What Stops Revival?

As a follower of Christ, I often find myself thinking about the power of revival. By revival, I do not mean a week-long series of church services conducted by a visiting preacher. These weeks can be valuable in the life a local church, but they are not the same as genuine revival. Events and conferences can be a catalyst for revival, but the revival that I dream about is on a larger scale. The revival I desire to see is a sovereign move of God in which the moral and spiritual climate of an entire nation or people group is changed.

Revival is our hope

A revival of this size could bring conviction of sin, genuine repentance, salvation of the lost, deepening the commitment of believers. It would generally impact families, communities, nations, and even distant lands from where the revival begins, as the message of the Gospel becomes the passion of people’s hearts. This impact would even extend to the generations to come.

Revivals are the only real hope for nations and people who have turned away from God. We tend to think revivals are not happening because of the issues in our society and the moral bankruptcy of communities and nations. I don’t believe these are the roadblocks to revival, but simply the indicators of the great need for revival. I believe those things which hinder revival are far less evident, and arise within the people inside the Church, rather than those who are outside of it.

Substitutes for repentance

Revivals only happen with repentance. A conviction of sin, leading to a truly Godly sorrow that results in deep contrition and sincere turning from the sin and toward the Lord, His will, and His way. We often stop short of true repentance, and offer substitutes for repentance that actually become the impediments to the revival we desire.

REGRET

The first of these substitutes for repentance is regret. Regret may seem to be repentance, but it stops short of true repentance. Regret is feeling sorry for something that has taken place, and even taking ownership of our own part in what has happened. Regret has more to do with the outcome than it does with the action. We may experience regret when we get caught in a trespass, but that regret would often disappear if we were never caught at all. People in jail may well regret their breaking of the law, but only because of their experience of the consequences of their action. We sometimes regret our sinful choices and actions, but only because we don’t like the outcome. This is never repentance.

REFORM

Another substitute for repentance is reform. We see that something we have done was wrong, and has had negative consequences, and we try to “fix it.” There is something positive about this, to be sure, but it can also be an impediment to true repentance, leading to revival. If we can “fix” something, then we don’t have to feel bad about it, or repent of the initial wrong action. It is a human effort to address something that requires divine involvement. True repentance may well lead to reform, but reform by itself is not the repentance necessary for revival to come.

RELIGION

Finally, religion is another poor substitute for repentance, and can actually be an impediment to revival. Sometimes we may use moral or religious activity to bargain with God. We think that if we will do more good things, we can “pay off our debt,” or “balance the scales,” or somehow make up for what we are guilty of. Sometimes we may even try to do more and more good deeds, because we refuse to turn away from what we are doing that violates God’s Word. We know we are wrong, maybe we even feel guilty, but we try to “be good” in other areas to make up for the issue of sin in our life. We may seem very devoted to religious practices, but have not repented of our sin.

pray for revival

Revival is powerful. It is transformational. It is the hope of every generation, and the need of every people. Let’s make sure that we don’t impede revival with poor substitutes for repentance. Let’s humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways. That is true repentance, and God will hear from heaven and respond in the forgiveness and healing that characterizes true revival.