How to Wreck a Revival

In talking with some other pastors recently, I was encouraged to hear of a what appears to be a unique work among young adults in our city. Many of our churches have seen significant growth with this demographic, with many of these young folks becoming vital members of our churches. 

I shared some of this encouraging news with our own young adults and then gave them a bit of a heads up. If this is a reviving work of God in our city, we ought to learn from the past and avoid interfering with it or wrecking it! To that end, I told them to avoid three things.

1. Dangerous Ethics

Almost every revival has been sullied in some corner by those old sins of the flesh like gossip, unrighteous anger, quarrelsomeness, jealousy and general relational immaturity. Since the Holy Spirit is the Mover of authentic revival, it would make sense that our mistreatment of other believers would thwart or discourage His ongoing work. Why? Because anger, malice and slander of others grieves Him and we cannot conceive of Him blessing that which breaks His heart. 

2. Doctrinal Error

A joy of true revival is to witness the new birth in many souls and the refreshing of the souls of those who already know God. Sometimes this excitement leads to a search for novel ideas. Sometimes it opens the door for unqualified teachers to have a platform. And if doctrinal error creeps into the movement, it will bring trouble. Good doctrine does not divide, it unifies. Thus, any time we suspect revival might be occurring in grand or localized ways, we do well to fight like crazy to keep the focus on the Gospel and getting everyone on board with who Jesus is and what He has done for us. 

3. Destructive Extremism

We are all pragmatists at heart and prone to believe that the things we are doing or saying are creating certain results. This can lead to placing an undue reliance on areas of Christian freedom. For example, demanding that only one form of courtship or dating is “Biblical.” Whenever a non-Bible issue is elevated to the place of Christian faithfulness, we promote hypocrisy and/or works-righteousness. And these things lead only to division, discouragement and despair. 

So, my counsel to our young adults was this. Let no one despise you for your youth, but rather in speech, conduct and purity show yourselves to be an example to the entire church. Walk humbly with your God and read your Bible a lot. Do not tolerate the sins of the flesh, but strive to grow in self-control. Yield your entire self to God. This is a unique season of life and there are trajectories to be set for the next 20, 40, 60 years. So, spend much time in prayer and keep looking to God to do good, to save many and to build His church. After all, in a little while you will all be the leaders and pillars of this family.