Can we do it? Yes we can... if we really want to!

When Barak Obama said: “Yes, we can”, he was making an assumption that everyone wanted to! Can God bring revival to European youth? Yes He can! But the bigger question is do we want Him to?

Now you may think the answer is obvious? But is it? In John 5 Jesus asked a paralysed man: Do you want to get well? The poor guy had been an invalid for thirty eight years. The answer was surely a no brainer, a bit like the first question asked on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? You know the one anyone can answer, even the average Chelsea fan.

And yet Jesus asked it! Do you want to get well? You may say and do all the right things, but what do you really want. Do we really want to see revival come? We may sing, shout and dance about it, but do we really want it?

You see God has given His church all we need to see revival come. Between us we have all the resources, and if we simply pooled them together and stood shoulder to shoulder we would be a mighty army- undefeatable! Remember what David said in Psalm 133: How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity, because there the Lord gives His blessing, even life for evermore. It’s God’s way. The Kingdom is about everybody becoming one body, living and giving for one purpose alone: love for the Father.

On the other hand the enemy’s way is to divide us, make us seek our own ends, and build our own empire instead of the Kingdom. He’s pretty good at it. We won’t lay down our small ambitions, dreams and ministries for the bigger and better goal of seeing the Kingdom come. We’re too scared to let go of our reputation and security and die to self. So we live on, to claim much about God, but bear little fruit for Him. Perhaps the biggest threat to revival in Europe isn’t the nasty secular world, or our demonic enemy. Its probably just plain old selfish you and me!

However last week in Barcelona I sat down with some great folk humble youth workers from Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Holland, Ireland, the UK and US. They talked openly and honestly not just about successes but failures, and not about their dreams but God’s. They talked of partnerships across cities and countries, even if it meant the death of their own dreams. And as they did, I could sense Satan beginning to get anxious. Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it can’t bear fruit, Jesus said. There is a cost involved in revival. Can we do it? Yes we can…. If we really want to!

Hanging out with heroes

There’s a strange passage in Genesis which talks of a time when men of renown were on the earth. It’s hard to work out just who or what these guys were: heroes or celebrities. And there is a big difference! Celebrities are in your face for little apparent reason. Heroes on the other hand normally go unnoticed and yet, without them, the world would be a very much poorer place.

Last week there was a congress for European heroes. It was in Germany and called mission-net. Men and women, normally without renown, came together, not to boast but to give- of their experience, wisdom and heart. Their humility meant it normally took a while to get the stories out of them, but when they spoke, I often found myself in tears, while my spirit and faith soured! Some spoke from the platform in front of thousands: Brother Andrew, the widow of the martyred missionary to Turkey, and the guy heading back to the place where his best friend was killed. Some spoke one on one in the exhibition area. But all spoke of their love for Christ and because of that love, their love for everyone!

Another hard passage, this time in Matthew, (24v12), talks of how at the end of the age, because of the increase in wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. That passage has always bothered me. But now as I travel across Europe and America, it makes sense. Too often love isn’t the most notable feature of the western church. Weeds of dry religiosity or selfish superficiality have grown up to choke the fruit of true faith. Yet I’m not discouraged. When things get really tough, the tough can really get going! When standing for Christ really costs, then only the heroes of faith will be left standing. Perhaps with a bit of pruning the church can then grow powerfully again.

The biggest personal challenge of mission-net however is the state of my own heart. Am I growing in heroic love, which will go anywhere, do anything, whatever the cost, because the love of Christ compels me? Or will my love grow cold? I saw Jesus in the heroes I met at mission-net, and want Him in my life more than ever. And I want to hang out more with these sorts of guys, so that as iron sharpens iron, my faith and heart can be razor sharp.