Can you revive something that's never been alive?

They pushed slowly through the big double doors and up the aisles. And there they sat, engines now silent as the riders listened intently, even respectfully to the new preacher man they’d heard about – they’d come to check him out.

Later, one or two of them were to testify; that was the day their lives were changed for good, but this morning their presence created a sense of fear, of unease among the genteel aging folk, most of whom had never seen a biker close up, let alone smell the hot exhaust fumes of their Harley Davidsons. Never had they rubbed shoulders with burly men in leathers, long hair and scruffy beards, and to add insult to insult, some of the bikers were smoking. What would God think of these men who polluted his sanctuary with noisy machines and the smell of tobacco smoke?

However, when the service was over they turned their bikes around and left as quickly as they’d arrived, but the committee men were rattled; ‘Why do these people invade our holy space? Who do they think they are dropping their oil and cigarette ends on our pristine carpet? And pastor, what are you going to do about it? Look at the mess they’ve made!’

The pastor said he would think about it, he assured his congregation that if the men returned next week, ‘...as I suspect they might,’ he said, ‘things will be different.’

And the men did come back the following week, and things had indeed changed, for the pastor had removed some of the pews from the front of the church to make more room for the men and their machines.

What happened next I don’t know, but it raises the question, doesn’t it; what compromises should Christians make to accommodate those with whom they’re supposed to communicate the good news of God’s kingdom? Congregations are urged to pray for revival, but many wouldn’t recognise revival if they tripped over it. Too often the faithful are encouraged to plead with God to change those ‘bad people out there – to bring them to their senses.’

But what does the word ‘revive’ mean? Doesn’t it create images of corpses springing back to life? And yet most, if not all of the bad people they pray for have always been ‘dead in their transgressions’ – to quote Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. Can you revive something that’s never been alive? No, nor can you make an impact on a world that’s crying out for truth and reality by lobbing scripture text sound bites at them from the safety of religious trenches.

The example of Jesus is the essence of simplicity; be in the world but not of the world. Engage with those around us, recognise their value, demonstrate the love of Jesus for them by giving them that most precious of all commodities; time. Time to listen to them, time to care for them, and then revival will come, but first it must come to the church.