REVIVAL—THE PRICE
The copy for a recent article on this page on “Revival” had been filed less than an hour when there came a communication to our desk enclosing An Open Letter to My Pastor. The urgency of the personal letter which accompanied it made me turn to the other with real interest.
Because the writer spoke to my heart, I believe this letter will speak to many of the readers of this page.
We talk glibly about “revival.” We frankly admit that it must begin within the Church. But few of us are willing to face the cost of revival in our own personal lives.
Believing this letter has a message which may, by the grace of God, do something to awaken us, we herewith give some extensive excerpts:
An Open Letter to My Pastor
“May I please crowd in here somewhere between Barth, Brunner, Bultmann, etc., etc.? Who am I? I am a voice from your congregation!
“Every week I listen to your message—now I am asking you to take time out from your busy schedule and listen to this message.
“I pray to God that I might speak with all the force and intensity, all the urgency of the feeling within me!
“Several months ago, heavily burdened with the complacency and indifference of our Christian people, I was led to pray for a spiritual revival. I had never prayed a more earnest or sincere prayer. It seemed I would give my very life. Then, like a flash across my thought, God asked me, ‘At any cost?’
“I thought for a moment; it was frightening, but I could not escape—I had to answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ If I said ‘Yes,’ it could mean anything—a cost beyond all comprehension. If I said ‘No,’ it would mean my faith was nothing more than shifting sand and my usefulness to God would be finished. I said, ‘Yes, Lord, at any cost.’
“It was not long before I knew a part of the price I was to pay. I, the least of the least, a Christian only two years. So here I stand—nothing more than an instrument-competing with the ‘great’ theologians for your attention—but I stand, and I must be heard!
“The world is filled with people—lost, searching, dying without a knowledge of Christ; while our people—God’s people—go along indifferent, unconcerned, each wrapped up in his own little world of self-indulgence. Every pastor has probably many times asked the question, ‘What will it take?’ Only God knows the answer, but a part of that answer lies with you, right here and now. Will you step out and stand and say ‘Yes, Lord, at any cost’?
“I know you have given your life to serve Him, but will you, right now, allow God to search your heart and see if you are truly committed to Christ? I know about the meetings, the planning, the organizing, the visiting, the counseling, the preparation, the phone calls, the emergencies, the constant interruptions—I am not talking about what you do for Christ; I’m talking about what Christ does through you. I’m talking about the work of the Holy Spirit. Does he have his rightful place in your life? Are you truly committed to his will?
“Do you lay aside all self-sufficiency, go to your knees and seek his will? Do you do this before or after your schedule or sermon is all planned? I believe that every Sunday, in every congregation, there is some person whom God has prepared for a definite message. Are you open to the voice of the Holy Spirit to receive and deliver that message?
“Will you be completely candid and open before God? Will you allow him to reveal the truth to you regardless of what it means or how much it hurts?
“Do the thoughts and actions of other pastors (or ‘great’ theologians) influence your decisions? Does such influence ever supersede the actual spiritual needs of your people? Please do not be trapped by Satan’s plan of collectivism. Christ is not only a personal Saviour, he is personal concerning your purpose and mine. To know and fulfill that purpose, we must each individually seek and follow his will. No, this does not mean we would each take off in separate ways; instead, we would see a unity of purpose unknown in the Christian world today. Nor does it mean we would all band together under one impressive ‘title’ for the furtherance of man’s power. ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.’ Unity comes from within, not from without, and God’s plan can never be improved upon: We are to serve God, not God serve us!
“Are you prepared to prepare your congregation? Will you stop pampering us and try Paul’s method of preaching, ‘not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your (our) faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God’?
“We have a choice, which must be made now. We either take our stand with God—prepared for battle with love, faith and courage, determined to follow his commands regardless of what it may mean; or we drift until we are made to wake up through tragic circumstances.
“The most important man in our nation today is not the President; it is you, the man in the pulpit! Through you the Holy Spirit must bring this nation to its knees before God.
“As you now stand at the place of decision, do you stand with Joshua and Caleb ‘who hath fully followed the Lord’? Do you have enough faith in God’s promises to walk with him against all odds? Do you have enough love for Christ to humble yourself before God and man?
“The future of this nation hangs in the balance and you will decide its course! Where is the fight Paul speaks about? Are we all concerned? Are we all afraid not to conform? Are we more afraid of man’s opinion than of God’s judgment? ‘God is not a man that he should lie; hath he said and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?’
“God is ready; he is waiting; he must begin with you. God has set before us a ‘blessing and a curse.’ Which shall it be?”
The author of this “Open Letter” is a faithful church member and a loyal supporter of her pastor. And she has the spiritual insight and concern to realize that if we are to have a spiritual awakening it must begin in the Church.
The writer of this column has a similar burden and also the highest possible regard for the Christian minister by heritage and by present family ties.
Because of this, we long to see a spiritual earthquake take place in the pulpit and in the pew, a new Pentecost in which the Holy Spirit will be given his rightful place in the life of the Church.
“A form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” stands under the judgment of God. Nevertheless, God is both willing and anxious to transform such sham into a mighty spiritual power if we are willing to pay the price.
The question of this “Open Letter” is, Are we willing?
L. NELSON BELL
