Baptist Press recently reported on a Jan 7-8 meeting of Southern Baptist evangelists in Jackson, TN. Among other things, these brothers met to discuss and decry a growing lack of demand for their services. Some of the factors listed as contributing to the decline in "revival meetings" included: Calvinism, seeker-friendly churches, friendship evangelism, the bad impression of televangelists, and bad "P.R." (pastor relations). For all I know, any one of these things may be a factor. I have a hunch, however, there's more to it...
In southern Missouri (where I am from) the people that settled this part of the country were from rural Appalachia, where the tradition of the "camp meeting" (staple of the Second Great Awakening) was strong. They brought this tradition with them to the Missouri frontier, and the idea of a "revival meeting" remains strong to this day among older Baptists in our area. (If you can erect a brush harbor in a church member's field, all the better!) Many of the "old-timers" still wax nostalgic about two-week revival meetings.
In southern Missouri (where I am from) the people that settled this part of the country were from rural Appalachia, where the tradition of the "camp meeting" (staple of the Second Great Awakening) was strong. They brought this tradition with them to the Missouri frontier, and the idea of a "revival meeting" remains strong to this day among older Baptists in our area. (If you can erect a brush harbor in a church member's field, all the better!) Many of the "old-timers" still wax nostalgic about two-week revival meetings.
In the Second Great Awakening, people would come from miles around to attend a revival meeting. Some would come for the show, some would come for the social experience, some would come to simply escape the monotony of the frontier. Protracted meetings, emotional appeals, and altar calls were the name of the game. (And it wasn't preachin' until the preacher was red-faced and pounding on the pulpit!) And often times dozens, if not hundreds, of people would make professions of faith during the course of one of these events. Sounds good, right?
Interestingly, there is a strain of thought on the Second Great Awakening that it did more harm than good. One man says the movement replaced the idea that revival was "prayed down" with a conviction that revival is "worked up." In other words, that it was not a genuine movement of God, but a movement of man that resulted in thousands of false converts, simply caught up in the antics and passion of the moment. That it produced a shallow, emotionally dependent form of Christianity that exists to this day... But, I digress.
The point is, a lot of churches today still announce a "revival meeting" as though the very words will bring people flooding in the doors. They hang fliers, and run ads in the newspaper. (And in the interest of full disclosure, I have led churches to do this very thing.) Please hear my heart. I don't mean to sound critical. But we no longer live in the early 19th century, or even the late 20th century. It is a different time, and we must be willing to adapt our methods to reach 21st century people. With that being said, here are some miscellaneous comments/questions I have regarding modern day revival meetings:
1) Do we really want revival, or are we simply nostalgic for revivalism? There is a difference. One is a movement of God that may or may not take place as a result of revival meetings. The other is a sentimentality for the old camp meeting... an age gone by. One will result in changed lives. The other will result in tired bodies.
2) On that note, I think the biggest factor in the decline of revival meetings is simply time. The average American family is running like crazy to keep up with everything. (As opposed to the Second Great Awakening when they were looking for anything to do after dark!) Even the faithful few who will push aside everything else to make the weeknight revival meetings are running on fumes when they get there. They love the Lord, but they are in no state to worship. You can see the weariness in their eyes.
3) Lost people as a rule, in this culture, will not come to revival meetings. I'm sorry, that's just where we're at. I say that from many hours' experience knocking on doors, inviting lost people to revival. Now if the purpose of a revival meeting is to revive God's people, and not to evangelize, that's another thing. But even that begs further discussion...
4) While I can certainly see the benefit of a churchwide focus on prayer and revival, I do not see a New Testament model for "priming the pump" of the church twice a year to do its job. If we're not careful, we can create an unhealthy dependence on "the next big event." (And yes, the same can be said of mission trips.)
5) Is the modern day vocational evangelist really the proper manifestation of the gift described in Ephesians 4? (I'm sincerely asking.) As far as I know, Philip is the only evangelist described in the New Testament, and his ministry seemed exclusively geared to the lost (think Billy Graham crusade), as opposed to traveling church to church, preaching to the saints.
The last thing I would want to do is discourage brothers in Christ who are faithfully preaching the Gospel. I hope I haven't done that. The truth is that Selmore has had several revival meetings under my pastorate, and will almost certainly have more. If I know anything about myself, I will reverse course on this topic more than once. I guess the best way to put it right now is that I'm a skeptic of the revival meeting's viability in 21st century America.
One thing is certain, I am all for revival in God's Church, however it comes. And I hope you are too! The Good Lord knows we need it!