Prior to the Asbury Revival of 1970, the school had gone through a great season of turmoil. People with different views about God's view of the future butted heads. By the time I arrived the conflict had ended, but the spirit of controversy and confusion still had an upper hand. When folks talked about Asbury, it was mostly about the struggles of the past instead of the hopes for the future. Not all the hurt feelings had been forgotten and healed.
The Revival came in the aftermath of this confusion and chaos. Real revivals have a way of providing leadership into God's future and even as this happened with many who knelt at the altar, so did it happen with the life of the college. After the revival the conversation changed. Many of the held hurts, resentments, and memories from the past were no longer cherished, but forsaken. While a revival may be measured by the experiences repentant souls have while kneeling at the altar, they are also measured by how life is lived when the fervor has subsided and life once again goes forward in the ruts and routines of life.
While some might characterize the college's problems before the revival as political, personal, or power struggles, they were actually spiritual problems. Spiritual problems find healing when real revival takes place. What was true of the institutional life of the college back then remains true for the troubled institutional life of today's sacred and secular communities. The ever present chaos and turmoil speaks to the depth of the spiritual brokenness of the current crop of institutions. New laws, meetings, and compromise will never change the spiritual brokenness. Spiritual problems need a Spiritual Healer. There is One, but unfortunately His wisdom and guidance is not our first resort, but our last.
The Revival came in the aftermath of this confusion and chaos. Real revivals have a way of providing leadership into God's future and even as this happened with many who knelt at the altar, so did it happen with the life of the college. After the revival the conversation changed. Many of the held hurts, resentments, and memories from the past were no longer cherished, but forsaken. While a revival may be measured by the experiences repentant souls have while kneeling at the altar, they are also measured by how life is lived when the fervor has subsided and life once again goes forward in the ruts and routines of life.
While some might characterize the college's problems before the revival as political, personal, or power struggles, they were actually spiritual problems. Spiritual problems find healing when real revival takes place. What was true of the institutional life of the college back then remains true for the troubled institutional life of today's sacred and secular communities. The ever present chaos and turmoil speaks to the depth of the spiritual brokenness of the current crop of institutions. New laws, meetings, and compromise will never change the spiritual brokenness. Spiritual problems need a Spiritual Healer. There is One, but unfortunately His wisdom and guidance is not our first resort, but our last.
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