Revival

I thought I'd try to breathe some life into this blog with some comments on revival. I didn't really intend for the pun to find its way into this, but there it is.

I think the breath has been knocked out of much of what we recognize as the church. Institutional church seems to become either more and more corrupt, or more and more irrelevant. I'm not necessarily against institutional church, but honestly I'm more fascinated with the communal model as it is displayed in the Book of Acts.

Now, I go to a church with Pentecostal backgrounds. I, however, grew up in a Baptist background where the Book of Acts is rarely mentioned. From my Baptist heritage I was taught a love for the works of Paul and the centrality of the cross. And for that I am incredibly thankful. But I was never really taught much about Acts. And in Pentecostal circles Acts is of huge importance.

But I don't really want to discuss the Pentecostal view of Acts in this article. I instead want to simply focus on the ecclessiology in the book. The Church in the Book of Acts seems more like an informal community built on relationships than a strict institution. Surely there was a sense of leadership. Society simply can't function without a sense of who is in charge. But the concept of the Church as strictly an institution is foreign to the Book of Acts. The emphasis seems to be more on the family of God than anything else. The passages in chapters 2 and 4 that speak of the communal life of the Church can be quite shocking to the modern mind. We read our cultural beliefs back into the Bible too often, and in this case it would be incredibly easy to think of communism.

Isn't it interesting that our fundamental belief as Americans, that is of extreme individualism and pursuit of personal pleasure, stands directly opposed to this view in Acts? We see a community that puts the needs of others above the needs of self. We see leaders in the church who were not viewed as demi-gods, but as servants of Jesus Christ. Celebrity mentalities in the early church were strongly rebuked by leaders like Paul. We read of the warnings of the pursuit of wealth. We see people who believed in the supernatural power of God. We see massive revival.

In short, the Book of Acts presents us a picture of the true Church of Jesus Christ. And I argue that it looks little like the established, institutional church in America.

So here's my point of discussion. How do we as Christians in America walk the fine line of being the Church that Christ has called us to be, and yet do this through the institutional form that is the established vehicle of ministry in our culture?

How do we seek revival when everyone around us seems to only want a little religion?