I Think We Have Missed It
The American Church is
filled with cries for revival. We see God moving in other parts of the world.
Places like China, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East are experiencing
salvations at a rate unparalleled in history. Yet in America, the cry for
revival is loud, but the response to the Gospel is waning. Why?
As I pondered this thought
yesterday I saw something that might be relevant. I’ve heard the stories of
revival for years. People tell of Charles Finney, and some of the amazing
things that occurred during his ministry. One story seems to recur more than
others. It goes something like this.
As
Finney walked into the Cotton Mill, one of the opponents of the meeting, a
young lady employee, saw him. Looking at her co-employee, she began to laugh. Some
writers say she made a cynical remark about Finney and his meeting. In a spirit
of prayer, Charles Finney simply looked at this young lady without saying a
word. As he kept looking at her, being grieved by her criticism, the lady
stopped working as she had broken her thread. She became so upset that she
couldn't repair the thread and start again. The Spirit of God mightily
convicted her of her sin to the point that she began to weep. Soon her
companions were convicted and began to weep. A chain reaction occurred as
hundreds began to be overcome by their lost condition.
The
factory owner, seeing this, was deeply moved and said. "Stop the mill, and
let the people attend to religion, for it is far more important that our souls
be saved than the factory run." All the workers were assembled in a very
large room and Finney said, "a more powerful meeting I scarcely ever
attended." Within a few days nearly every employee was saved (some
accounts say all were saved. Several authors say there were 3,000 employees in
this factory.
More recently I have watched
videos titled “Transformation” that tell the story of revival in various
places, including certain cities in the United States. One of the more famous
stories is that of Almalonga, Guatemala. This place was totally changed by
people’s response to the Gospel that all the bars closed and became churches.
They no longer have a need for a jail because crime is so low. Their crops have
increased dramatically, causing a financial blessing for the farmers in the
area. I know people that have visited there and were in awe at what they saw.
But here in America we are
left wanting. We long for God’s touch like what occurred in Almalonga. We long
for the anointing of Finney, where people begin to weep in our presence because
they sense God in us, or of the Apostle Peter, where people were healed when
his shadow crossed them. The desire is real. The need is real, but why are we
still left wanting?
This is what I saw
yesterday. When the American Church hears these stories we become focused on
the outcome: revival. We see “bars closing.” We see “factories brought to a
halt.” We see “financial increase from God’s blessing.” But instead of focusing
on allowing God to change us, we begin to cry out for Him to change our circumstances.
We form political parties, nominate candidates, lobby legislatures, and march
in the streets. We preach sermons railing against the evils of sin (bars,
factories, poverty) and condemn anyone that dares stand in the way of revival.
This is exactly what
happened with prohibition. The American church wanted revival but alcohol was
seen as the impediment to God moving. Instead of focusing on Jesus, the church
politicized and “changed society.” The only problem is that nothing changed
except the law. The hearts of men were still depraved. Sunday blue-laws were
the same thing. “The Sabbath is holy!”, was heard so loud that laws were passed
making it illegal to “work” on Sunday.
Name any current “ill” of
American righteousness: drugs, alcohol, sex outside of marriage, abortion, LGBT
rights, etc. If tomorrow the church could some how bring about an end to any of
these things through political means would it accomplish anything for the
Kingdom of God? What if tomorrow every abortion doctor was put out of business
and Planned Parenthood was shut down, how many souls would be added to the
Kingdom? If every LGBT person renounced their lifestyle tomorrow and vowed to
remain heterosexual for the rest of their life, would the Kingdom of God have
increased? The answer to all of these is, “No!” Absence of sin is not
salvation.
Regardless of how
“righteous” America becomes by enacting laws against sin, we will not be a Christian
nation. It is only by individuals becoming identified with Christ, by the Holy
Spirit, that our nation will change.
Charles Finney never set out
to “close down a factory.” He was too focused on dealing with his own sin to
think about anyone else. I’ve heard
first-hand accounts from Almalonga. Their purpose in gathering was not to
combat poverty or close down bars. They began meeting to pray. The various
churches came together and prayed. They dealt with their own sin first. They
asked God to change them, and He did.
We long for an upper-room
experience. Perhaps we need to do what those in the upper-room did: pray. They
did not know when they gathered in the upper-room what was coming. They did not
form focus groups to study the needs of the community, or form political action
committees to elect a more “spiritual” government. They simply gathered for
prayer. They joined together for a common purpose: pray.
This will never happen in
American if the politically charged rhetoric continues in our churches. We can
not cooperate in any spiritual encounter because we’re worried about who will
get credit, who will pay for it, or which church will someone attend if they do
get saved. We can try to affect change in our communities and our nation all we
want, but until we become concerned with our own sin it will never lead to
revival.
Better music, more thorough
training, up-to-date facilities, and bigger budgets are great. All of things
keep us in a place to help the people that are being saved. As a citizen of
this great country we need to vote wisely. But as the Church of Jesus Christ we
need to keep our focus on one thing: making disciples. This will only happen
when THE Church stops fighting each other, stops organizing political
movements, and gets on Her face to repent. America does not need any more
prophets to declare that God has passed judgment. We need those that dare to be
Finney, or Wesley, or the Moravians, or the monks at Bangor, Ireland, or the
monks at Clairvaux, France, or Count Zinzendorf in Germany, or Dr. Cho in Seoul,
Korea. These men and women gave their life to prayer. They were not seeking
revival. They were seeking God; to know Him in every way.
Let us begin by praying for
grace to even have the ability to pray. Like the disciples asked of Jesus, “We
believe. Help our unbelief.” We need to pray, “Lord, we pray; teach us to
pray.” That is a prayer that God can, and will, answer.
