The worst revival preacher ever.
Our pastor’s been on sabbatical now for about two months. In the interim, the pulpit has been filled by several different speakers. We have several retired pastors in our congregation, who have taken turns, our youth minister has spoken, and so on. Last week, we had one of those oh-so-Baptist traditions, the revival.
Now our church has changed over the years since auntlada and I joined (1995). Back then, it was a typical small-town/country Baptist church; we had every year, in the spring and in the fall. It was part of the changing of the seasons, an immutable law of nature, like the earth’s rotation. Twice a year you went to church for a few extra services. You could expect an old-fashioned fire and brimstone preacher who would tell you all about the moral decay of today’s society and your particular role in producing that decay. You could expect 15 to 20 minute invitations, where the piano and organ would play 300 verses of “Just As I Am” or “I Have Decided To Follow Jesus” while the preacher exhorted you to “Just step out from your pew and come to the altar. Jesus is waiting for you now. Are you tired of living in sin?”
That’s how revivals worked. And a significant amount of what worked at a revival was the appeal to emotion. The preacher (always from outside; your regular preacher isn’t capable of leading a revival, apparently) was generally of the classic Baptist preacher type: homey, even folksy in style, fundamentalist in theology, manipulative in delivery. Stories of how dreadfully sinners mistreat those around them would be a prominent part of the sermon. These tales of an individual’s slide into depravity would be eagerly devoured by the congregation, who would hang on every lurid detail. If possible, the preacher himself would have a “testimony” of how he was a hard-drinkin’, hard-livin’ womanizin’ cuss until he met Christ. (I’m not knocking the ability of God to change people; but it seems odd that every revival preacher has this testimony …). Much would be made of this: “If Jesus can save me, he can sure save you!” After several days of this, the “Revival” would be over and the numbers – those all-important numbers - would be announced during a Sunday service; so many “salvations”, so many “rededications” and some number of “other decisions.”
We didn’t get one of those.
Dr. Greg Frizzell came and spoke, and I can clearly say that he was the worst revival preacher ever. He didn’t rant or rave. He didn’t tug at heartstrings. He didn’t do any of the things that revival preachers are supposed to do. He certainly didn’t try to create a revival.
Instead, he talked about the conditions that need to be met to produce a revival. He spoke of how important prayer is; not hurried, wish-list prayer, but prayer that spends time with God, that builds up a relationship. Prayer that changes the person praying. He spoke of what it takes to achieve that kind of prayer, of the need to have a clean heart, and to have forgiven others. He spoke of getting close to God’s heart.
He didn’t preach a revival, in the sense that I’m used to. Instead, he preached about what it takes to be revived by God. I never got a sense of the arrogance that many revival preachers have from him, that arrogance that says “we have revival twice a year, whether God likes it or not.” As befits a man who has studied the revivals of history, he spoke about how to hear God, how to seek God, and how to be close to Him and to each other – the conditions that led to the Great Awakening, the revivals under Wesley and Whitefield, the Welsh revival of 1904-5.
He was the worst revival preacher I’ve ever heard – and that’s the greatest compliment I know how to pay him. He didn't preach revival; he preached Christ.
Now our church has changed over the years since auntlada and I joined (1995). Back then, it was a typical small-town/country Baptist church; we had every year, in the spring and in the fall. It was part of the changing of the seasons, an immutable law of nature, like the earth’s rotation. Twice a year you went to church for a few extra services. You could expect an old-fashioned fire and brimstone preacher who would tell you all about the moral decay of today’s society and your particular role in producing that decay. You could expect 15 to 20 minute invitations, where the piano and organ would play 300 verses of “Just As I Am” or “I Have Decided To Follow Jesus” while the preacher exhorted you to “Just step out from your pew and come to the altar. Jesus is waiting for you now. Are you tired of living in sin?”
That’s how revivals worked. And a significant amount of what worked at a revival was the appeal to emotion. The preacher (always from outside; your regular preacher isn’t capable of leading a revival, apparently) was generally of the classic Baptist preacher type: homey, even folksy in style, fundamentalist in theology, manipulative in delivery. Stories of how dreadfully sinners mistreat those around them would be a prominent part of the sermon. These tales of an individual’s slide into depravity would be eagerly devoured by the congregation, who would hang on every lurid detail. If possible, the preacher himself would have a “testimony” of how he was a hard-drinkin’, hard-livin’ womanizin’ cuss until he met Christ. (I’m not knocking the ability of God to change people; but it seems odd that every revival preacher has this testimony …). Much would be made of this: “If Jesus can save me, he can sure save you!” After several days of this, the “Revival” would be over and the numbers – those all-important numbers - would be announced during a Sunday service; so many “salvations”, so many “rededications” and some number of “other decisions.”
We didn’t get one of those.
Dr. Greg Frizzell came and spoke, and I can clearly say that he was the worst revival preacher ever. He didn’t rant or rave. He didn’t tug at heartstrings. He didn’t do any of the things that revival preachers are supposed to do. He certainly didn’t try to create a revival.
Instead, he talked about the conditions that need to be met to produce a revival. He spoke of how important prayer is; not hurried, wish-list prayer, but prayer that spends time with God, that builds up a relationship. Prayer that changes the person praying. He spoke of what it takes to achieve that kind of prayer, of the need to have a clean heart, and to have forgiven others. He spoke of getting close to God’s heart.
He didn’t preach a revival, in the sense that I’m used to. Instead, he preached about what it takes to be revived by God. I never got a sense of the arrogance that many revival preachers have from him, that arrogance that says “we have revival twice a year, whether God likes it or not.” As befits a man who has studied the revivals of history, he spoke about how to hear God, how to seek God, and how to be close to Him and to each other – the conditions that led to the Great Awakening, the revivals under Wesley and Whitefield, the Welsh revival of 1904-5.
He was the worst revival preacher I’ve ever heard – and that’s the greatest compliment I know how to pay him. He didn't preach revival; he preached Christ.
posted by Scott at 3:26 PM
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