The American Church Needs Revival More Than Ever
By Anne Kerhoulas
The American church needs revival. It’s fragmented and fractured, limping past scandal and hypocrisy, and lacking in zeal for the Lord. But as Russell Moore argues in his article for Christianity Today, revival does not simply mean church attendance rising without radical reformation of the ways the church has veered off course. The revival we need is one of repentance, reformation, and a powerful work of the Holy Spirit.
In light of rampant spiritual abuse in churches, Moore considers how the church as a body has experienced trauma similar to a physical body that has experienced abuse. Bessel Vander Kolke, in his book The Body Keeps Score, illustrates how trauma is stored in our physical body just as much as our mental or physical state. Because of this, our bodies are often the first thing to let us know that something is not right. And for a person (or a church) to heal from trauma, there must be a true unearthing, a willingness to be honest and understand and look at the ugliness full on so that we might truly heal.
This, Moore argues, is the only course the church can follow. We must be willing to walk the path of healing and forgiveness so that we do not go on to repeat the abuses that were handed to us. We do not need a superficial boom in the American church, we need reformation and repentance that is led by the Holy Spirit—we need true revival.
Christian Union is praying and seeking the Lord for revival in the American church. From our CU Fire Retreats that are designed to both teach the history and biblical precedents for revival to our Universities ministries that call students into true discipleship and obedience to the Lord, Christian Union longs to see the Lord pour out His Spirit and renew our nation once again.
Read the full story here.
