On Camps, Retreats, Revival and the Real World

I have just returned from Centrifuge/M-fuge at North Greenville University.  And in fact as a youth minister, I regularly attend multi-day events.  For me there is youth camp, conferences (like Strength to Stand in January), mission trips, and retreats.  These events are a normal part of every youth ministry I know of, and to some degree they are regular to the life of all American evangelicals.  For the church at large there are often revival meetings and mission trips as well. There is a phenomenon that is common to all these events.  We often call these events "retreats" because at them we retreat or escape from our normal lives.  We back away from many of our relationships (with school friends, coworkers, etc.), and remove ourselves from the media that saturates our lives.  At the same time as we retreat, we spend much more time in worship and Bible study.

In fact, for many American Christians it may be the only time we really study our Bibles.  All of this exposure to God that is foreign to us causes us to hear His voice.  And Christians generally want to please God so we make commitments and experience what I believe is genuine revival.

But then something happens

We go home.

And we return to the same environment that kept us from God before.  We experience the same frustrations at work and school, the same ungodly friends, the same media, music, and images.  I bet you have been there - What happens next?

Sadly, the newfound commitment fades.

I should say again that I believe the revival we all experience during these retreat experiences is genuine.  But if it is genuine why does it not last?

It doesn't last because we return to our normal lives.

So how do we prevent this seemingly inevitable decline?  We prevent it by continuing in the things that brought about the revival in the first place. Spend time daily with the Lord.  Have your quiet time, study the Bible, pray, and meditate on the Scriptures.  If escaping from the media is a big factor for you, be sure to replace that media with something.  Listen to Christian music rather than whatever you were listening to before.  Maybe cut out Desperate Housewives, or Friends or whatever drags your thoughts away from holiness.  Attend church regularly.  For most all evangelicals there are multiple times per week to worship.   While at church, worship God properly, in spirit and in truth.  If you attend church with the wrong attitude or in an unworshipful spirit, you will not benefit.  The Scriptures make it clear that God cannot stand false worship.

I really believe the key to keeping the fire that kindles during these events is that simple.  Keep the commitments you make to God, have regular quiet time and spend time in the fellowship of the saints and corporate worship.

The Elusiveness of Revival

I wrote this post a while back and am just now posting it.  I have rewritten it, I welcome your suggestions, and your feedback on this one. Our country is in desperate need of a great awakening.

My church could use a good revival.

I need a revival.

Except for prayer I have no control over the first two, but I can do something about the third.

Every Christian has experienced a time of spiritual dryness. It happened to the prophets of the Old Testament, the great church fathers, 18^th century giants of the faith and certainly it happens today. Sometimes it seems that God is hiding Himself, though I am certain that that is not the case.

I recently confessed to three of my friends that I have been in somewhat of a spiritual lowpoint lately. While I’m in the midst of this lowpoint, feeling distant from God, I am aware of my situation. I know that I am not where I should be, but it feels as if I’m powerless to fix it.

Here is the question of this post; why is revival sometimes so hard to come by? One thing I do know is that the major problem in a time of spiritual dryness is sin. I know without a doubt that anyone with unrepentant sin will not emerge from such a condition simply by accident. I also don’t believe that God will just yank us up out of the funk without clearing up the sin that we seem unwilling to let go of.

For me, the major symptom of being in this condition is a lack of regular quiet time. When in this condition my quiet times are either sporadic, or low-quality. They sometimes feel like drudgery. Under normal circumstances I enjoy reading my Bible and my time alone with God in prayer is the best time of the day.

This all leads to the next major question; if I realize that sin is what has me in this rut, why can I not simply cut out the sin? I want to stop, I realize that is my major problem. Why is it often difficult to just repent. That is, of course, the key to it all. I can take some comfort in Romans 7:14-25. And I can of course conclude as Paul did ²⁴What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! God provided both forgiveness and way out.