As my sister pointed out in commenting on yesterday’s post about Asbury, “one person brought closer to Jesus is reason enough for the extravagant production, wasteful as it is in human eyes,” and this is absolutely true. She appealed to the parable of the shepherd and the lost sheep – leaving the 99 to save the one – and this too is true. I certainly don’t intend to imply that no sheep are being rescued at Asbury. But I think my perspective is shaded by my belief that people can be rescued by Jesus anywhere they are. Oddly, a revival (to me) is one of the most suspicious places to find that kind of thing. The appeal to emotion is far too great, and people are more likely to be responding to the experience rather than to what may be the true work of the Spirit.
I want to reiterate – I could be (and in many ways, at many times, am) way off. These are thoughts. I believe in God and his works among us. But I just can’t attach any one kind of activity to those works. If he’s got a part in everything, as I believe, then he doesn’t need a bunch of college kids to go into a marathon worship session for good things to happen. Revivals are wonderful and refreshing…but they’re also too small for him. And they don’t seem to prepare one for the long haul – the genuinely hard work of the extended Christian life. For the ability to face the rot and garbage of a messy world as one who truly experiences the joy of salvation.
The revival functions for worship, praise, prayer, repentance. Can God use it to save someone? Of course. But would he do this any more than saving someone in the line at a grocery store? No. In my case, he saved me as I was driving home from work on a dwindling military base in California. He’s saved countless others in all kinds of situations – and quite often in the silence of their rooms, where the only sound may be their own weeping.
This doesn’t mean it can’t happen at Asbury, but I’m also reminded of the warning, “You keep them how you caught them.” That is – if you get them in the door of your church by good music and strong programs, that’s often how they’ll stay. And when that goes, so do they. Likewise, if you get them in the door with the promise of an experience – something that they think has been missing all of their lives – it’s only natural that when the experience is over, the Christian life quite suddenly becomes a drag that’s far too easy to let drift away.
But get them in the door with the Word, faithfully preached, and maybe you’re on to something. Someone who comes to God hearing that they’re a sinner in need of a savior — and that Jesus is just that savior — wants to hear more. The Bible points us there in Paul’s letter to the church in Rome (10:17): “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” And this is what Jesus says in Mark’s gospel (2:17): “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” The one who doesn’t think he’s sick — that is, the one who thinks he’s righteous enough on his own — doesn’t lean that way. “I’m good. Don’t need any help. Thanks anyway.” But the one who understands the need for rescue is the one who stays for the joy that follows.
Really, my bottom line is not to condemn what’s happening at Asbury – I applaud it (in as much as I know about it) and I’m happy for it. You should know how much I love uplifting music – I’ve shared some of my favorites here on occasion. And sometimes we really need a revival in our lives. It’s just that I’m looking beyond it here. I want to see how it…or anything else that comes of it for that matter…advances the real message. That could take some time.
I’m not sure I agree with “you keep them how you caught them.” That concept ignores growth. How I started is not where I am now in so many ways. Asbury is not my style but could be the spark that lights someone else’s fire. I am hopeful.
Sure — “keep them how you caught them” is a generalization. But it’s also a bit of a paradox. For a place that puts an overemphasis on the emotional, you’re more likely to have a more shallow understanding of just what you’re doing there, but this doesn’t necessarily disqualify anyone. Jesus himself warned that the world would hate those who followed him. He implied great sacrifice in following him a few times in the Bible. I’m not saying Christian should seek out discomfort and persecution, but I am saying that the person who openly tells the world that Jesus is the only way to salvation — even in a winsome and loving way — is going to get it.
So the question is — will the one who comes into the church to get the “experience” that Asbury is giving them hold fast when they’re called “hateful bigots” and worse once they go back out into the world? I’m afraid far too many might say, “that’s not what I signed up for.” Still, it’s entirely possible that some greater good will come of this. It’s just that I’ve seen my share of “revivals” (Asbury itself is apparently famous for having several in the past) and I’ve not seen any real lasting fruit from them.
It’s just skepticism, not condemnation. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with genuine worship of God. I just fall on the side of tempering expectations. We also must admit that I may be looking at this from a different perspective — informed by different experiences and input — than you. No problems there. It just might look like we’re disagreeing when we’re actually not. Like I said, these are thoughts in progress.
Its not that we’re disagreeing or trying to persuade each other. Your perspective is healthy scepticism and mine is healthy optimism