What’s in an Awakening?

It is common in Wesleyan circles to yearn for revival. Recently, Asbury University experienced a great sense of the Holy Spirit’s presence on campus. For over a month, thousands of people poured in to the small town of Wilmore, Kentucky to experience the sweet, peaceful presence of God. The same thing happened back in 1970 when a strong sense of God’s presence brought thousands of people to the town for many, many weeks.

An “Awakening” is something much bigger. Historians of American History speak of two Great Awakenings, one in the 1700s and another in the 1900s. An Awakening is a movement that is much larger, nationwide, and even global in scope. This larger kind of revival can change the course of history with many, many people either coming to Christ or renewing their relationship with him.

The First Great Awakening (1730s and 40s)

John Wesley was part of the First Great Awakening in the 1730s and 40s. He was in England, while other individuals like Jonathan Edwards were in the American colonies. Another preacher, George Whitefield, preached in both England and America. This was the time of the Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, a time when belief in an active God seemed to be slipping away.

In response, individuals like Edwards, Whitefield, and Wesley sparked waves of revival across both England and America. They preached a strong emphasis on a personal experience of God with a call to a more individual and emotion-filled faith. Whitefield was known for his charismatic preaching, drawing large crowds and inspiring religious enthusiasm as he traveled across England and the colonies. 

Wesley similarly inspired religious fervor across England. However, there were two key differences between Wesley and Whitefield. For one, Wesley brought organization and discipleship along with his preaching. Whitefield inspired more emotion, but he was here one day and gone the next. He once compared his following to a rope of sand.

By contrast, Wesley set up discipleship groups. Wesley wrote and printed his sermons. His work would eventually result in the Methodist church in both England and America.

As Dr. Lyon pointed out, Wesley’s preaching did not merely end with personal holiness and a personal relationship with Christ. It did not end with individual purity. Wesley also believed in “social holiness,” meaning that our relationship with Christ would inevitably spill over into our relationships in the world. He once said, “There is no holiness but social holiness.”

Wesley began to notice things. As he began to preach in the fields of northern England, people would come to Jesus, and their lives would be transformed. But he also noticed what was going on in the lives of the people to whom he was preaching. Perhaps he had not really known before then that poor children as young as five years old were working in coal mines from before sunrise until after sunset. He didn’t really know until he got with the people.

Accordingly, Dr. Lyon suggests that we often have to be with people to know what people’s lives are like. Wesley’s concern for people’’ souls spilled over into concern for their lives. He and others helped bring about the child labor laws that would spill over to the colonies as well.

As he preached, the reality of the debtor’s prison also came home to him. This was a prison that individuals were put into until they could pay back their debts – something very hard to do when you are in prison. He began a movement to free people out of prison. He created a system of loans to help people get started with their own businesses. 

Dr. Lyon tells about other social initiatives that Wesley engaged in because he was with the people and he noticed their plight. None of these initiatives was in conflict with his preaching of the gospel so people would come to Christ. Indeed, many people came to Christ as a result of the fact that he helped them with their earthly needs.

Because of Wesley’s endeavors, an entire nation was changed. Some have suggested that the reason England was spared the bloody revolution of France was because the ministry of Wesley and others brought hope to ordinary people, something that never happened in France. Two days before he died, Wesley wrote William Wilberforce urging him to help abolish slavery.

The Second Great Awakening (early 1800s)

The Second Great Awakening began in the late 1700s and continued into the 1800s in the United States. This movement was characterized by large camp meetings and widespread conversions. It also featured great preachers like Charles Finney, who emphasized the need for a personal decision for Christ.

Like the First Awakening, the Second Awakening had a profound social impact on America. It became closely linked with abolitionism, abstinence from drinking, and women’s rights. It emphasized individual moral responsibility. It contributed to the expansion of education, with many Christian colleges and universities being established. 

The creation of the Wesleyan Methodist Church was part of this movement. These Christians dared to believe that the good news of Christ could reconstruct society. They believed it could address social ills like poverty, slavery, greed, cruelty, and oppression. They believed that the good news might not only change individual lives but society itself.

Dr. Lyon’s Story

Dr. Lyon poses the question: “Can we believe that today?” She was invited to a dinner about gangs that were planning to move into her area in St. Louis. She felt compelled to go. They began to organize, and the end result was that the gang did not move into town. She did not plan this goal, but God planned it, and she said “yes.”

Transformation can begin with the grassroots. It doesn’t have to be planned by “important” leaders with lots of power. Dr. Lyon warns, “When you start saying ‘yes’ to the Holy Spirit, you’re going to move into things you never thought you would ever, ever, ever move into.”

Dallas Willard once had a conversation where he used plumbing as an example of God’s involvement in our lives when we are open to it. When you face a plumbing problem, he suggested, it’s never just you and the pipe. You never fight any battle alone. "You invoke the presence of God. You expect to see something happen that is not a result of you.” You train yourself to thank God when these “coincidences” happen, and you begin to discern the patterns God is making in your life.