Are Claims of Revival Today a Hoax?
Here’s Why We NEED an American CHRIST Awakening!
David Bryant
Last week, The Hill published an opinion piece entitled “America’s Christian revival is a hoax” by John Mac Ghlionn. It’s insightful. Powerful. Profound. Timely. I encourage you to read it.
In this post, I want to excerpt a few of John Mac Ghlionn’s spot-on observations and then add some brief thoughts of my own that confirm and expand on each. See what you think.
Mac Ghlionn observes:
This is where the revival narrative falls apart. What we are seeing is not a return to shared worship, shared discipline, or shared belief, but a Christianity detached from its roots and repackaged for mass consumption.
I would simply add: Tragically, millions of self-proclaimed Christians have failed to get solidly rooted in the real Jesus—the Jesus who is ascended and active, reigning and redeeming, advancing the kingdom purposes of God in our lives and in our nation, and who is to have the supremacy in everything (Colossians 1).
To go one step further: What has happened is that many of us have “repackaged” God’s Son, believing that his will is to serve our needs, meet our goals, and fulfill our desires to prosper and thrive.
The columnist concludes:
What we’re seeing is a shift from Christianity as a lived faith to Christianity as a loose identity.
The reality: The deeper crisis for millions of Christians in our nation is that the “identity” of Christ himself has been shifted, diminished, and repurposed to become someone whose main “job” is to save, bless, and protect God’s people.
This leaves multitudes of God’s people experiencing an anemic Christianity due to our very loose understanding of who the person of the risen, ruling Lord Jesus Christ is himself. We know and experience very little of who he wants to be TO us, FOR us, OVER us, BEFORE us, WITHIN us, THROUGH us, and UPON us—just for starters!
In Mac Ghlionn’s words:
Many Americans still enjoy the aftertaste of Christianity.
I would simply add: Very true. But I would take it a step further. There exists an aftertaste of Christ himself that has spread so thoroughly throughout our culture that it keeps many Americans and American Christians expectantly seeking someone who will fulfill the role of Christ as a “rescuer” and “strongman” and “protector” for us.
But we want a Savior without the cost of committing ourselves to the extent of actually losing our lives for his sake and his redeeming cause (Mark 8; Philippians 3). We want someone who promises to be our mighty champion—who will reassure us with words like these that, truthfully, only Jesus has the authority and power to say these words to us: “I alone can fix it.”
John writes:
They like the language of love and dignity. They like the emphasis on meaning. What they’re less enthusiastic about are the boundaries. The Sermon on the Mount is widely admired in the same way people admire mountain ranges from a distance.
I would simply add: This is on the right track. In fact, I have a whole “meditation” at the beginning of my book Christ Is NOW! in which I talk about how the Christian’s calling is to move from “base camps to mountaintops.”
However, as I observe in that little chapter, far too many Christians are quite content to reside in their base camps and settle for simply admiring the far-off mountain ranges from a distance. They ignore or push away those who invite them to join them in scaling the lofty peaks. To borrow the words of C.S. Lewis, we hold back from going “higher up and deeper in” with our relationship to our reigning Savior. We fail to experience the thrill of moving onward and upward into more of Christ. As Colossians 3 puts it:
Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective (vv. 1-2, MSG).
John notes:
The cross is celebrated, preferably in gold or silver, and preferably without the carrying part. Christianity remains appealing as a cultural accent—less so as a full-time commitment.
I would simply add: Millions of us Christians incorporate Christ into our lives as a kind of flavoring—instead of becoming ourselves the ones who bring the feast of Christ and the gospel to others because of how the “full course” of the life-giving truths of his person and power, his glory and greatness, has filled and fed our own souls, first of all.
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Please make time to read all of “America’s Christian revival is a hoax.”
Then, download my latest eBook, free to you at ChristNow.com, and learn about the kind of “revival” I do see coming and why I call it an American CHRIST Awakening. No more “hoaxes.” They will be replaced by a “NEW American Revolution” centered around the Lord Jesus Christ!
About the Author
Over the past 50 years, David Bryant has been defined by many as a “messenger of hope” and a “Christ proclaimer” to the Church throughout the world. Formerly a minister-at-large with the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, president of Concerts of Prayer International (COPI), and chairman of America’s National Prayer Committee, David now provides leadership to ChristNow.com and Proclaim Hope!, whose mission is to inspire, equip, and serve an “American CHRIST Awakening”. Download his widely read ebooks at ChristNow.com. Enjoy hundreds of hispodcast episodes. Meet with David through Zoom or by in-person events through David Bryant LIVE! Learn much more about David and his mission here.
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