Revitalization of our churches is one of the core goals of our association.
I was recently speaking on revitalization and there was a lady in the group who I could tell was not on board with what I was saying.
She raised her hand and in a very standoffish way asked, “Without all the mumbo jumbo, what does revitalization mean?” I replied, “It means our churches need revival.” She instantly smiled and agreed.
Once the connection was made between revitalization and revival, she went from opposing it to advocating for it.
The dictionary’s definition of revitalization is, “the act of imbuing something with new life and vitality.”
The definition of revival (in a Christian sense) is, “making alive again those who have been alive but have fallen into a cold or dead state.”
Each are listed as a synonym of the other and each shares the same root word of “vitality.”
Burdette
The reason it is so important to connect the two is because while revitalization might be a new word in some church circles, the principle of revival has been around for ages.
Churches and members have always known we tend to drift away from God and our mission. My favorite hymn, “Come Thou Fount,” has the verse, “Prone to wander Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.”
Our passion and fire for the things of God will begin to grow cold over time if it is not stoked.
We need periods of time where we examine our hearts and actions as churches and members.
We need to look at ourselves and ask, “Are we fulfilling the Great Commission? Are we reaching our community? Have we become self-serving and self-pleasing?
It was common in the past for churches to have revival services yearly to reenergize members. It was understood that we need this in an ongoing and periodic fashion.
It is the same with the church as a whole.
We should be looking at the effectiveness of our ministries in an ongoing and periodic fashion. We should examine ourselves honestly.
Is there fruit in what we are doing, or is it simply convenient for us to continue as we always have? Is the Spirit present in what we are doing, or is it merely our preference of how things should be?
Are lives being dynamically transformed, or are we just making our lives more comfortable?
The revitalization/revival process is meant to shake us out of our comfort zones because that is what we need.
Examination (looking at ourselves), confession (admitting our sins) and repentance (changing our behavior) are necessary for our health and growth as the household of God.
So, as our association advocates for revitalization among our churches, it is not a call for us to change to be like “the latest and the greatest,” but it is a reminder for us to engage in the time-honored practice of fanning the flames and earnestly seeking revival. B&R
