I did want to be a revolutionary (Apr 23-29)
This week in snapshots:
Happy Saturday, you beautiful humans!
Did you ever read Radical, Do Hard Things, Real Love, or any of the books that were advertised to teens in the 2010s? Why?
To be fair, they weren’t just for teens (though Do Hard Things was aggressively “by teens for teens”), but I read them because youth groups and campus ministries were giving them away for free and after making friends who helped me overcome my debilitating depression, I decided that I was going to make my life meaningful according to the doctrine of these titles. Quickly summarized, all of these books said:
“God made you to change the world!”
All of these authors and the pastors who proliferated the message were very convincing that revival is a revolution, and given that Americans are culturally predisposed to revolutionarity, conscripted youth to the cause. And youth are the right conscripts for revolutions, especially in the 2010s when all of our media were about young revolutionaries leading the way to great change in our dystopias, fantasies, science fictions, news outlets, and of course, churches.
And I conscripted. I was sure that God had made me, and I quoted Esther over myself, “for such a time as this” to change my world! I was asked to change the world of the 2010s, and I was told that revival was the change. I’m told Wyoming has never in its history experienced a revolutionary religious shift among her people, and I wanted to be a part of making the difference.
Like the little fish in the stream, I thought that if I swam against the flow, the world would change. How exhausting that was! Me trying to change the world - and trying to ignite a revolution!? I started no revolutions and seemed to make everything I touched, worse! It wasn’t for lack of faith or conviction in the cause, though it may have been for a lack of God’s love in me, but swimming upstream to revolutionize the waters resulted in no outbreak of revivals.
Now, God absolutely revives through revolution. He revolutionized Martin Luther’s life in an instant during a thunderstorm, Saul’s life in blinding light on the road to Damascus, and Thomas’ life by holding hands. The world would be a far bleaker place if people like Wilberforce, Wycliffe, or Joan of Arc had quieted their lives and minded their own business instead of taking the initiative to change their world. History is full of revolutionary revivals!
But while Jesus’ death and resurrection immediately destroyed Death and the Grave, the full fruition of His Reign over the Earth started with 12 dudes following him around Galilee all day everyday for 3 years. And yeah, Holy Spirit added 3,000 people to the church in one day, but then for years after that it was “just” a “daily” addition of more and more lovers of God to the body. The Roman Empire didn’t experience a revolutionary revival for another 400-ish years, and that’s only if you believe the account of Constantine’s conversion!
Accounts like the First and Second Great Awakenings or the Hebrides revival or the origins of the Methodists, Quakers, Wesleyans and Lutherans (all revolutionary revivals) are inspiring! But I just can’t help but marvel that Holy Spirit’s first, primary, and prevalent method for changing the world seems to be ordinary men and women finding extra-ordinary ways to make sure that the people around them are treated with the kind of love that they receive from the Father.
And even though it removes me from ever being the protagonist of a dystopia, fantasy, or news outlet, that’s the kind of revival I want to get behind. I’m not usually in a position to do anything meaningful with politics, profits, or power. But I’m always in a position to love my neighbors with the love I receive from God my Father.
God did, in fact, make you and me to change the world. And the change He has through you might actually be revolutionary, but mine? I am so convinced mine is extra-ordinary. The love of God is radical enough, difficult enough, and real enough that it changes the world - it always has, and it always will! I need to receive a lot more of His love and to have a lot more practice before I become any good at swimming the way He’s invited me to (and spoilers! It’s not necessarily upstream :)
Are you revolutionary? Tell me some cool stories! Are you extra-ordinary? What are some of your favorite ways to show people they are loved by God? Are you both? How do you bring God’s Presence into your ordinary life?
May love, joy, and peace fill you as you change the world this week,
—Beth
