Asbury University: A Surprising Work of God?
To all the secularists cheering the demise of Christianity in America, I have some news for you.
Christianity is a religion of surprising reversals and seasons of significant re-awakening, which can take place in a person, a small group, a church, or even a college campus. Call it an outpouring of spiritual energy, a renewal, or – yes – a revival. It often begins with listless believers whose faith is rejuvenated. And if it becomes large and spills out beyond a Christian setting, it is sometimes referred to as an awakening, where non-believers turn to God in larger numbers and the moral tenor of a community is impacted.
Such was the case at Asbury University, an evangelical Christian School in Kentucky. On February 8, Asbury students gathered for their tri-weekly chapel to sing, pray, and listen to a sermon. But when students stayed behind to continue worshiping after the chapel service, the ordinary assembly turned into a gathering that lasted for two weeks.
Thousands converged on the school, many from other states, wanting to participate in this non-stop worship service, which expanded to other locations to accommodate the many visitors. The gathering at Asbury went viral on social media and inspired similar student-led movements on several other Christian college campuses with continuous prayer and worship services. Perhaps it’s too early to call this event a “revival,” but it is certainly a renewal of faith where the younger generation is claiming Christianity as their own.
Lest you think this is odd, recall two things. First, the Bible contains calls for revival. “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?” reads Psalm 856. Revelation 2:4-5 also speaks of those who have “lost their first love,” with calls to repent and return.
Second, church history is replete with examples of religious revival. Historian Kenneth Scott Latourette noted that the worldwide spread of Christianity was “in large part an expression of a series of religious awakenings.” Many such awakenings occurred in the late Middle Ages. Protestants also cite the 16th century Reformation as both an inward renewal of faith and an outward reforming of church structures. Catholics point to their reformation. Then there was the Great Awakening in the early American colonies and the revivals of the 19th century known as the Second Great Awakening. Add to that the American revivals of 1859 and the Azuza Street Revival of 1907, both of which spread around the globe.
Often forgotten are the collegiate awakenings in the United States. The First Great Awakening led to the formation of colleges such as Princeton, Rutgers, Brown, and Dartmouth. The wave of revival that lead to the Second Great Awakening began in 1787 with a prayer gathering in a dorm room at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia. There, a revival broke out that not only affected the college but the surrounding communities and other universities. The revival at Williams College in Massachusetts, which also started in a prayer meeting in a haystack, led to the formation of the first American missionary society and the development of American Protestant missions in the following decades. One could cite many other college revivals, such as those at Wheaton (1936), Baylor (1939), and Bethel (1949). What we see happening at Asbury is not unique. Nor is it even the first time it has happened at Asbury!
Historically, spiritual awakenings manifest patterns. Revivals are usually preceded by times of spiritual dryness, deadness, apathy, blatant sin, and a time when the church's prophetic voice and moral leadership are silent. Then, there is usually a season of intense prayer and seeking after God. As people re-encounter the God of the Bible and his holiness, there is an intense conviction of sin, and often public confession and reconciliation. There is a rediscovery of gospel truths and a renewal of joy. With this comes a new boldness to openly declare one’s faith in Christ. And often the reviving is followed by evangelizing, missionary outreach, and social impact (a reformation of morals and manners).
Theologian J.I. Packer defined revival as “God’s quickening visitation of his people, touching their hearts and deepening his work of grace in their lives.” It is a movement attributed to an extraordinary outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It is not the ordinary way God grows the church. It is what some call “an extraordinary means of grace.” Jonathan Edwards, who helped lead and interpret the First Great Awakening, called it “a surprising work of God.”
Events at Asbury College, and now these other campuses, have been exactly that — surprising! It was not planned and arose out of a student initiative.
We’ve all heard too many reports about how Gen Z is the loneliest, unhappiest, most anxious generation. And while that is an overly broad generalization, is it so shocking that they hunger for hope, joy, and transcendence?
Will the movement at Asbury spread far and wide? It’s too soon to say. But at its foundation, it points to the greatest reversal in history — the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Asbury is a reminder that Christianity is a religion of surprising reversals, from Pentecost to the many individual and corporate renewals, awakenings, reformations, and periodic outbreaks of revival. And to that I, as a professing Christian say, do it again Lord!
