The Baptist church I was raised in had a “revival” the second week of August every year. That meant a special speaker, planned visits in the community, services every night with a special emphasis on winning the lost. And usually, one or more people would get born again. We thank God for that! Really it was an opportunity to do evangelism in the community, and hopefully encourage the church members to keep doing it after the meetings were over.
But is that revival? The word “revival” means to restore life. It has roots in the Latin word “revivisco” re and vive meaning to live. To revive something indicates that at one time there was life that has been lost or is no longer viable. We often fashion our beliefs and actions around how we define a word. What I described in the above paragraph was what we believed to be revival. But whatever it was it did not last, we saw no long-term change in the lives of the people. Hence, the need to do it again the next August!
It appears to me the very use of the word revival indicates something that is temporary. To have something that is ongoing I think we need to move our thinking from the framework of revival to Discipleship.
To be Jesus’ disciple indicates a person is following Him to learn to live His lifestyle, know Him, imitate Him, work with Him to advance His Kingdom on the earth. This is far more than a two-week time of excitement then return to life as usual.
Jesus told the crowd that followed Him (and His disciples), “Whoever desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:34-37
Notice a few things mentioned in this verse –
- Desire to come after Jesus. Indicates a life time commitment.
- Denial of self. A daily activity.
- Take up his cross. Where his will & Jesus’ will intersects.
- Follow Jesus. Leaves his will, and plans for the present & future behind.
On another occasion (John 6:60-71) when Jesus was telling His disciples what would be expected from them, ‘some went back and no longer walked with Him.’ verse 66. Then in verse 67, Jesus asked the rest ‘Do you also want to go away?’ In response, Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” It is imperative that disciples be committed to His Lordship!
This goes far beyond the normal church member who shows up at church when he has nothing else to do! Who complains about the parking lot, the pews, the music, the nursery, the preaching, etc. etc.
A disciple is dependable, committed, teachable, knows how to follow, can recognize spiritual authority, and can be trusted!
The question for us then is: Are we disciples of Jesus or just occasional friends that show up when we have a need?