Lessons from the Azuza Street Revival: We need Revival and not Hoopla

I just finished reading a book  by Cecil M. Robeck Jr. entitled The Azusa Street Mission and Revival.  This book is a look at the revival responsible for Global Pentecostalism.  I found a lot of good information as well as insights into what revival actually is.

The Azusa Street Mission was said to give birth to the Global Pentecostal movement.  The Azusa Street began in 1906 and lasted until about 1909. Here's a picture of the mission.

Disclaimer: I don't classify myself as a Pentecostal but I do strongly believe in spiritual gifts and supernatural. I'm not all in on all of the teachings of Pentecostalism but that doesn't mean I cannot learn from Pentecostals.  

In the book you understand there was a lot of hoopla surrounding the revival which is understandable because they felt they were the recipients of another outpouring of the Holy Spirit like at Pentecost.  

When we think of Pentecostals we think running laps around the church, dancing before the Lord, jumping up and down, shouting, and carrying on in tongues, and all sorts of other dramatic displays of emotion.

I'm not opposed to any of that and welcome a lively worship experience but we can't confuse wild and dramatic displays of emotion with what revival actually is.

The author of the book gives the analogy that when someone is unconscious we may present them with smelling salts to revive them and bring them to consciousness.  THAT is  Revival 

The purpose of revival is to bring the unconscious to consciousness.  That's what all spiritual teachers are after.  Raising the level of consciousness amongst their followers.  If I classify myself as anything then it's spiritually conscious.

We are all hungering for revival in this day and time is because we see American Evangelicalism and the American Church is unconscious.  We have lukewarm churchgoing combined with the worship of materialism, nationalism, and politics.  The people have had enough.

We need revival to wake people up to what Jesus taught in the gospels.  The Lessons I gleaned from this book were:

• We Need Wake Up Calls
• Revivals should not be focused on the hoopla
• Revivals are not a permanent state
• We need to be mindful of Leadership with Revival

The Wake Up Call

The Revival at Azusa Street was a wake up call that perhaps it wasn't just about the traditions of men but there was something missing such as being baptized in the Holy Spirit.  I do believe that there is a baptism in the spirit but I don't agree that it's solely about speaking in tongues.  I believe that once one accepts Jesus as Savior as part of the process one is baptized in the Spirit.  Contrary to my upbringing I don't believe this moment happens at water baptism either.  I believe being baptized in the spirit is an ongoing process.

There were also stories of divine healing at the Asuza street mission but perhaps one of the strongest wake up calls was the racial harmony that went on at Asuza street.  White and Black people worshipped the Lord together.  Now there was some fallout toward the end of the revival that was race based but the racial harmony was what made people sit up and take notice of the revival.

What is our wake up call?  Perhaps the wakeup call is that it's not about lukewarm churchgoing, worshipping materialism, and politics but it's about living a life that glorifies God.

Revivals are Not just about HOOPLA

One of my prayers during the 40 Day Prayer challenge when praying for revival was that we don't just get caught up in hoopla.  Revivals can get crazy.  They talked about how noisy the Asuza street mission was with the shouting, people falling out, people jumping over chairs, and people jumping out the windows.  They got the police called on them a multitude of times.

While that's all fine and good, we need to know it's not just about running laps around the church building or feelings of euphoria and ecstasy.

If it's just about the hoopla, then people will be on to the lookout for the next high once the revival dies out.

This brings me to my next point.

Revival is not a permanent state

The author of this book says that revivals tend to last about 3 years at the most.  That sounds about right.  In the book as the Asuza street revival wound down,  you started to see the petty drama with people leaving to form their own churches, doctrinal splits, and leadership battles.  At one point near the end of the revival,  the book says the church members were throwing hymnals at one another!

Revival is not a permanent state and nor should it be.  We all have times of growth in our lives and then it tapers off and adjusts to our new normal.  If something just keeps going uncontrollably, then we call it cancer.  

The Azusa Street revival planted seeds that are still bearing fruit today as people went all over the world teaching about it.

Revivals are meant to heighten the levels of consciousness.  It's not supposed to be a permanent state so we have to be prepared for an exit strategy when it peters out because otherwise we'll just have a lot of hoopla and euphoria without any substance that won't plant any seeds.  The book points out how that happened in Wales and also New York.  You had massive revival and now those places bear little to no trace of those revivals.

Being mindful of leadership in Revival

Wherever there are people, they will be doing people things and a revival is no different.

This book talks about power struggles, backstabbing, doctrinal arguments,  and towards the end racism, etc.

It just proved to me that we need to be mindful of the leadership at the helm of a revival.  While revival a group effort and is about giving God the Glory, there is no doubt that with people who want their own glory and want to be important will want to be at the forefront.  We have to make sure that those folks fall back because they can ruin the integrity of the entire revival.

It's one of the reasons I believe so strongly that Shiloh Church is a great place to have revival.  I have been very impressed with their leadership.  Even when things have gone left, they responded in a world class manner.  Like Azusa Street, Shiloh is an interracial  and intercultural fellowship.  They are also intergenerational.  They have a large millennial and young adult membership.  This is also the first church I've attended that has a ton of men and families who come together.

This is completely different than anything I've seen in church.

Not only that, their church was formed over 50 years ago and unlike most churches they are thriving and even stronger than when I first started attending their 4 years ago.  Most churches that are that old are dying on the vine and resting on "What used to was"  Not Shiloh...They are ON FIRE and ready for revival to take place even though the place is already Hot....so I think if there is revival anywhere in the United States, Shiloh would be a great place.

I pray that the leadership continues to walk in faith and integrity.

I'm really fired up to read more about Revival to learn even more about what to expect and what to look out for because I believe it's not a matter of if, but when!!