There isn’t anything wrong with
revival meetings if we know what to expect from them. A
special speaker is capable of dealing with hard hitting
subjects and if someone is offended nothing is lost because
the speaker will be gone in a week.
The first question that must be asked
however is “Who is the intended audience?” This may sound
stupid but it is very important. Yes the audience is people
in church but what is the goal? Is the goal to “revive”
regular Christian who have become caught in a religious rut
or are dealing with issues of sin? Or is the goal to
evangelize the lost and bring them into the kingdom of God?
You need two very different types of approaches.
You may think sin is sin and as long
as the speaker talks about repentance and forgiveness it
will reach everybody because we all struggle with sin. Well,
this may be true but the Christian knows that they struggle
with sin and simply being reminded of their sin and what
God’s Word says about it may be enough to convict. A non
churched person may have no clue what they are doing is sin
and may see no need to stop. Just because some 2,000 year
old book says some things are bad doesn’t mean that they
find relevance in the message.
Of course the bigger question of who
the service is for is how to get them there. If you are
aiming to revive church members, it is enough to get a big
name speaker and promote in the bulletin and on the radio or
newspaper and people will be interested and want to come. It
will be other Christians who come from your church and local
churches, but they’ll come.
The same approach will not work with
non Christians. I dealt with a church that tried this
approach. Their Outreach and Evangelism commission was
planning the yearly revival meeting. They decided that they
needed a big name to draw the interest of non churched
people. First of all, their big name I had never heard of
before so I have no clue why those outside of the church
would have heard of him. Secondly, Billy Graham is probably
about the only name that would be well known and respected
enough by non Christians to bring them to hear what they
know is going to be an evangelistic message.
To reach non churched people, the
church needs to offer them something that they feel they
need. This will depend greatly on your area but there are
ways to connect to the needs of the community. You can offer
Christian debt counseling to those who have debt problems.
You may have something that reaches the needs of single moms
or speaks to men who are involved in hunting.
The options are almost limitless but
if evangelism is the goal you need to ask yourself the
question of what will draw people in. Remember though,
you’re not using the “bait and switch” tactic. Don’t trick
someone into coming to an event that they believe will be
worthwhile only to find out that it’s just a gospel
presentation. This will leave people upset and wary about
any future function that may take place at the church.
Instead use these types of events to make connections with
people outside of the church, let them know that not all
church people are weird but instead have similar interests
as them. And let them know that the church is there and
wants to help them if they are ever needed.
And yes, the gospel can be presented
or Christian values can be taught, just don’t make something
think that they were tricked into coming to church.
Revival should be aimed at people who
have something to truly revive. Evangelism should be
directed at people who need to hear the gospel. Confusing
the two is going to leave at least one group frustrated and
feeling left out. At best you’ve wasted your efforts and at
worst you’ve left people wary of future church events.
