Tags
addiction, church terminology, churchianity, hindrance, hindrances to revival, holding grudges, obstacles, obstacles to God's work, repentance, revival, unforgiveness
The bulk of this article was written by Richard Blackaby in a tract called “Corporate Hindrances to Revival.” I discovered it many years ago and unfortunately it is still true. I’ve edited and amended some parts but hopefully I didn’t take any fire away or add anything to ruin it. dm
I’ve been studying revival history for some time now and there are some characteristics that are distinct about a true move of God in a place. One such distinction is that every movement of God among His people is characterized by a profound awareness of sin. Turning from sin and revival are inseparable.
In many places, however, sinful practices are being renamed and reclassified. When a church member commits adultery, it is often said euphemistically that he or she “fell into an affair.” The man or woman may be portrayed as the victim of an overwhelming schedule, or an unsympathetic spouse. Terminology, such as “falling into” and “affair” subtly shifts the blame away from the sinner. Rather than hiding behind less offensive terms, Christians must be exhorted to agree with God about their sins and accept responsibility for them.
Another adjustment in terminology is to reclassify sin as a “weakness,” “bad habit,” or an “addiction.” Rather than committing the sin of lust, the sinner is said to have an “addiction” to pornography. However addictive and enslaving habitual sin can become, its roots still lie in sin.
Society commiserates with an addict; God judges sin. An addict engenders sympathy for his or her condition, but the Christian knows that sin is not to be tolerated. Society encourages addicts to seek therapy, but not necessarily to repent of sin.
By allowing worldly definitions for sin to creep into the church’s vocabulary, we inadvertently desensitize people to the heinous reality of sin in their midst and the crucial need for repentance. If we do not clearly identify sin for what it is, people cannot properly respond to their condition.
We can also unwittingly challenge people in an unbiblical manner. We often encourage people who have not been walking in obedient fellowship with God to “rededicate” their lives to God and to His will. In this process, people may come before the gathering and acknowledge that they have disobeyed God’s will. They will affirm their desire to dedicate themselves afresh to obey God. Often, members of the congregation will be invited to come and encourage the one who has expressed his intent to try harder to obey God.
The problem with this is that it is not biblical. The crux of the gospel message is not a call to rededication, but a call to turn from our sin and be changed in our minds and hearts toward God. If one’s previous commitment did not keep him walking in obedience, a re-commitment is no more likely to make him faithful. The proper response to disobedience is not a commitment to try harder, but brokenness and repentance for rejecting the will of Almighty God. God looks for surrender to His will, not commitment to carry it out. Rather than encouraging people to repeatedly promise to try harder, we must call our people to repent before Holy God.
We are uncomfortable with spiritual brokenness and repentance. When the Holy Spirit works in peoples’ lives, convicting them of their sin, people often do not know how to respond. We are uncomfortable with the tears and anguish of a sinner under conviction by the Spirit. Rather than allowing people to respond to what God is telling them, we often seek to immediately intervene. We try to comfort one whom God is making uncomfortable!
The structure of a worship service can mitigate against the Spirit’s working. Pressure to begin or end the service “on time” can leave little opportunity for people to respond to what God has said to them. Bringing the service abruptly to a close in order to announce the upcoming potluck dinner or church council meeting, can utterly quench the work that God began in the service. The danger is that a mighty moving of God in the church may not “fit in” to the pre-arranged time constraints of the leaders or the expectations of the listeners
Many people fail to properly understand revival terminology. The term “revival” is the returning of God’s people to Him. This means their hearts are cleansed and sensitized to God. The term “repentance” is also greatly misunderstood. It is often seen as a negative term in an age where everything is expected to appear positive. Yet repentance is one of the most positive words in the Christian vocabulary! It refers to turning from a destructive path and moving instead into God’s abundant life.
Too often, people spurn the terminology of repentance, preferring instead to speak of God’s love and forgiveness. God’s love and forgiveness, however, can only be fully experienced on the basis of the sinner’s repentance. Churches that misuse these terms may hinder their people from experiencing true forgiveness and true revival.
There is a powerful temptation for church leaders to deal with symptoms rather than causes. Instead of addressing the condition of people’s hearts, churches attempt to change their behavior. If members are not attending particular programs or services, the leaders try to make these programs and services more appealing. If members are not sharing their faith with unbelievers, classes in evangelism are offered. If needs are going unmet in the church, more staff are hired to meet these needs or programs are initiated to make the service of others more convenient.
We must look past people’s behavior to the heart condition behind it. Rather than focusing on symptoms, God’s people must be challenged to examine their love for God. People who truly see God’s worth will willingly serve Him, tell others about Him, and long to worship Him.
Matthew 5:23-24 indicates that Christians are obligated to be reconciled to anyone with whom they have a conflict. Yet in many churches this is not practiced. And this behavior is most deadly in the very leaders of the flock. Church leaders are allowed to feud with one another and yet continue in leadership positions. Members, even whole congregations, refuse to forgive members who have joined elsewhere, former pastors, those who have caused turmoil, and yet they presume God will bless them.
We have a corporate responsibility to seek reconciliation, just as individuals have been commanded to do so. If the church as a whole refuses to forgive, its members will also find it excusable to harbor bitterness toward others. If a church will corporately repent of unforgiveness toward another church or toward another person, it’s members will be freed to be wholly reconciled with God in revival.
Our subtle attitudes, practices, and theological presuppositions can hinder a body of believers from experiencing revival. If we face these things and they are properly dealt with, the obstacles can be eliminated that have hindered God’s work among His people.