Written by Mark Driskill:
Read Mark 2:18- 22
We are in a day when many are seeking God for revival in our land. Revival is certainly needed, but sometimes when I look around at how we are going about things as a church it makes me wonder what it is we are looking for. We say we want to reach this generation with the gospel, but we are using 100 year old methods to do it. We sing, preach, dress and talk as if we were living in the past and then scratch our heads wondering why no one is coming to church. It makes me wonder if we want revival or if we just want to reminisce.
Often I hear people say “Just give me that old time religion.” I wonder exactly what they mean. Sometimes I run into folks who say, “I wish we could go back to the good old days of the church.” When I hear that I wonder what they are looking for. Which good old days are you looking for? Which period in the past are you longing to re live? Shall we go back to the first century of Christianity? In Acts five we see in that church, if you lied you died. Or maybe we could move ahead a few centuries to the period of the inquisition when you could be brought to trial and killed for your religious opinions. Ahh! The good old days when Christianity was perfect and there were no problems like we have today.
Most of us have to admit when we talk about going back to the good old days of the church are really saying, “I want to go back to what I’m used to.” We say we want revival when what we really want is reminiscing. We want to escape the reality in which we live and hide in some past era when things seemed better. Twice a year churches all over America hold revival meetings hoping to recapture the glory the first and second great awakenings in which revival services were born. They think that doing things the way they were done 100 years ago will somehow bring a fresh move of God. It makes me wonder sometimes what it is we are trying to revive. Are we seeking a move of God that will transform this generation or do we just want to escape into the past? Are we looking to be revived or just to reminisce?
Jesus was criticized because he did not practice the “Old time religion” by fasting along with the Pharisees. He said it was pointless to bring a new work of God and force it into the mold of the past. Today we see the same thing. People are trying to reach a high tech world with horse and buggy methods. According to our passage today I don’t think Jesus would do that. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think we should change the old story of the gospel as some have tried to do. I just think if we really want to see a move of God that will touch this generation we must allow for God to give us new ways of communicating it. We need to stop pining away for the good old days and start praying for great new days. The prophet Haggai said to his people, “The latter glory shall be greater than the former glory.” In other words, “You think the good old days were good, you ain’t seen nothing yet!”
Friends if we really want to see God at work in our day we must open our eyes to the reality in which we live now and ask ourselves how Jesus would do things now, instead of hiding behind our fantasies of yesterday. We need to ask ourselves if we want to see revival or if we just want to reminisce. If we want revival we will open our eyes to the needs and opportunities of the present day and get creative. What if we, rather than
huddling in our pews we stepped into this century and used all this crazy technology to spread the gospel? What if we really got serious about getting the new wine into the hands of this generation and pulled out all the stops while still maintaining the purity of salvations message. What if we stopped reminiscing and started really reviving?
Challenge: Come up with a way to use your computer, Ipod, Blackberry, or whatever you use to spread the gospel. Ask God to show you how to communicate the gospel to your generation.
Mark Driskill and his wife Mary are homeschooling community ministers in Breathitt County Kentucky. They have four children. They co pastor Emmanuel fellowship Church, serve as Camp Pastors at Bethel Mennonite Camp, and Mark Teaches at Oakdale Christian Academy. Mark is web minister for Begotten by the Word , a ministry of Helping Hands Christian Resources. Once a month he preaches on the local radio station through the “Lion of Judah” program.
Mark also preaches in youth rallies and revivals upon request at no charge. Their vision is to see true spiritual awakening come to the mountains of Eastern Kentucky and to the nation.
Contact information:
Email: driskill@hilbillymail.com
Facebook: Mark Driskill
Address: PO Box 1159 Jackson KY.
