When Glory Fades
Three components are common to every revival: urgency in prayer, biblical study, and gospel preaching. I am confident that our witness of spiritual renewal in our homes, churches, and communities depends on the degree to which we pursue these three things together. We must see them as urgent priorities. For us. Today.
Our prayers should be saturated with the biblical focus, which is Christ in his glory. Our preaching should center on the emphasis of Scripture: Christ in his glory. And the focal point of God's glory in Christ is displayed through the cross. The cross must occupy much of our thinking in study, ooze out of our preaching, and anchor our prayers. Cross-centered hearts are those God has stirred with new affections. They yearn for more of Christ while their own needs and wants begin to fade. Revival insists on more of Christ. A big view of Christ. It can't get enough of Christ.
Conversely, a prayer life focused on the self rather than the Savior is a sign of spiritual lethargy. Bible study gets truncated to a search for self help instead of a search for splendor. Preaching becomes all about man and makes the Son of Man an addition instead of everything. So quickly, Christ is demoted. Glory fades.
We need not look back to periods of darkness in church history to see this though. We can see the same affects on our own spiritual conditions at times. Frederick S. Leahy notes this well when he says, "It is my conviction, and at times my sad experience, that as the cross goes out of focus in the Christian's life, coldness and backsliding set in." Can you relate? I know I can.
As the glow of the cross wanes, the search to advance ourselves takes its place. Ironically, the promotion of self is a sure sign of backsliding. However, when we urgently pursue Christ and lift him up, we discover more and more of who we, as Christians, already are in Him. When we keep looking to the Savior, we see that we are seated with him (Eph 2:6) but we're never ok with stealing his glory.
Should we never pray for health or Aunt Gracie's broken foot? Of course we should (see James 5:13-16). But may our clarion call of personal revival ever be "He must increase, but I must decrease!" (John 3:30).
