The recent events at Asbury University have led to everyone in the Christian community talking about revival.  What is revival? Is there such a thing as a revival? Is the revival at Asbury real? These are all questions that everyone is asking. As always we need to turn to the bible for answers. To understand what revival is we must first understand the definition of the word revival. The definition of revival according to the dictionary means “means renewed attention or interest in something”. This translates biblically into a renewed interest and desire in coming back to God and seeking his presence from a state of spiritual blindness where there was no interest in seeking God.

There are also two kinds of revivals, one experienced individually at a personal level and the other experience at a group level where a large group of people, come back to God in masses. We see David seeking God for a personal revival In Psalm 51:10-12 “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” We see David asking God to restore his relationship with God, most probably because he had broken God’s laws and was now coming with repentance, asking God to renew him.

There is also the instance of a mass revival in Nineveh in the book of Jonah where the people of Nineveh had no choice but to renew their relationship with God and give up their wrongdoings as proclaimed by the king himself. Jonah 4:7-9 says “This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink.  But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.  Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” Again we see that people were asking for repentance for their sins so they could come back to God.

If you were in a real relationship with God and then you seek revival then that means only one thing you have sinned against God and sin has separated you from God causing you to see a renewal of that relationship again. In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God says “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” For real revival to happen there must be repentance of sins and this is according to God.

This brings us back to what is happening at Asbury. Is there a real revival happening there? This can only be answered by asking this question. Are people repenting of their sins and are they asking to be restored back to the relationship they had with God or are people merely worshipping God and calling it a revival? There is a difference between worshipping God and a revival happening in people’s life. Don’t get me wrong we need to absolutely worship God. We need to do that every day. Psalm 105:1 says “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.” Worship is part and parcel of being a Christian. God deserves all the worship. Revival on the other hand is a state of turning back to God with complete and utter repentance.

So true revival only occurs when people repent for their sins and turn back to God, assuming they were already in a relationship with God, to begin with. There have been many times in the bible when entire nations had turned their backs on God and this was due to sin. In order for us to experience a true biblical revival we need to repent for our sins as a nation and come back to God and not look back. Revival without reformation and a change in our ways of life is not revival at all but just a temporary emotion.

Acts 17:30 says “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” What is happening at Asbury can only be considered a revival if people everywhere repent and come back to God and only those who were there can speak if this really happened. It is between them and God. Until then we can all be happy that God’s name is being worshipped and glorified somewhere but we cannot really talk about revival in Asbury because none of us are in any position to understand if there is really a true revival happening. That is something each and everyone has to experience on a personal level with God. Revival is for God to provide and for man to seek. You don’t have to go to Asbury to experience a revival because God is not just in one place, he is in your heart and you just need to open up your heart, repent of your sins and turn back to God for true revival. If people do this all over the country thanks to Asbury then we should all be happy indeed.