On Doubt & Hope Over Awakening
American Christianity has waned nearly all my life, and then this February hit.
Revival. It’s a word which might bring your heart to simmer with vague hope or, if you’re a particularly loud apostate, spasm in rage. But is an American revival really happening? And should I be mad about that?
I don’t know! You got your own feelings, man, and I’m sure there’s a hot-take peddler out there to tell you what you wanna hear. But what I do know is after tracking the narrative of American Christianity for most of my life (abuse & leadership scandals, ideological polarization, declines in church attendance, etc.) the second week of February was as bullish as any I’ve lived through. Let’s recap what’s happened:
Sunday, February 5 - Pastor Timothy Keller publishes an essay in The Atlantic titled American Christianity Is Due For A Revival. With secularism on a multi-decade rise, Keller’s assertion sounds absurdly audacious, though only to those unfamiliar with 2,000+ years of Christian history.
If a church simply adopts the beliefs of the culture, it will die, because it has nothing unique to offer. But the Church has always, especially in times when the faith seemed moribund, introduced unexpected innovations.
There was no such thing as monasticism—through which pagan Northern Europe was turned Christian—until there was. There was no Reformation until there was. There was no revival that turned Methodists and Baptists into culturally dominant forces in the midwestern and southeastern United States—until there was. There was no East African Revival, led primarily by African people, that helped turn Africa from a 9 percent Christian continent in 1900 into a 50 percent Christian continent today—until there was. Christianity, like its founder, does not go from strength to strength but from death to resurrection.
Keller also lists five factors indicating the possibility of an awakening, and three steps required to bring true revival about. I’ll touch on those steps in a bit.
Wednesday, February 8 - A small chapel service at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, runs long after a student’s spontaneous confession. Then it just keeps going. By the time the service disperses sixteen days later, 50k-70k people have visited the chapel to worship God and commune with fellow believers.
February 12 - Lingering controversies from our nation’s most prominent festival of secular capitalism include Rihanna’s half-time performance, officiating which ruined the end of the game, Travis Kelce’s mic-hogging, and a series of moving and vivid commercials about Jesus pointing viewers to HeGetsUs.com.
Is this an LDS thing? was my first thought.
This is how former Burnside Writer & rock musician Brett Bourgeois, always a sharp-minded questioner, put it on Facebook:
“The fact that the commercial was sponsored by … Hobby Lobby, is supposed to force me to be skeptical about their underlying meaning. But damn, I couldn't find anything wrong with them. Especially the second one. I was really moved. I know it's a lot of money to spend on Jesus, money that could have been used to actually help the needy. But JC has taken quite a hit in the last several years, and it was great to see it come back to what's important...”
Of course, He Gets Us was prepared for cynics, and laid out an agenda on their home page:
How did the story of a man who taught and practiced unconditional love, peace, and kindness; who spent his life defending the poor and the marginalized; a man who even forgave his killers while they executed him unjustly — whose life inspired a radical movement that is still impacting the world thousands of years later — how did this man’s story become associated with hatred and oppression for so many people? And how might we all rediscover the promise of the love his story represents? Those are the questions at the heart of He Gets Us.
To reiterate, all that happened over the span of eight days.
I got to wondering about a new American revival a few years back, partly because doomsayers predicting Christianity’s downfall seemed overly self-assured, partly because revivals are so constant, and partly because time is on our side. The history of North American faith is not one of hegemony, but ebbs and flows, and our timeline can be marked by at least three—some say four—major religious awakenings over the last three hundred years:
Beyond this, revivals are often presaged by technological leaps in communication, so if the invention of printing press led into the Reformation, what sort of awakening could the internet and social media bring about?
At the time, I discussed the possibility of revival with my friend Aaron, and he made the point that when the Gospel is the last place society looks for answers, it paradoxically becomes more potent. In other words, if a person’s familiarity with Christianity is as a religion mostly devoted to policing morals or accruing political power, the actual story of Jesus is a world-turning stunner.
But then the COVID years hit, and many congregants—especially those attending out of obligation or ritual—began to quietly back away. My hopes for an American revival seemed squashed. The last few years felt more like an exodus.
Here I’ll confess that I minded less than expected. Even as dear friends stepped away from Sunday services, I felt encouraged by what remained: a core of devoted Christ followers intent to hold on. The folks there on Sunday mostly wanted to be there, and that passion was evident.
But to feel satisfaction in dwindling church attendance, or pride at the loyal few who remain, is a mentality which leads to the resentment of prodigals. Calling myself a Christian means obeying the Great Commission because I know at the core of my heart—where Jesus dwells—that He’s far and away the best character in any story ever told. And since I believe that story is true, I want the people I love to receive the otherworldly benefits of knowing and following him. What sort of man keeps the best story and relationship for himself?
So yes, I’m rooting for revival while holding its likelihood loosely. Our nation—and every other—thirsts for joy, righteousness and peace. Awakenings start us down the path toward that satisfying spiritual fruit.
Yet Atlantic articles, Super Bowl spots, and outpourings of the Spirit at Christian colleges in Kentucky are just baby steps on that path. To close his essay, Tim Keller lists three things which a significant sector of the U.S. Church must accomplish to bring about a true awakening:
An escape from political captivity - “…a demographically shrinking Church that identifies heavily with one narrow band of political actors will not be relevant in America. A dynamically growing body of believers making visible sacrifices for the good of their neighbors, on the other hand, may indeed shape the culture, mainly through attraction rather than compulsion.”
A union of “extraordinary prayer.”- “Historically, during times of fast growth and renewal, Christian movements have been marked by an extraordinary amount of communal prayer.”
The distinguishing of the gospel from moralism - “In traditional Protestant thought, there are two ways to lose one’s grasp on this gospel. The most obvious is ‘antinomianism,’ the belief that I can live any way I wish. But the other way is legalism, the belief that through my moral goodness I can put God in my debt, so he is obligated to bless and favor me. Both reject God as Savior and make you your own savior and Lord.”
Keller closes that section with a recollection of awakening within his own congregation:
For the first five years after my family and I started Redeemer in Manhattan, we saw seasons of remarkable spiritual revival and growth. Scores of people embraced faith who most would have considered unlikely to be Christian converts. Looking back on that time, the most important reason for this was that we were offering God’s grace as a unique path, different from either religious moralism or secular relativism. And going forward, a renewed Christian Church must focus on this identity-altering, life-changing, community-forming message in the same way.
Whether these shifts are really attainable is above my pay grade. Supernatural intervention is needed, and I confess my doubt. But there’s a marked difference in mood from the beginning of this year and now. There’s a flicker of hope. And if the dream that more Americans will know Jesus is stirred in me again, that is enough for now.
I’m grateful for your perspective and reflections. The timeline is definitely interesting. I think the preservation vs. mission thing is real, especially for parents. I see more and more parents prize the protection of their children over the great commission. It’s like the most important things are 1) make sure our kids don’t ditch Christianity and 2) protect them from culture, meanwhile we miss the invitation to make disciples. It is rare to hear a millennial parent excited about “preaching the gospel to the nations.” I understand it...difficult. I’m grateful for your thoughts here, Jordan!
Very good read.