13 Modern Challenges to Awakening and Revival

11. The lack of concerted, continual, united prayer among pastors and churches.

One of the things I remember reading regarding the revivals of the First and Second Great Awakenings in America was the importance of united prayer amongst the churches in each community. Jonathan Edwards started the Concert in Prayer movement that spread to America and greatly impacted England. Finney would get pastors and congregations in each community to pray before and while he commenced with revival services in their areas.

Sustained, continual united prayer in one congregation can result in a great revival in that church, impacting their immediate parish. But for a city or region to be affected there needs to be a commitment by pastors to engage in united prayer with their pastoral colleagues serving as co-laborers.

12. The fragmentation of knowledge that subverts the biblical worldview.

With all the information available today on the Internet—from alternate religions, philosophy, atheism, postmodernism, modernism, New Age movement, etc.—it is harder and harder to have an awakening among a people in a community or city because, in the days of the First and Second Great Awakenings, even unbelievers had a biblical worldview! For example, read the writings of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, both deists in their faith, and you will see men with a strong Judeo/Christian mindset even though they were unbelievers!

Up until the time of the so-called Enlightenment, Christian theologians like Aquinas thought it very possible to unite all knowledge in the world under one unified biblical worldview. But the more they studied philosophy and the different world religions the more they realized what a hard task that was going to be! How much harder (but not impossible) is it today to see whole communities (especially in educated, urban regions) experience an awakening because the average person with an internet connection has access to millions of books, articles and information on any subject. Thus, everyone thinks they are experts; the days when the clergy were not only the most spiritual, but the most educated and knowledgeable people in a community are long gone!

I still believe the biblical worldview is the most cohesive view, and the only view that makes rational sense of the world. But to get that across even in my own neighborhood amongst all the residents is a huge challenge today because of this fragmentation of knowledge!

13. The gospel is not permeating the elite systems and people of culture.

Present-day global revivals are primarily (but not exclusively) taking place amongst the poorest and uneducated nations of the world. For example, the greatest awakenings during the past 50 years have taken place in developing areas like Africa, China and Latin America in the midst of great economic and political turmoil which made the average person very open to God’s saving power! (Although during the past 10 years many young college intellectuals in China are getting saved!)

In the USA, the greatest revivals resulting in societal change and reformation took place when folks like Oxford educated Wesley and Whitefield, Yale graduate Jonathan Edwards, and Finney, a trained lawyer, preached and reached not only masses of uneducated poor people but also the elite in their cities. In the Rochester revival of the 1830’s (which was the closest thing to America ever having a whole major city come to God) Finney started revival meetings by first reaching lawyers, doctors, judges and those with the most cultural esteem and influence. This made it easier to reach masses of people!

For us to experience a national revival we either need to have mass disorientation or we need to reach the cultural elites in the arts, music, science, education, law, and politics—not only masses of poor people who have no influence to bring systemic change to culture. Usually only a Marxist-type movement (for example, Occupy Wall Street) with a groundswell of masses of people who use violence to bring chaos and overthrow governments are successful in bringing real change, even though their change is demonic! Thus, if we want to see not only awakening and revival but a lasting reformation that will change our ungodly laws and culture then we also need to reach the elites, not only masses of people through typical evangelistic campaigns. (For more on this read my article “Why the Church Needs Cultural and Political Access to Bring Transformation.”)