An agnostic and his Hindu wife walked into a church meeting, saw how much the community loved one another, and said: “What do you people have? We want it!” They got gloriously and transformatively saved–regenerated–as new creations, not as a result of the preaching, or a manipulative altar call with the lights turned down low and soft music playing. Rather, they experienced a tangible quality of agape love that they could not understand. Would you like to be in a church like that? Does that sound like “revival” to you? Well, it is a true story of a family and church I personally know. If this interests you, read on, there’s more!

The Backstory

I have had the privilege of working with a certain local church family for almost twenty years. Their story is long and painful. At one time, it was a “successful” charismatic church of 700-800 in attendance that imploded down to 25 or less for several years. The young man (who was the previous pastor’s son) inherited the remnants. He realized that even though they had seemed “successful,” that they had drifted from what really matters. Jesus, and the purity, simplicity, and power of the gospel had gotten lost along the way as they went “gung-ho” for every charismatic fad and trend that came down the pike. 

He determined to make needful, painful, and costly course corrections.  In the recovery process, the young man leading this family of God made some very simple determinations:

• to preach only Jesus Christ and Him crucified and the beauty of the gospel of the grace of God,
• and to determinately practice loving one another.

That’s it, and that’s all.

He told me: “Steve, if that is not enough to win people and keep them, I would rather sell cars.”

He was, and is, right.

Just 3-4 years ago, the tide began to turn with the conversion of the couple I mentioned at the beginning. Since then, some of the most remarkable things I have ever been a part of, or have seen, since the height of the charismatic renewal forty years ago, have been happening in, among, and through that small community.

They would be the first to tell you that there are no formulas for what God is doing. Agape can’t be reduced to a formula. They would also assure you that they are neither super-saints nor angels. They are quite regular folks. However, there are specific kingdom values that they have given themselves to, that will always bear kingdom fruit, for anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Can you imagine a local assembly in the United States, where the following is occurring naturally, effortlessly, and normally:

• Transformative, new creation, conversions – with no harping about hell, no altar calls, with the lights on, no soft music playing and with every head up, and every eye open.
• Integrated and effective discipleship – with no teaching about discipleship and no “discipleship classes.”
• Honor and submission – with no teaching about authority.
• Generous giving – with no teaching about tithing.
• Gifts of the spirit – with no hype, fakery, theatrics, and emotionalism.
• Evangelism – with no soul winning programs.
• Character transformation – with no guilt and shame-based, behavior modification.
• Sermons and teaching – without ego and celebrityism.
• Inter-generational interaction – without duty, obligation, mandate, and coercion.
• City/community penetration –without guilt, cheerleading, and heavily administered programs.
  
• Agape love that unbelievers can see, feel, taste, desire and give testimony to – without sentimental gush.
• You don’t serve the pastor’s “vision” – he helps you with yours.

I can personally attest these things are present in the local family of God to which I am referring.

How Are These Things Possible?

The scriptures tell us that others will know that we belong to Jesus by our agape love one for another–not by the brilliant expository preaching in the sermon, the hot worship team, the mighty spiritual gifts we operate in, the great children’s ministry, the family and young adult ministry, and the great anointing of the senior pastor.  The scripture says that if Jesus is lifted up, He will draw all people unto Himself. The scripture says it is the Holy Spirit’s specific job to testify to and of, Jesus Christ, to make Him known.  It’s really that simple.

We just don’t believe it and we don’t consistently practice it.

We try to extort revival out of God with our endless begging prayers, while we live in functional disbelief and idolatry. Or, we think that if we change our meeting form and expression–move to a living room sofa instead of a sanctuary pew–that we have realized some great progressive development of spirituality. We have not. If the form of our meetings hinders the expression and power of our agape love, we are to be pitied. A change of geography will never suffice for a necessary change of heart and thinking.

So what does keeping Jesus central, first, and last, always, look like? It means in everything we think and do, we emphasize:

• Jesus – not eschatological schemes and plans
• Jesus –  not home church, organic church, or institutional church or any form or method
  
• Jesus – not Israel and end time speculations
• Jesus – not predestination and freewill
• Jesus – not the “anointing”
• Jesus – not “the presence”
• Jesus – not “deeper life teachings” of the third heaven
• Jesus – not the restoration of Davidic praise and worship
• Jesus – not the restoration of apostles and prophets
• Jesus – not pastors and their rhetorical and oratory abilities
  
• Jesus – not recovery of Jewish roots
  
• Jesus –  not “five-fold” ministry
• Jesus – not “kingdom”
• Jesus – not worldly politics: right or left
  
• Jesus – not spiritual mapping
• Jesus – not demons and deliverance ministry
• Jesus – not endless teachings and doctrines
• Jesus – not angels and supernatural experiences
• Jesus – not tithing and sowing and reaping
• Jesus – not authority and submission
• Jesus – not spiritual warfare an spiritual mapping
• Jesus – not gender theology
• Jesus – not the King James Bible
• Jesus – not gimmicky evangelism programs
• Jesus – not speaking in tongues
• Jesus – not gifts of the spirit
• Jesus – not church unity
• Jesus – not theonomy and dominionism
• Jesus – not church growth seminars
• Jesus – not stewardship campaigns for the building fund
• Jesus – not speculations about hell
• Jesus – not abortion and homosexuality
• Jesus – not courtship and dating
• Jesus – not obscure typology
• Jesus – not revivalism (Which is not revival at all.)
  
