In a constantly changing spiritual landscape, Christians in America actively seek a revival that might renew our faith and restore our ways of living for God’s glory. Many pray and seek for a new great awakening, that America may return to Christianity. The Christian revival movements of our past have demonstrated this resurgence of passion for seeking and experiencing God’s presence. This desire can be seen in various Christian institutions such as Asbury and Cedarville University, where this desire for revival has stirred for Christians across the nation.
We cannot follow this desire alone. As followers of Christ, we ought to understand the effects of the great awakenings of our past as well as how to Biblically respond to similar events today. Many attempts for revival have been made, and unless they are founded in Christ and His teachings, they are short-lived. We know that Christ is King, and holds dominion over the heavens and the earth, so it’s necessary for us to be equipped in discerning and responding wisely to how He shapes the nation.
American History of Revival
The First Great Awakening (1730s-1750s) is our starting point when we talk about religious revivals. You may have heard about key preachers from this time such as Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and John Wesley. Their messages and sermons made people take a much closer look at their personal lives and emphasized the inseparability of faith and works. Edwards, in his renowned sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” painted a clear picture of the danger of Hell, urging people to repent of their sin and seek Christ for salvation. This movement led to shaping the values of the American majority towards seeking God’s glory, that faith should be reflected in one’s actions, ultimately paving the way for establishing America as a Christian Nation.
The Second Great Awakening (1790s-1840s) brought about a renewed emphasis of salvation and moral reform. The preachers of this era, including Peter Cartwright, Charles Finney, Lyman Beecher, and Barton Stone, delivered passionate sermons across the nation. They focused heavily on repentance, the reality of God’s judgment, the role of the Holy Spirit working within us, and the necessity of a personal relationship with God. Once again, we see another revival stir spiritual awakening across America, redirecting and restoring the hearts of many. However, the Second Great Awakening brought about the formation of various cults as well, including Mormonism and Adventism.
The Third Great Awakening (1850s-1900s) reintroduced the importance of personal faith and salvation while also placing emphasis on social reform. Prominent figures like Dwight L. Moody and Billy Sunday preached the importance of personal salvation and faith in Christ, their messages encouraging people to turn away from sin and towards Christ. This revival had a broader impact by fueling heightened interest in other social movements, such as labor rights and the temperance movement. Additionally, the Third Great Awakening gave rise to new religious movements, notably Pentecostalism and a rise of Evangelicalism in the 20th century.
The Fourth Great Awakening (1960s-1980s) stands out as a far more controversial period. Many argue whether the religious changes during this era were as profound compared to earlier revivals, but there were undeniably significant developments during this time. Evangelicalism boomed, and charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity increased in prominence. Figures like Billy Graham played a central role in promoting personal salvation and faith in Christ, traveling to and addressing international audiences. Televangelists and other popular religious leaders, such as Pat Robertson, Oral Roberts, and Fulton Sheen captivated millions from various faith backgrounds. The fruits of the Fourth Great Awakening, however, are more ambiguous. Some view this as a period that created religious polarization and politicization in the United States. Others believe it led to diluted theology, paving the way for theologically liberal ideas to take root and plague Christianity. I go into further detail with these ideas in my article on Cultural Christianity.
What can we learn from previous revivals?
Each of these awakenings left their mark on American history, all emphasizing the need for repentance, personal transformation, and reliance on Christ as Lord and Savior. They reaffirmed Christian values in America, contributed to the development in Christian theology, and played a significant role in social and political movements. Whether it be through fiery sermons, mass conversions, or changes in theological perspectives, revivals challenge individuals to reconsider their beliefs, repent of their sins, and seek a deeper understanding of Christ as King. Interestingly enough, as these revivals have unfolded throughout American history, we can see paralleled periods in which God’s chosen people have strayed away from Him throughout the Old Testament. Revivals in recent centuries have essentially served as our call to repentance and return to Christ.
We should be aware that with eras of rediscovering God’s truth in Scripture, these revivals can sometimes lead to splits in the church in the form of new theological schools of thought, new denominations, and even new movements branching away from Christianity entirely. The First Great Awakening resulted in denominational splits among Baptists, Presbyterians, and Anglicans, the Second Great Awakening introduced cults such as Mormonism and Adventism, and the Third and Fourth Great Awakenings brought and popularized Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism.
