How to Kill a Movement

During the course of reading about church history and the great revivals, I have noticed a pattern. It seems that every time a mighty work of God breaks out, it just erupts and lays havoc to the hearts of men…all in a good way, of course. You can’t pinpoint its movements or what precisely sets it off. You can find some key principles that encouraged it to happen however. Dan Hayes outlines them in his book, Fireseeds of Spiritual Awakening. He says that God's people must:

• recognize a desperate need for spiritual awakening
• humble themselves before Him
• confess their sin and repent
• continually and earnestly pray
• call others to join with them to meet these prerequisites
  

On the other hand, I find it less difficult to see what slows the movement and eventually halts it dead in its tracks. That something: our own structure.

We love the wild outbreak of revival. It’s like entering a dark forest and encountering a savage lion. The rush captivates us as we watch him tear through the thick jungle in search of prey. We bring a few people to see him at work. They too are captivated and bring others.

Then, someone has the wonderfully fancy idea of catching the lion and bringing him into town for all to see. “Hey, we could even take the lion around the world!” someone exclaims. Thus, the fearsome lion from the dark and dangerous jungle settles for the cool clean cage and hearty steaks of the lion tamer. Although it took a little effort to cage the lion, the transition to domesticated life happened rather smoothly.

We take him around to all the towns nearby. At first, people “oohh” and “aahh” in amazement. But gradually, the wildness of the lion seems to fade and the interest of the people wanes. Someone says, “The lion deserves something bigger! Let’s build a magnificent structure for him and add some other elements to entertain the people.”

Well, you see where I’m headed. In my simplistic analogy, I simply draw attention to our need to “cage” the beast. In our sincere desire to help others experience a great movement, we often smother it with structure.

German church researcher Christian Schwarz says, "We can learn about the church by carefully pondering and analyzing the lilies - how they grow. The growth of plants and other living organisms reveal that they have a 'biotic' potential, the inherent capacity of an organism or species to survive and reproduce. This type of natural growth is not mechanical or artificial. It is God-given."

Don Hayes shared his prerequisites for spiritual revival at a large Campus Crusade for Christ fall conference in California back in 1984. Although hundreds of university students attended, only eight men came from UCLA. Those men, however, took what they had heard to heart. They returned to campus and committed themselves to pray daily for revival no matter how long it took.

Well, it didn't take long. More people began to come to their humble prayer meetings. Many began joining Bible studies and other gatherings. Just a short six months later they had over 100 students attend a spring conference.

The ministry saw dramatic growth for the next few years, but the growth soon dwindled away. In a parenthetical statement, Hayes recounts his questioning of a Campus Crusade staff member several years later. He asked what caused the awakening to die down after three years. The staff member replied, "No question about it. We began to over-organize God's work."

I wonder how many of us could say the same thing about the times we have seen God move in mighty ways. I wonder what the Church might look like if she weren't dressed in a large sanctuary accessorized by the ministry professionals' sermons and tools. Hmmm...