Like many of you, I have been watching snippets of footage on my phone from the current Asbury Revival happening on the campus of Asbury University in Kentucky. The revival has captivated Christians across the country as young and old come to the altars and microphones to confess their sins and align their will with God's. It's been 10+ days now and the fervor to "sit tight and get right" with God is growing and spreading.
Our nation needs revival, no doubt. Many churches have been praying specifically for revival for years without seeing Asbury-type results. As I asked the Lord, 'why hasn't revival come to us?' I was gently reminded that revival STARTS with repentance. Many churches have walked back from preaching the Good news Gospel, which is first and foremost a message of repentance. Maybe it's because the word 'repent' sounds harsh to those of us who don't want to repent. We as Christians need to own the fact that we have relegated the message of repentance to the back pages when, in reality, it's the main story. Now, we lead with messages of grace and mercy allowing many Christians to excuse what we really don't want to change which is our sin nature. (See Hebrews 10:26).
It's like putting a girdle on (OK, body shaper for the younguns) to hide your fat because you don't want to cut back on the carbs and get out and exercise (ouch). Take the girdle off and you clearly see that nothing on your body has changed because you haven't changed your ways.
"Revival" is the fruit of tilling the soil of our hearts and rooting out what isn't Godly.