I’m not about to get into which denominations got it right or wrong in their theology, and addressing how the Holy Spirit works through the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-20) is beyond our scope here. My point here is that rediscovering God’s truth with personal discernment alone risks rediscovering early-century heresies as well. We must place our foundation in Scripture as well as the teachings and traditions of the Church (2 Thessalonians 2:15). Work through these things with your pastors, parents, and peers in Christ.
So, what happened with Cedarville’s Revival?
Here, I’ll be expressing not only my experience, but also the experience of a close friend of mine who was there and actively involved in the Cedarville Revival as well. Many people had different takeaways based on their own presuppositions of Cedarville and Revivals, so take what is said here with a grain of salt.
Personal Perspective #1:
On February 8th, 2023, Asbury University sparked a revival, having multitudes of students worshiping God, praying, hosting public readings of Scripture, and having many people come to Christ. It didn’t take long for Cedarville University to follow suit, with Dr. White leading the charge. Jeremiah Chapel was kept open for worship, resulting in crowds of students singing songs of worship, getting in groups for prayer, and reading Scripture to one another. Two students dedicated their lives to Christ on the first night of Cedarville’s revival movement. The Holy Spirit was overwhelmingly present in a way that I’ve experienced few other times.
After the first two days of worship in the chapel, Dr. White encouraged us to go out and evangelize. Hundreds of students gathered to plan outings to nearby college campuses to share the gospel that evening, making connections with local churches and Christian campus communities, and worship nights at Cedarville University became increasingly popular since.
In the moment, I saw the opportunity to minister to others, so I did. I was involved with this surge of outreach more than most, not only involved with 300+ others in evangelizing at Ohio State University, but was given the opportunity to briefly share my experience on national television with a close friend. I’ve seen more people encouraged to be bold in their faith. Several of my friends experienced a taste of what the world without the Cedarville bubble was like, and can now be better prepared in future endeavors to minister to the unsaved.
I had done nothing to deserve these experiences. I was blessed far more than I deserved, and God gave these opportunities for me to glorify Him. To whom much is given, much is expected.
Takeaways:
People seemed to understand that our revival can’t be something where we gather for a few days and feel good from worshiping, just to resume our daily lives unchanged. Ironically, that is exactly what happened within 2 weeks. While there were groups that stuck out the desire to evangelize on other campuses, those groups became far and few.
With all the excitement of worship, prayer, and Scripture readings, I can’t recall any time where repentance was mentioned. If there was any message of repentance, it was overlooked by the emotional high of revival. Looking back, it’s difficult to discern whether it wasn’t present, or I wasn’t looking for it then, but it seems much more alarming now. For any message of the gospel, to offer the forgiveness of sins without repentance first is meaningless; worse, it’s damning.
Despite this, having several months to look back and reflect on those experiences, I enjoyed those few weeks, and even now, I’m still optimistic to see what the future brings. However, the Cedarville Revival seemed more emotionally-focused far more than anything else. By all means, an emotional response can be a significant indicator of the Holy Spirit moving, but when it is the focus and not the byproduct, concern is more than warranted. Regardless, there was still some good fruit from this revival, and the Lord can and arguably has used this for His glory.
Personal Perspective #2:
As a student seeking a closer relationship with the Lord, this revival was especially attractive to me. For some background, our university had experienced a series of controversial events: A student had gotten stabbed, a student government member had to leave the university, and gossip about these various incidents spread like wildfire across campus.
As I sat in chapel during a hard semester – academically, socially, and spiritually – Dr. White got up on stage, talking about his experience from the Asbury Revival. We all were astonished at the contrast; while our university had experienced much turmoil in the recent weeks – as if a dark cloud had descended on campus – Asbury seemed refocused on the Lord with a contagious energy.
That Monday morning, Chapel was structured in such a way that led well into our own revival. The Holy Spirit moved in a way I had never quite experienced before. About 1,000-2,000 students stayed in the chapel for a total of 3 hours, myself included; most of us skipped class just to dwell in the presence of the Lord. During this event, two students came to know Christ. Praise the Lord! If nothing else came from this, two more people in eternity is well worth it.
Many students got up on stage to share bible verses the Spirit had placed in their hearts; I actually went up on stage to ask Dr. White if, like Acts, we could set up a place to baptize those who were saved or who desired baptism. He told me we’d talk after (and we never did, but I didn’t really stick around to talk about it after), and that never came about. I think the reason we didn’t is because Chapel isn’t Church. I even texted my mother and told her the Spirit was moving. It was incredible. I was brought to tears and to repentance.
