Sound familiar? How many times have you said that to someone whom you were in a relationship with? It always sounds so fitting in the context of the argument, but if you do any honest reflection whatsoever, you (hopefully) are convicted at the arrogance of the statement. Upon reflection, perhaps you consider the amount times you say that or something similar and then it hits you, you are essentially saying that the only time you do offensive things is because the other person has incited it. It is a clever way of totally removing any responsibility from yourself and making the other bear the burden all alone. Of course that is not only wrong, it is extremely arrogant. It is saying that the relationship would be perfect if it weren't for the other person. Now that there is a clear picture, lets take something a little less evident, yet seems to me to be something of a similar (not in every way of course) issue.
When I think in terms of the church, either universal or the one I pastor, I think, we need revival. Anyone with any heart for Jesus would surely agree with me. It seems to me that we are not getting revival for a number of reasons which I will not enter into here, but I was struck by something the other morning. As a pastor I constantly pray for God to bring revival to my church. But I have found a subtle arrogance to that. Until just a few mornings ago, I could not remember the last time I prayed for personal revival. I have always assumed it to be a noble thing to pray for revival to sweep through a church (and I am not saying it is not), but I noticed something about the prayer. It was always a, "God you need to revive these people so that our church will be transformed." Do you heard the subtle danger in that prayer? God fix them, they need to be transformed. That is in fact NOT how the psalms lead us to pray. The focus of the psalms that speak of reviving are very personal. The summation of Psalm 143 is David pleading with God to deliver him and revive him. For David, revival started with self and it involved a few key things.
First, David says that he will remember the days of old. This is not merely a cognitive thing, it is remembering with a view to living in the reality that God is covenant Lord. It is active obedience. Second, David says that he will meditate upon and ponder the works of God. He is committing to ingesting the word of God and letting that weigh upon his own heart and soul that it might redirect his living. Third, David says that he will stretch out his hands to God. The culmination of living for God and filling his heart with God was worship. David didn't look at the covenant community and say bring revival, he said, revive me! In other words, if we want revival, I think it starts with praying for ourselves to be revived. Of course it is always easier to pray for "them". When we ask God to revive us however, we are aware of the change that is going to have to take place and frankly, I think that scares us.
I want God to revive His church, but I am convinced that I must be praying primarily for my personal revival. I am not going to quit praying for corporate revival, I am simply making my prayers more personal. It is not easy because now I have to face those idols that have lay hidden in my heart for so long. I am praying with David for God to deliver me from my enemy. I am praying for the fire of God to sweep through my own heart. I am no longer saying revive them, I am praying with intense passion for God to revive me, to revive us.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment