What Holds Back Revival?
By Dr. Mark Denison
While the church is growing at a record rate in Africa and Asia, the church, on the whole, has stagnated in America. Why is it that 90 percent of evangelical churches in the United States are either in decline or have levelled off? I see three reasons.
1. We have reduced a move of God to a method.
John Knox prayed, “God, give me Scotland, or I die!” He didn’t pray, “God, give me a method, or I die!” Knox prayed desperately, every day for seven years, before he saw the move of God. He never initiated a program or wrote a book on how to bring revival. That is true of each of the Great Awakenings and any great movement of God. The Holy Spirit must never be reduced to a method.
2. We have replaced doxology with orthodoxy.
Don’t get me wrong. Theology and doctrine matter. They always will. But we must never replace experience with hyperactivity. We need a doctrine in our minds, but also a song in our hearts. And it must not come just once. The touch of the Father is designed to stay with us, touching us at our times of deepest needs and greatest emptiness.
3. We have lost our missionary zeal.
Missionaries John Paton and Adoniram Judson both served the Lord in hostile areas, and they both buried their wives and children on the mission field. Through brokenness and humility they saw the Lord touch those who had never heard the message of redemption. When Paton first entered his field of work the locals were filled with demons. When he left, all on the island had become Christians and had renounced the practice of headhunting.