Today we see three words being used at times almost interchangeable. Awakening, revival and reformation. Lately reformation seems to not be as dominant as it once was. All three are very different in both outcomes and what we are talking about. We really need to understand our terminology better. Perhaps it’s due to the loss of our vocabulary over time. At the time of Shakespeare, the vocabulary used daily was 54,000 words. Todays modern culture it is reduced to 3,000 words. Because of this we lump words together to have a similar meaning.
The terminology we use causes us to not be on the same page as well. A revival many times has a great stirring of emotions to stir up the loss of passion for the Lord. Really it is saying we have lost our first love. Many revivals also have a heightened time of the gifts of the spirit moving as well. But these should be normal Christian life. When we look historically, we see locations where past revivals occurred are historically actually worse 100 years later than at the time before the revival. This is due to the fact of outward influences that caused the revival have been removed. So, there isn’t anything to build upon. Revival means to return to a former state of being or to revive such as to raise from the dead. That is a sad state of affairs to say we need a revival. It means we have lost the life we once had and need to return to it. We should never get ourselves into such a place.
Awakening is an internal moment an individual has that forever changes them. It means to get out of sleep, or to come alive to a new understanding. It affects how we see God in life and affects our perspectives, what we put effort and energy into and affects the people around us. If enough people experience awakening, we call it a great or mega awakening meaning enough individual people being awakened during a set time has reached a mass affect upon culture. This is when bars are closed, and people’s lifestyles are changed for the better. It becomes a cultural shift. Many of the past revivals were awakenings that occurred. These caused cultural reformation and realignment. Revival generally touches a smaller group, while great awakening touches the masses. Awakening being internal has a lasting effect and carries a foundation to build upon.
Do we see patterns of revival or awakening in scripture? We really don’t see revival. What we do see is an ongoing awakening. Even when things seemed stagnated or at a pause, another moment of seeking God produced a new insight in what to do, an awakening to a new dimension of faith unfolded. The church actually moved from one awakening to the next progressively. New revealing of truth happened and new experiences because of that revealing unfolded. It was going from glory to glory. This happens every time we read the word of God, and something is highlighted to us by the Holy spirit. We are awakened to another dimension of God we never knew. We constantly experience awakening on a daily or weekly basis.
The early apostles were very adamant to maintain authenticity to the original awakening truths. We see this in Acts 4 where they continued steadfast in the apostle’s doctrine. There are several written works concerning these truths and maintaining them. Polycarp, who was a disciple of Apostle John was one who tried to maintain what was most important that John and told him. He was eventually burned alive, and the flames did not consume him, so they drove a stake through his heart. Ignatius was another disciple of John who also maintained the integrity of the original truths. Both of these men made sure the apostle’s doctrine was documented correctly. Even in this second-generation of apostle’s people were already beginning to shift the scriptural understanding. By the third generation a battle with men’s influences was beginning, trying to bring men’s opinions into true spiritual faith and taint it. These times of sightly drifting from truth had an effect. It began a realization over time of missing something that had once been. This was the beginning of the modern-day revival mindset we have today. In all honestly it seems what we do as revivals today is actually “living faith outside the walls” more than finding what was lost. Revivals as we now know is really a new thing started in the 1700’s. They believed men had lost faith in God and focus on God was lacking terribly. They held meetings specific for people to either renew faith or experience it for the first time. Really it was more of an awakening than a revival.
When it comes to revival or awakening, I am more concerned about the fruit that is being produced. I am looking at 2 things in this. One does the outcome last and can I taste Christ within it. Second does it have the seeds to reproduced Christ, so he is multiplied. Does it have the longevity and legacy the early fathers were looking for in people’s lives? These things are kingdom minded and advancing.
Am I against revivals? I see it as something we should say we will work towards to not being needed. Our mindset should be that it is revealing something more detrimental than a fix to our current situation. Should our focus be on the church? Yes, to make sure it is in constant awakening. This requires an ongoing kingdom revelation to be allowed to flow. We must challenge people to pursue growth and their own disciplines. Do I think we need to change our terminology? Absolutely. We will, once we see ourselves different because we see constant awakening occurring in our own lives.