Weare the Church
Revival must start with individual spiritual transformation before it can spread to the church and community.
A.W. Tozer emphasizes that revival must start at the individual level before it can impact the church and the community. He argues that a church cannot experience revival without the spiritual transformation of its members, as the church is made up of identifiable individuals. Tozer critiques the notion of an abstract 'invisible church' and insists that true revival is rooted in the real lives of Christians who are active in their communities. He calls for believers to recognize their roles and responsibilities in seeking personal revival, which in turn can lead to a collective awakening within the church.
Text
Revival may be experienced on three levels, viz., in the individual, the church or the community.
It is impossible to have a community revival where there has not been a church revival, and unless at least a few individuals seek and obtain a spiritual transformation in their own hearts, there can be no hope for their church, for a church is composed of individual Christians.
It is a mere commonplace to sing or pray, "Lord, send a revival, and let it begin in me." Where else can a spiritual quickening take place but in the individual life? There is no abstract "church" which can be revivified apart from the men and women who compose it. The vague notion that there is somewhere a mysterious Body of Christ whose members are unknown, an invisible company upon whom the Holy Spirit can fall in answer to prayer, is a grand fallacy. It serves as a hiding place from reality to believe that such an unidentified superchurch actually exists apart from the plain ordinary people we see in our Christian gatherings and in our churches from week to week. But we may as well face the truth: Christians are people and people can be identified. They have names and faces and homes and friends and jobs. They keep house, go to school, drive trucks, buy, sell, travel, eat and bathe and sleep exactly as other people do. The seed of God is in them and their names are written in heaven, but they are not invisible. The world knows who the Christians are.
Sermon Outline
- Revival on Different Levels
- Individual Revival
- Church Revival
- Community Revival
Key Quotes
“Christians are people and people can be identified.” — A.W. Tozer
“They have names and faces and homes and friends and jobs.” — A.W. Tozer
“The seed of God is in them and their names are written in heaven, but they are not invisible.” — A.W. Tozer
Application Points
- Individual Christians must seek and obtain spiritual transformation for a church revival to occur.
- A church is composed of individual Christians, so revival must start at the individual level.
- Community revival is impossible without a church revival, which requires individual spiritual transformation.