That contagious energy from Asbury had sparked our own revival. We met in the chapel again that night. Chapel the next morning went about 15 minutes over, and again, we returned to the chapel to worship that evening. Dr. White encouraged us to go out and share the revival with other campuses because “a revival without evangelism is self-serving” (not a quote, just a sentiment). I went with a large group of friends to Ohio State’s campus, where God led us to one of their Campus Crusade leaders. We went around, evangelized and worshiped on campus. I went to bed that night encouraged and excited – where else was this going to go?
Well, it didn’t seem to go any further; in fact, I felt like it regressed. Chapel the next morning was back to normal – no big deal, Chapel was not the center of the revival. But we didn’t have another evening worship night. No large groups left campus to evangelize again. Life was back to normal and nothing had really changed. That dark cloud still loomed – it just felt like someone turned on a flashlight, but now the battery died. God was still with us, and I do not want to imply otherwise. God is with us even when we don’t want Him to be with us. But, nothing seemed to grow further about the revival. It stagnated. Many of us were seeking huge change – that campus culture would be turned completely on its head. But it didn’t.
Takeaways:
I think most of us were focused on the effects of the revival, not the means. We were seeking relief from our difficult circumstances, not a true revival of our hearts. There is no doubt that God was present, and the Holy Spirit was poured out that day. It was certainly a great comfort to us. But I think most students wanted repair for our circumstances, not revival.
I didn’t continue much after the revival. I was enduring a difficult semester, and I was trying to coast through. I was not active in reading my bible or in my prayer time. I thought revival would have been our answer, but I was one of the students that wanted repair. However, God used this past summer to help me heal and to lead me back to Him. I experienced a personal revival, and it came from repentance. I accepted my sins as my own and brought them to Christ to lay them down at his cross. Who else revives us? No one, and by no other means than His grace through our faith and repentance.
I certainly placed blame regarding the long-term results of the Cedarville Revival, or the lack of. I was upset with Dr. White for what I felt like was leading us into fame for our university – we had to beat Asbury. But after more thought and reconsidering, I don’t think that’s what it was. As soon as I stopped looking outwardly, I found the real issue: my heart was in the wrong place. So I don’t blame anyone. I think, as in all things, everyone is broken and sinful so nothing is done perfectly. But my issues were my issues.
How should we respond to revival movements?
Revival, in its most genuine form, is an incredible spiritual experience to delight in. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 calls us to “examine everything carefully; hold fast what is good.” We ought to be encouraged in embracing the Holy Spirit’s movement through us, building up what is good and uplifting for the glory of God, and condemning sin and what harms our ministry for Christ. If teachings or our actions in the name of revival do not align with Christ’s commandments, we risk misleading multitudes; therefore we must hold fast to discernment.
Anything resembling a revival should be approached to a reasonable degree of caution, guided by the unerring wisdom of Scripture, yet we should not blind ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s work in others and ourselves. We’re explicitly instructed in 1 John 4:1 to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” While we should be vigilant against the potential infiltration of false teachings or manipulation of the Scriptures for ulterior motives, we should certainly be open to the Holy Spirit working within us.
Remember, the fundamental purpose of any revival is to align ourselves with Christ’s commandments, glorifying Him in all aspects of our lives. We ought to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). Revival is not our ultimate goal, it is a means to the ultimate goal. As many have stated before, if we are seeking revival, we will find only performance, but if we are seeking Christ, we will find revival. We don’t need revival, we need repentance. Repentance is what leads to our love for Christ, which leads into keeping His commandments, which ultimately leads to revival.
Conclusion
Christian revivals in America show the potential of what God can do through us in our communities if we repent from our sin and return to Him, but they also demonstrate the risks and damage they can cause if mishandled. Without sound doctrine and intentionally living for Christ in all aspects of life, revival is worthless. If we merely seek revival, we will have performance, emotional highs, and short-term fruits, but if we seek Christ, we will find revival.
To seek Christ, we must be examples of Him in our communities, whether it be internationally or in the backyard. I would argue that your mission field is wherever God has you right now. Your mission field is your friends, family, and neighbors. Establish accountability among your brothers and sisters in Christ. Don’t wait to get involved in ministry; Start Now. The Great Awakenings took place over decades, not weeks. We may never know if we’re ever in the midst of a revival of our own. Live your life for Christ in a way that the fruits will be seen generations from now.