Messy Movement – a Revival in Asbury

They are calling it Revival. We all “peer in the windows” via social media. We say, “Did you hear about Asbury?”. Our hearts and heads start to collide. We look on with awe. We pause for skepticism. And the Spirit in us has us longing to be a part of it. But. But. But.

This is all new. What do we do with all of this? It seems…messy.

This is our mid-life adult reaction.

Our mature faith wants to forget the messiness of life. It brings up things we like to hide or forget. It’s emotional. It might overwhelm us.

For many years we have studied our bibles, heard the Word preached, prayed, and observed spiritual disciplines. All good. But we have left the mess behind for head knowledge and order and the authority in the church that we gain with age and maturity. We are pretty happy with our spiritual selves.

Maturity in the faith is what God desires for us, but there is a problem when we decide that our mess doesn’t belong. Why? Because it is the part of ourselves that connects to unbelievers.

Mature faith is foreign to unbelievers. Study and discipline…they don’t understand. Order and authority…they don’t care. But real messy life…they get that. They desperately want hope. They need to see our mess, and God’s redeeming power over it.

We sin, our lives are hard, but we don’t want to show it. We love that our faith forgave us, but we also want our faith to cover it up. We love to appear as good, mature, “have it all together” Christians. But when we cover up what God has done and is doing in our life, He can never bring to light His work in it. We must tell the story. It is how He intended us to make disciples of every nation. By sharing our very lives.

Messy is what it takes for spontaneous revival. It involves our emotions. It involves letting go of control. It involves listening to the Spirit.

There is not going to be spontaneous, Holy Spirit led Revival in a room full of mid-life adults with years of bible study knowledge, love of the order of things, and in their positions of leadership.

Which is why it is going to be the kids. They are not afraid of the mess. They know they are in the mess. Forgiven, but still messy. I 100% believe that God has started a revival in the hearts of the students at Asbury. And I pray that it grows.

Are you a mid-life adult looking on with heart and head colliding…not sure what to think? Stop thinking. Listen to the Spirit. Share your Mess+God. Let this be the Messy Movement.