Revival, New Age and cultural Christianity

As we head into the Advent season, I’m excited to share that we’ve just launched Discovering Jesus. This is a new eight-session video series designed to engage and invite people to watch, covering who Jesus is, the Bible, and topics around faith, identity and culture. It’s particularly helpful for people of Asian heritage, and those of different faiths (or none!) to explore these topics.

The past few months have been busy, writing scripts for this series and speaking at several conferences. Over that time, I’ve been reflecting deeply on what it truly means to be a disciple of Jesus versus a cultural Christian. One of the sessions explores what it looks like to genuinely follow Jesus and why some Christians may not necessarily reflect His likeness. Interestingly, this very question arose during the first edition of Discovering Jesus from participants who were curious about what authentic discipleship looks like.

In my observations of the wider church, I’ve sometimes seen something reminding me of my former faith background, where we worshipped different gods yet the culture around us remained unchanged. We can attend church, preach or listen to sermons, and still see little transformation in our hearts or communities. While it’s wonderful to rest in the assurance that we are loved by our Lord, we must be careful not to selectively focus on certain sins or compromise truth for comfort. Instead, we’re called to speak the truth in love and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us from within – Ephesians 4 shows us this.

Recently, I’ve felt the Lord prompting me to look back at historical revivals and to better understand what they were, and what true repentance and revival looks like – not only to individuals, but to society. While writing Discovering Jesus, I investigated the New Age movement to help others understand what it is and was surprised by certain similarities to revival; namely, the desire for personal and societal transformation. It’s clear the enemy tries to imitate God but also lead people astray, as whilst the means are different, both begin with a form of spiritual awakening.

What is revival?

As I’ve studied the Welsh Revival of 1904– 1905, the story of Evan Roberts particularly struck me. Roberts, a young miner, would take his Bible underground and read it during breaks. Later, at Bible school, he was said to be awakened by the Lord to pray and intercede for hours at a time. His dedication became a spark that ignited one of the most powerful revivals in history.

An article from the Bible College of Wales describes its impact like this: “The visitation of the Holy Spirit was widespread and ubiquitous in the country of Wales. The revival was felt everywhere. All over the country, testimonies of hardened souls receiving salvation and lives being changed were the talk of the town. The impact of the Lord’s hand was evident in the lives of people. Stories of profanity silenced, theatres deserted, courts abandoned due to a lack of crime, and bars shutting down were commonplace. Entertainment such as football matches simply could not compete with the presence of His glorious visitation. Sales of beer and alcohol declined steeply while pocket testaments were snapped up like hot cross buns, as people hungered for the Bread of Life and true Living Water.”

Imagine if that happened today! In a world engrossed in entertainment, sexual sin, profanity and self-indulgence, whilst we are seeing glimpses of God moving, how would we respond if the Spirit of God moved in such power again? Would we be willing to give up worldly pleasures to find the true treasure, Jesus Himself?

The Welsh Revival didn’t stop in Europe; it spread as far as India. Revival is not about filling churches: it’s about Heaven touching earth again, through hearts fully surrendered to God.

Cultural Christianity can look a lot like other religions. Before knowing Jesus, I was a cultural Hindu. I joined in with festivals, went to the temple, worshipped at home, and enjoyed the community and rituals. But despite all that, I didn’t know God personally.

To be a revived disciple of Jesus means to be changed to walk daily with an awareness of His presence, to bear visible fruit, and to live in genuine relationship with Him. Revival starts with the heart. When disciples of Jesus are revived, the world can’t help but notice.