Vol III: #63 Shaking and Quakin’
“Revival has broken out at the school. The Lord is doing really amazing things! It’s so good. You should come.” This was the admonishment given to me recently by my friend Eliab. We haven’t been friends for too long so I doubt he detected my cynical reaction. Instead, he continued to describe the scene at Bethel, one full of shouting and singing, flopping bodies and “something breaking lose.” Each word felt like nails on a chalkboard, but instead of a chalkboard, his words were nails across my heart.
I’ve seen people shake and shout and confess their sins. I’ve watched dirty old men proclaim there redemption and women dance like the world depended on it. And for some, perhaps most, it is an fleshly act, one they so desperately want to be true. Alternatively, for some, perhaps only a few, they are having an encounter with God Almighty. It is for the few that I kept my mouth shut as Eliab continued to describe events unimportant to me.
Outpourings are common at Bethel. And they tend to look identical. I knew that before I attended their school. I knew their “we owe the world an encounter with God” mantra. And I knew they prized the yelling and screaming and dramatic displays of the Holy Ghost. The senior pastors and leaders are, after all, spiritual descendants of the Azusa Street Revival. They don’t do quiet, solemn, or calm. And they take commandments to shout, dance, and heal the sick literally. I knew all this.
The real rub is I know it takes all kinds. It takes all kinds of moments and experiences to attract people to the Lord. For some, it’s revival as described by my friend Eliab. For others, it’s more private and intimate and all the variations in between. The Lord meets us where we are and we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be jealous of what the Lord does to or with someone else. I encounter the Lord through great art and the beauty of snow-capped mountains, which is odd to some fellow Christians. Sounds like I’m a hippy or New Age-y. So I ask, isn’t the point of all this, flopping or art or music, to turn our hearts toward Him? Seems to me the Holy Spirit uses more than a nightcrawler to bait the hook.
I think my true resentment comes from feeling unappreciated by churchy folks. Do I really care if people quake and shout? No. But what if they are faking? Nope. Not really my business either. What hurts my heart is when I tell someone I cried in wonder while staring at painting and they give me the confused dog response and push the conversation forward. But then if I said I was “drunk” or sobbed into the carpet during worship, the backslaps wouldn’t stop coming. Intellectually, I understand it’s a cultural value where emphasis is placed on the outward display of the Lord’s power and presence. When, in fact, Jesus is at the center of both moments, one no more important than the other. Still sucks to be unappreciated.
Thankfully, the Lord doesn’t give a damn about my resentment or self-pity. And I know these revivals are good and necessary. I look forward to the day when we see any encounter with Jesus as good and necessary, regardless of location or physical display. And what a day it’ll be, when God is allowed to love His people without our prejudice or judgment.
