Is it a revival, or just another
business?
From the 11/23/97 issue of the Pensacola News Journal
By Kenneth E. Lamb
©
Used with permission.
The Brownsville Revival has always been controversial. It pits theologians who advocate present-day manifestations of the Spirit against those who contend they were only for those in the first century of the Common Era (C.E.). It pits family members who see their kin make a radical transformation in worship style against those who are transformed.
And now it pits the people of Pensacola against each other.
Last week, painful revelations overwhelmed the Revival. Hard questions avoided for far too long suddenly couldn't be avoided any longer. Is it a work of God, or a work of humanity? Is it really a "revival," or just another marketing-driven business?
Yes, these are very painful questions. They arise because four months of team research led by a Pulitzer Prize-winning editor expose an undeniable dark side to the Revival's well-manicured public image. What we see is a numbing look into the black waters of human deception.
Sincere Christians long ago became concerned the Revival was turning Jesus into a tourist attraction. Missing money, lavish living, contradictory explanations of sales taxes unpaid, public accountings in conflict with official IRS filings, all these make the heart weep to think 2 Peter's prophecy in 2:3 is true in our time: "In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money." (NLT, New Living Translation)
The Brownsville Revival is merely one of a growing number of ongoing "revivals" churning millions of visitors -and dollars - annually. They succeed as industries because our materialistic postmodern culture is a spiritual void. The people who go, go because they so want to believe they can receive the "Touch of God" they desperately crave. They are just as Jesus knew they would be in Luke 10:3: "Go now, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves." (NLT)
What we see today is not unexpected. The internationally respected Reform theologian J. I. Packer predicted the revival phenomenon more than 15 years ago. He labeled it "Hot Tub Religion." It promises easy, feel-good salvation without requiring seekers to fulfill the Scriptural requirements found in Acts 2:38. They prescribe repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus. Instead, just say a simple prayer and you’re "saved."
So long as the revival kept the good feelings rolling, nobody bothered to ask if it was Scripturally sound. The truth is, John commanded us to ask just that in his first letter written from Ephesus in 90 C.E., "Do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God." (NLT)
That's painful. Who wants to grill the preacher? But as Finis Jennings Dake, the editor of Dake's Annotated Reference Bible, points out in his notes on this verse, one test is found for all to see in chapter 2, verses 15 and 16 of this same letter, when John writes that if we "lust for everything we see" and we become absorbed with "pride in our possessions" then "you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you." (NLT)
Did materialism drive the apostles? They were dirt poor. Who can forget Peter's remark to the lame man in Acts 3:6 when he said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." (NKJV) Jesus didn't even have a place to lay His head.
The Brownsville controversy will continue, and I predict, so will the revival services. If God doesn't move, the mortgage holders will. Its leaders have taken on too much personal debt to get out.
But it will never be the same. From now on, everyone who hears Mr. Stephen Hill speak will ask if what he says is true, or just another well-rehearsed story that always goes over well with a crowd.
It didn't have to end this way. All Mr. Hill had to do was read his Bible: Paul told him in Galatians 5:20 that "constant effort to get the best for yourself" and "the feeling that everyone else is wrong except those in your own little group" means "there will be wrong doctrine." (TLB)
No, it didn't have to end this way at all. Satan is laughing, and Jesus is weeping. That may be the only thing about The Brownsville Revival that everyone can agree on.
Mr. Lamb is a theological writer for The Pentecostal Herald whose articles circulate internationally in 122 countries. He is also a freelance writer for the New York Times, the Miami Herald, and the ABC Radio News network. Locally, he hosts Sunday Morning with Kenneth E. Lamb on WCOA AM-1370. You can also Email him at: kenlamb@bellsouth.net