• Jesus – not praise and worship
• Jesus – not prophecy, dreams, visions, signs, miracles, and wonders
• Jesus – not prayer and intercession
• Jesus – not attending meetings
• Jesus – not social justice

I am sure you get the idea. Does this offend you? It shouldn’t, but if it does, it makes my point. Can it really be this simple? Could it possibly really work? I am here to tell you, yes it can. I have seen it with my own eyes.

However, it is so very easy for Jesus to get lost among His own, in His own house, when lesser things take preeminence. The lesser things must serve the Greater, and they often don’t. They demand preeminence of time, emphasis, money, and resources. In so-doing, they become subtle idols and hindrances to the revival we beg God to bring to us. If we would emphasize the Greater, the lesser things would fall naturally into place. If we have the lesser things, and miss the Greater, we have missed everything.

How are these things possible? Simple: As the overflow of hearts rabidly in love with Jesus, rabidly in love with one another, and busy loving neighbors and the world. It works.

Sign Me Up!

You might say: “Steve, where is this church? I want to go and visit it!” I am not going to tell you, and there are two reasons why:

American Celebrityism

The leadership at this church has wisely realized that they do not want to play into the hands of the American cultural ethos of celebrity and success. They don’t want to grow because of celebrity. The only growth they are interested in is growth from the overflow of integrated love, and that is not something you visit and inspect. You either drink of it, or you don’t. In our world the typical advice to that young pastor would be: Advertise!  Grow big! Do church plants! Promote your ministry! Get on TV! Plant satellite campuses! Beam your sermons around the world! Become famous! That’s how you “do church” Right? No, it’s not.

I joked with the young pastor. I told him:

“You have a problem!” He said: “What do you mean?” I replied, “Good news travels fast. What are you going to do when word gets out of what is happening here and you grow rapidly?”

I was never more proud of my friend (in his mid-thirties) and his answer. He said:

“When the day comes that I do not know their name, and I cannot feel their pain, we shrink our size and reproduce elsewhere.”

That was the right answer. That was a kingdom answer. That was a Jesus answer, but it is not the answer you will get from your seminary professor in your church growth class, or in ego-driven, celebrity pastor, bigger-is-better, American Evangelicalism. This is an example of what I mean when I say if you want revival like I am describing above there are some value systems to which you may deeply, and perhaps subconsciously subscribe, that have to go. Agape is the commerce of the kingdom, but it can’t be marketed.

“There’s Nothing to See in Bethlehem”

Another reason for not telling you where this is happening is because this is a revival of agape. It is not flashy. Part of the problem in all the prayer, anxiety, straining, striving, and begging God to send “revival” to us is our expectations of what we are asking for.  We want revival to look like what it did a generation or two ago. It won’t. Or, we think revival is God endorsing what we are already doing, only making it bigger and better. It isn’t.

There was nothing special about a baby in a manger in Bethlehem.  In fact, most of the folks devoted to the big and spectacular were occupied “worshiping God” in Jerusalem and missed the most significant event of the cosmos  happening right under their noses. You could pass the church I am writing about and not even think anything special was happening there. Just incarnate love in a people . . .  nothing special to see there, just agape.  [sic].

This is not about going to visit some place where something special is happening. We can experience everything I have mentioned if we will get serious about it. Agape works. It is just not flashy, and not practiced very often, very consistently, and with much persistence.

We really don’t believe Jesus Christ and Him crucified is enough. We really don’t believe that if the Holy Spirit would help us to lift Him up, that He really will draw all humanity unto Himself. We are, for the most part, unwilling to give up our investment in all those things listed above that compete with Jesus for center stage, let alone our self-centered and carnal distractions. Praying for revival on top of these preexisting conditions is a waste of time and energy.

Finally, we have to come to grips with our unbelief. God has ALREADY GIVEN US everything necessary for life and godliness. We don’t need to beg Him for “more” of “Him,” or “more of His presence” or more of anything. You and I just need to get on with loving well, abundantly, regularly, consistently, and persistently, and we can experience everything I have written here, and we will have as much revival as we can handle, but it might not be appealing to our religious flesh.

Post Script

Thinking I might just be a “home boy” bragging on friends and people I am personally invested in, two years ago I invited a friend of mine who had neither history nor relationship in this fellowship to come and be with me for a weekend at this church. The brother is my age (60+). He has significant kingdom tenure. At the end of the weekend, he took the microphone, and in a trembling voice said: “I thank God I have lived long enough to see a functioning community where Jesus is really enough.”

I feel the same. I feel like Simeon in the temple. I have lived long enough to see things I never thought I would see.

It is amazing what the Spirit will do in, among, and through a people when agape without a personal agenda is determinately practiced through actionable faith. The good news is, it can happen right where you are. It’s just likely to cost you everything you hold dear.

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