Revivalism is the new Legalism

As soon as something out of the ordinary happens, it’s labeled a “revival.” Say for example if Christians gather to practice a fundamental component of Christianity (worship), and they do so in a chapel at a Christian college, then it’s a worship service. But if they worship for several days, then it’s a revival.

And then “revival chasers” comes out of the woodwork and flock to the revival like pigs to a trough of corn. And false prophets makes news about it hoping it would validate their “prophelies" of a great end-times revival.

What’s a revival? We have an example from the Bible: Pentecost.

What happened in the Upper Room? Did the disciples sit and worship until the gentile world flocked to Jerusalem? No. And had they done so we would not have something called “Christianity.” As soon as the Spirit came upon them, they had to “go into all the world and preach the gospel.” Jesus had clearly instructed them that their time of “waiting on God” would be over at that point: “tarry in Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

Asbury Revival

Feb 8, 2022, a revival was sparked by students who stayed to worship in Hughes Auditorium following a chapel service. The news quickly spread through social media and in Christian publications. By its end, the revival brought 50,000–70,000 visitors, mainly Christians, to Wilmore, KY.

This revival was thought to be the beginning of the last Great Awakening. After all, Christians were now praying. International House of Prayer (IHOP), have prayed and worshipped 24/7 since 1999, but no one calls that a revival.

IHOP’s founder, Mike Bickle, who’s now in the headlines due to the sexual abuse allegations against him, brought to the Evangelical world's attention that Bob Jones had prophesied; when the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl, the last end-time, “billion souls revival” would break out.

Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl on February 12, and since god is a huge fan of the football team and had only waited on them to win, he could now bless his people with an outpouring of the holy spirit. Christians believed the lie. They forgot that the Kansas City Chiefs won in 2020 and that nothing had happened then.

Be that as it may, I actually loved the Asbury Revival. I visited several times and I was thrilled about what was happening in the lives of young Christians. However, I noticed a lack of the sharing of the gospel. Worship continued 24/7, a few minutes were dedicated to reading the Bible, they had some testimonies, and a 5-minute speech followed by an invitation to trust Christ. As amazing as that is, I thought it would be even greater if 10 or 15 minutes, or even an hour or more out of the 24 hours could be dedicated towards gospel advancement.

And when I pointed it out on social media, I realized quickly how many Christians are offended when someone highlights the gospel’s importance. The gospel is a taboo. And anyone who shared any concern over the emphasis of the gospel was immediately labeled a “Pharisee”, by people who attacked their brothers in the name of defending their brothers at Asbury.

The Legalism of Revivalism

What I will share now, actually has nothing to do with Asbury, but it has to do with the concerns that arose in me at that time, when “Evangelicals” came against me for even daring to mention the ‘evangelion’ (gospel). So the following has to do with what I notice in revival meetings and church services in general.

I see religiosity adapting to new forms and expressions, while continuing to wander far from the gospel. Rituals and rules are transposed into new ultra-spiritual lingo connected with revivalism.

Revivalist preachers fire up the crowd to be “radically sold out”, which sounds so spiritual, but in fact is just a legalistic cliché. The gospel is not about being “sold out,” it’s about being purchased by Christ.

The legalistic way of “striving to be better humans” is now camouflaged as “pressing in”. We “press in” to a supposed remote kingdom, when the kingdom has already come. We “press in” to find an obscure god, when God has already broken into our world to reveal Himself and make a new and living way to God. We “press in” for our “breakthrough” which Jesus has already given us.

The hipster-fundamentalist preacher struts across the stage in his skinny-jeans and stirs the congregation into some “charismania.” He makes an industry of re-erecting the veil to the holy of holies, to create a sense of craving, then he eggs them on to “push through.”

After the meeting the service is assessed according to how it scaled in their entertainment value. What they “got out of it” or whether they “were moved” depends on if they experienced goose bumps or “liver shiver.”

This is rooted in enormous pridefulness, that we think we can do what Jesus did. Thus revivalism has become the new legalism. What’s the difference between “law-keeping to earn merits” and “pressing in for a breakthrough”?

There’s an anxiety attached to revivalism’s question of whether God will or won’t “show up.” There’s a sense of striving to “enter God’s presence” in such a way that we feel the need to beg or manipulate God into coming and visiting us. Meanwhile the gospel pleads with us: God already came! And the Christian life is not about entering God’s presence. That only implies that at some point God left us, which He promised to never do. The Christian life is not about a visitation, it is about a life with Christ!

We welcome God’s presence as if we decide whether He’s welcome or not. “Come Holy Spirit!” Where is God coming from? United Airlines 3745? The Holy Scriptures teach that He “fills everything in every way,” that He “fills the heavens and the earth.” Hence God is omnipresent.

But we spend hours in worship services “seeking God’s presence,” as if God is lost and needs to be found. The gospel is not about God playing hide and seek. It’s about how God “was found by those who did not seek” Him, and that He “was made manifest to those who did not ask for” Him, (Rom. 10:20).

We talk about how we “felt God’s presence” at a certain service. Or that His presence “was so strong” or “so thick” in a certain place or at a certain time. What do we even mean? If God’s presence is thick in one place, is it thin in another? Or if it’s strong one time, is it weak another time?

We want “more” of God as if Christ, the fullness of God, is not in us. We “hunger” and “thirst”. Why? What’s wrong with us? “Whoever drinks the water I give them,” Jesus said, “will never thirst,” (John 4:14). “He who comes to Me shall never hunger,” (John 6:35).

There’s a cure for the adrenaline hangovers of so-called revivals. There’s a medicine for the compulsion to “press in.” And it’s Jesus. In Him we can find rest in the Spirit who has already been poured out on all flesh, who is always and everywhere present, rather than trying to “pull down heaven” like the frantic prophets of Baal. Heaven came down and kissed the earth through Christ!