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Spiritual Revolution Does Not Equal Jesus Revolution
One of the latest big hits at the movie box office is, somewhat surprisingly, a religions film called Jesus Revolution. It is the story of the beginning of the Jesus Movement that made a profound impact on American society back in the 1970s. It was a grass roots revival movement that swept the nation, primarily among the youth culture, and had a huge impact on society in general.
Between that time and now, there has not been another Christian revival movement like it. But it appears that we may be on the cusp of something similar.
Back in early February of this year, at a regularly scheduled chapel service at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, students started lingering in the auditorium as God began touching their lives. The movement in the chapel building continued for about three weeks and finally had to be officially terminated because the school had to continue with its work.
But while the meetings in the chapel ceased, the revival itself didn’t stop. In fact, it has spread all over the country, and continues even now.
Our country is currently in a real mess, and there is a massive spiritual vacuum. It is this vacuum that created the opening for this revival movement. But just to be clear, just because there is a spiritual vacuum doesn’t mean that it will necessarily be filled by Christianity.
Back in the 70s, while there was a similar spiritual vacuum that resulted in spiritual revival, it also produced something else – false religions. Numerous cults also emerged that sucked in people who were spiritually hungry, but didn’t know how to discern the truth.
A similar thing is also happening today. Perhaps you are familiar with the name Rainn Wilson. He was the guy who played Dwight on the hit TV series, The Office. Wilson grew up in the Baha’i faith. But at a relatively young age, he began rejecting “everything to do with religion and faith and spirituality.”
In his 20s, Wilson lived in New York and was struggling to make it as an actor. Because of that struggle, he began dealing with acute anxiety, depression, and addiction. That caused him to begin searching for answers. As he searched, he came to a personal resolution regarding his uncertainty concerning a higher power. Now, he is quite convinced that there is a God.
And how does he know? He says, “I know that I love. I know that I love my wife. I know that I love my son. I know that I love my father who passed away a few years back.” And, for him, that feeling of love is all the assurance he needs to believe that God exists.
But what god is he talking about? To get at that he says, “We need to strive to go back to so many indigenous faiths [where] art, nature, and faith were interconnected and not divergent.”
Huh? What are we looking at here? What we are looking at is the way a lot of people think these days. They believe in “God,” but they are not talking about the God of the Bible. They are convinced of some vague sense of spirituality that they call God, but it is nothing they can identify specifically. It is a modern attempt to fill the spiritual void in their life with a substitute for the real thing.
The spiritual vacuum in people’s hearts is real. We really are spiritual persons created in the image of God with a built-in need to fellowship with Him. God does exist, but He is not some nebulous “something” out there that we can feel but not known. He is a real person who has created us with the capacity to know Him in a personal relationship and has actually revealed Himself to us. All we have to do is open our lives to Him.
But the fact is, most people do not, and will not, do that. As strong as the tug is to fill the void in our hearts, there is an equally strong pull to rebel against God. He has put in us an awareness of His existence. But we also have a sin nature that is egged on by an objectively real satanic presence that pushes us to look for fulfillment in other places.
That tendency to rebel against God is the source of the various attempts to find God in places where He does not exist. That is what makes people look for fulfillment in various cults and false religions, in nebulous “spirituality,” and in sensuality.
Yes, we do live in a day where the spiritual vacuum is increasingly powerful. And yes, there is a movement of God that is drawing people to Christ. But this same vacuum is also leading many to turn to false beliefs. It is up to us, as Christians, to keep our eyes and ears open for the cries of those who are searching. They are out there, and we have the opportunity to show them the real truth.
Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books entitled The Truth Mirage, Rules for Christians Radicals, Liberalism vs. Conservatism, and his latest book Shattering the Truth Mirage and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah.
You may also contact Freddy at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.
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