Revival is the inbreaking of the kingdom of God. So what is that kingdom like?
Presidents give inaugural addresses. They lay out priorities. This is what the next four years will be about.
Jesus gave one too. He had just come out of forty days of prayer and fasting. He walked into the synagogue in Nazareth, stood up, and unrolled the scroll of Isaiah. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the captives and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.”
Then he sat down. “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
That’s the agenda. The rule and reign of Jesus begins with good news to the poor. Later he says it plainly: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”
Tim Keller names five marks of genuine revival: anointed worship, compelling community, theological depth, bold witness, and compassionate social concern. You can see all five in Acts 2:42-47. The apostles’ teaching. The fellowship. The prayers. The wonders and the favor with all the people. And believers selling what they owned to give to anyone in need.
Notice the last one isn’t an add-on. It’s woven in. A church awakened by the Spirit begins to break over what breaks God’s heart. It starts to care about the people Jesus cared about: the poor, the oppressed, the prisoners, those on the underside of history.
And when revival matures into awakening, society itself begins to look more like the kingdom. Charities are founded. Injustices are confronted. The common good advances.
So we have to be honest. Revival that never reaches the poor is truncated. Incomplete.
The gospel begins with reconciliation to God through the blood of Jesus. But it never stops there. William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, knew it. In his last public address, he said: “While women weep, as they do now, I’ll fight; while children go hungry, as they do now, I’ll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I’ll fight... I’ll fight to the very end!”
Not a man who stopped at the altar. A man who started there.
So let’s pray. For a church that sees who Jesus sees. For hearts that break with his. And for the courage to move toward those he moved toward.
Who is Jesus moving toward in your city?
Rev. Greg Johnson
Director, Revive New England