Now and at the Hour of Our Death: Christian Revival Is Already Underway

Loss made us fall to our knees, reviving a desire for more

We are slaves to habits, routines and trusted sources. A global pandemic broke everything including our lifelines and chains.

“Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey?’’ St. Paul asked. (Romans, 6:16, NIV)

Our choice, St. Paul wrote, is to decide who or what we will follow and obey: earthly things, habits and routines? Or God and His ways?

Our sudden global pause (or freedom) from our old ways forces us to reflect. These same forces are reviving Christianity, making us ask the essential question of all religions: Why?

A similar return to faith occurred during World War II, at the outbreak of the 1991 Gulf War and immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks on America. But in those cases, churches were open. This crisis is different.

Forced to close buildings, the Church and the Way are deployed

From around the world, we hear reports of Christians taking the Word to all nations and making new disciples in the process:

• From Ireland, A former Christian missionary from Nigeria, working as a custodian, prayed with COVID-19 patient Lee McClelland, who passionately described being in isolation: “When no one else, no pastor, no friend, no family members — when no one else was allowed in, God sent a cleaner… When God needs to reach you, He knows exactly who is the right person. And in that moment of time, it was a cleaner. No one else could get in: God sent a cleaner.” A video of his testimony (below) went viral.
• From Detroit, St. John Hospital, which had 69 patients on ventilators last week, was showered in prayer. Dr. Thomas Graves and Richard Hass, leaders of a nearby Catholic Men’s Fellowship, began marching with a cross in front of the hospital praying for the sick and the whole wide world. Each day, the numbers of people praying grew (both in person and people praying online) as the caseload within the hospital peaked then eased.
• From Italy, Pope Francis stood alone in a near-empty St. Peter's Square, delivering an Urbi et Orbi blessing. The Vatican streamed it live and Lara Eugeni responded on Facebook: “I never believed, I was always agnostic. Yet now I am here with tears praying that all this will end. Lord, protect the people I love. I just want to be able to hug my family again.”
• From Great Britain, Queen Elizabeth II delivered the first-ever Easter message of her 68-year reign, telling her people: “Easter isn’t cancelled; indeed, we need Easter as much as ever… The discovery of the risen Christ on the first Easter Day gave his followers new hope and fresh purpose, and we can all take heart from this. We know that coronavirus will not overcome us. As dark as death can be — particularly for those suffering with grief — light and life are greater.’’
• From New York, where half the U.S. cases are occurring, Father George Rutler explains: “parochia is an existence outside the confined dwelling…it means a family aware of more than itself…The parish is an atom of existence, and everything in a parish, from baptisms to burials and all the joy and grief in between, is a microcosm of life.”
• From Columbia, the sight of a “Jesus Christ” figure on a tree trunk has inspired crowds to leave their lockdown: “They are here to see the figure of what they say or believe is the figure of Christ, they have forgotten about coronavirus and are currently here looking at this figure.”
• From Hong Kong, Francis Chan sees too many people “running on treadmills” their whole life: all I have to know is run, run,… You can’t control your life… Maybe this time of isolation has a purpose and the purpose is, He wants to be with me and He’s telling me ‘I want to stop you for a while... Be Still and know that I am your God… I want to be with you. I want to connect with you…’ He’s saying ‘I want you right now’ … God wants to you get off that machine and get into a deep relationship with Him.’’’

Chan cites James 4:5 (NIV): “Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?’’

All around, I find people who can't go to church so they are taking their faith to the world. For example, our friends Drew and Steve just started a new charity where they will buy gift cards from local restaurants (that desperately need business) then give the gift cards to first responders and people in need.

About two dozen men from my church gathered at a nearby state park and each picked up a large hand-made cross (mine weighed 21 pounds) slinging them over our shoulders and hiking three miles through the woods praying the Stations of the Cross.

We are what we eat, follow and obey (which means to “listen intently”)

A record number of people (about 4 billion people around the world) are under some form of “stay at home’’ order. All have (unintentionally) found themselves living and experiencing the Christian traditions of Lent.

Lent, which began February 26, (three days before the first U.S. death related to the pandemic), is a time of detaching ourselves from earthy things in honor of the 40 days Christ spent alone in the desert, dueling with the devil and preparing himself for his ministry and life mission and purpose.

We are suddenly more detached: The original meaning of the word “detachment’’ is to free yourself from all that is not God. A global lockdown forces us to “detach,’’ a truly global worldwide Lent. The world’s focus on uncertainty, doubt and death forces us to detach and to ask questions.

“I think we’re in the greatest revival in history,” MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell said in an interview on SiriusXM.

At a White House briefing on the pandemic, Lindell explained how he was converting his production to make protective gear but added: “I encourage you to use this time at home to get back in the word, read our Bibles, and spend time with our families.”

This story is published in Koinonia — stories by Christians to encourage, entertain, and empower you in your faith, food, fitness, family, and fun.

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