of varied explanations of what the word revival means.

As I have traveled and ministered in many different denominations, I have heard countless definitions of revival. Gathering the many answers to “what is revival” has in some ways become a hobby of sorts. Over time, I have devised a way of understanding the opinions I have heard, placing them on a sliding scale.

My scale runs from 1 to 10, 1 being denominations considered conservative in doctrine and practice, typically the historic denominations (about 1.3 billion individuals worldwide). When asked to define revival, an individual from this background will typically give a concise definition similar to this: Revival is when God comes close to the Church and Christians repent of their hidden sins and non-Christians are convicted of their sins in the streets and cry out to God for salvation. As one individual from this end of the scale stated to me, “Revival is community awareness of God.” I summarize this viewpoint as God spontaneously coming close to the Church and people getting saved at an unusual rate. This is usually attributed to repentance of sin, which is somewhat confusing because then it is both the cause and effect of revival.Now consider the perspective of the 10 on my scale. Here the denominations are of the Pentecostal or Charismatic type (about 707 million individuals worldwide). When an individual from this end of the scale is asked to define revival, it is a much more complex phenomenon. First of all, the definition would be inclusive of everything on the scale from 1 to 9 and much more. This definition of revival includes the following: raising the dead, casting out demons, healing the sick, walking on water, multiplying food, power evangelism, angelic visitations, transport in the spirit between locations, as well as all nine of the Holy Spirit’s gifts in operation. These experiences are major marks of what those on this scale of 10 define as revival.

In the past few years, I have noticed that Christians in this group have become so burned out on using the word revival that many of the leaders have started using new terms to communicate more specifically. Words such as: cultural transformation, renewal, outpouring, reformation, restructuring, new wineskin, and so on. Rather than throwing my personal definition on the pile, I have arrived at a conclusion.

I do not believe in revival!

No matter where you are on the scale, most likely you are stunned by that statement, because every denomination believes in revival by some definition. I propose a totally different approach. Having looked at the Gospels and the Book of Acts, I would say that everything on the scale is expected of every Christian. It does not matter where you fit on the scale, God expects the “Normal Christian” to live as a 10 and more. In short, the New Testament does not present the idea of revival; it shows what a New Covenant Culture life looks like.

I know that this concept runs against the grain of many years of Protestant teaching. But as the late Walter Martin said, “Controversy for the sake of truth is a divine command.” We must break free from the wrong concepts that are holding us back.Jesus and the Book of Acts are the standard of the New Covenant Culture. Remember the past fad when people wore bracelets reminding them, “What Would Jesus Do?” Christians state that Jesus is the example of how to live, yet this has been limited in many cases to how we view our moral character. When Christians tell me that they want to live like Jesus, I like to ask if they have multiplied food, healed the sick, walked on water, raised the dead, paid their taxes with fish money, or calmed storms. I typically receive bewildered looks, but that’s what it is like to live like Jesus!

Perhaps we are ignoring a large portion of what living like Jesus really includes. While I agree that we are to live like Jesus, “Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6 NLT). I am also aware that the application of Jesus’ model has been minimized to some- thing that can be accomplished by living a moral life. Many Christians believe that they can live like Jesus without ever operating in the super- natural. Does that sound right to you after reading in the Bible about all of the miracles He performed?

No Such Thing

If a group of Christians in a region began to seriously live like Jesus, in the full meaning of that reality, the rest of the Church would elevate them and claim that a sovereign move of God is taking place. When this happens, it creates an unfortunate separation that lessens the responsibility of the rest of the Church to also live like Jesus in fullness. When we see revival as a spontaneous phenomenon that happens randomly, we show our lack of understanding of the true nature of Christianity. We must begin to see that everything that has been defined as revival is considered normal by the Bible. As author Graham Cooke has said so well:

Unlike inhabitation, there is no call for revival found anywhere in Scripture. The Church, quite simply, should never need reviving. Revival is not about getting people saved; revival is about the Church coming back to her original purpose before God. I think it’s very sad that so many of us have prayed and longed for revival—it means the Church is a long way from what God wants us to be. Maybe, just maybe, a little touch from God could bring us immediately into line. That’s the mystery of life with the Godhead—you just never know what could turn the tide of history.

Consider the question, “How many revivals are in the Book of Acts?” This question is fundamentally flawed. My contention is that there is no such thing as revival in the New Testament; therefore, the answer is none. Revival is merely a word that has developed into many complicated interpretations. Yet the result has actually distanced the Church from what she is called to be. There are many interpretations that state, “The Church will be like Jesus when revival comes,” which actually removes from our shoulders the burden of living like Jesus in the present.

Once more, everything that we have called revival, the New Testament teaches as New Covenant Culture. I believe in New Covenant Culture.