The Language of Revival

Wallace Henley, a revival historian, shared an interesting note about the Welsh Revival of 1904-5. Henley wrote, “The transformation was so profound and so personal that the mules pulling the coal out of Welsh mines had to be retrained. They only knew the foul curses by which the miners drove them. But the converted miners quit cursing, and even the animals had to learn a new language.”

God wants the evidence of His presence in our lives to break out of our meetings and move into the streets. We love to fill up what I call our three C’s – conferences, coliseums, and churches. While it is wonderful to see and experience a full venue, it will do little to steer the course of culture toward a flourishing future if these remain as standalone events. Our gatherings will cease being isolated events only when they are purposefully connected by vision and mission to the Great Commission of Matthew 28, calling us to disciple nations.

We will know our faith has broken out of the orbital pull of attending just another meeting when from the depths of a coal mine, or behind the closed doors of a backroom political deal, or around the table of a corporate board meeting, the sound of personal integrity is expressed with the language of a different Kingdom. The evidence of these transformations will be so profound those involved will have to learn a new way of speaking to conduct business because the old language no longer communicates the content of their heart.