Revival or Revolution?

There is a poster that says ‘Revive your afternoon’.  It is an advert for a well-known vitamin-packed drink.  The suggestion is that after working all morning and having lunch it is often then that you can become a little sluggish and tired in the afternoon.  The firm claims that by having one of their drinks you will get an energy boost and you can be as active as before.  And so the noun ‘revival’ coming from the verb ‘to revive’ implies an input of renewed strength, a pick-me-up, a livening up when we are weary of the ‘same old thing’.  It sort of confirms a renewed continuation of what has gone before but with renewed vigour.

The word ‘revolve’ however is something quite different.  To revolve something means to turn it around and hence the derivative word ‘revolution’ implies not a renewal but a change of direction altogether.  A turning around brings a whole new aspect, something that wasn’t seen or done before.  I remember one morning while living in Argentina when we put on the radio we heard sombre classical music instead of the usual lively morning get-up-and-go stuff.  We then heard an announcement that was repeated every few minutes throughout the day – the military had taken over the government; General Ongania was the country's new president.  There were going to be changes, things were not going to be the same as before.  (Over the years there have been changes and now a democratic government is in place.)  In some parts of the world where they have experienced the so called Arab Spring, there were uprisings and revolutions.  The people wanted change and in those places where the new heads of government have proved to be much the same as those that were thrown out, there continues to be unrest.  The people wanted a new direction a different way of living and they got much of what they had before the revolution.  They had a renewal, a revival and they wanted a revolution.



In the 2000 years of Christianity we have seen countless revivals, many in the past few decades in many parts of the world.  And yet so often life seems to go on as before, nothing much seems to change.  There is still so much injustice and suffering in the world.  Revival seems to encourage those who are already following God’s ways but on the whole, it doesn’t seem to have changed a great deal in the ‘big wide world’.  Continuing to do what we have always done, even with renewed vigour and enthusiasm, hasn’t had the effect we wanted.  Some lives may have been changed but often after a revival eventually things go back to how they were before.  Our towns and cities still have the same problems.

 

Many Christians pray for a revival.  Me? I’m praying for a revolution!  We need to turn around and start seeing people and situations differently.  We need to be with people, living among them, sharing their concerns.  The word that is preached and heard inside the building needs to become flesh outside the building.  Jesus’ work was done mainly in the highways and the byways of life.  He met people where they were.  William Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army, used to say that you can’t preach to someone who has an empty stomach.  You have to feed them and they will see what God’s love means.  People are sick of words; they want to see the revolution lived out among them.  Being a follower of Jesus is not just about repeating the ‘sinner’s prayer’.  It’s about living to make a difference.  Whatever else I may be known for, I want to be known as a follower of Jesus.  Now that is a revolutionary challenge.