I pray for revival, Christian revival. But I do not see the necessary conditions for it to occur, barring a miracle of God, which is what a revival is anyway.

The last widespread nationwide revival that I can recall was the so-called “Jesus Movement” of the late 1960s and early 1970s. I was a teenager then, already a believer, but the movement affected me greatly in deepening my faith and zeal for the Lord.

In many ways, it was a simple movement. The gospel of salvation was preached, many young people responded, and it stretched across our land to almost every corner. In my town, the movement showed up in conjunction with the movie, “The Cross and the Switchblade” and a coffee house/Bible study run by a couple of local seminary students.

The main reason why I don’t see the conditions right for that now is that more than ever, when the gospel is preached, we have to ask, “Which gospel?” Is it the gospel of the Bible – Creator God, sinful man, sacrificial Savior, repentance and faith? Or is it something else? A “gospel” that appeals more to our felt needs and exhibits characteristics more of therapy than surrender? A “gospel” that promises “your best life now” as if that’s the best the Bible has to offer? A “gospel” that gets people fired up for Jesus without any sense of who he is or what his Word teaches?

This all boils down to a dearth of biblical knowledge, biblical illiteracy if you will. I don’t mean that you have to know a lot of the Bible to come to Christ, but certainly those of us who proclaim the gospel ought to be well-versed, so that those who respond are in fact believing the real gospel about the real Jesus.

One of the marks of the Jesus Movement was its simplicity. We sat in informal circles, sang simple songs (mostly from Scripture), prayed for one another, and studied the Bible together. You would be hard-pressed to find small groups today whose primary purpose is to study the Bible and systematically build our knowledge.

Voddie Baucham has been quoted: “The modern church is producing passionate people with empty heads who love the Jesus they don’t know very well.” By and large, Christians are just not that interested “contend[ing] for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). We’d rather sit in our circles and talk about our experiences with no biblical compass to guide us.

Because of this, we are in danger of passing into a kind of “Post-Christian Christianity.” A time where identifying as a Christian means different things to different people and thus means nothing. This is why I believe that before any true revival can take place, we need to recover the place of content in our Christianity.

I am thankful for the voices that God is raising for biblical literacy. Jen Wilkin is doing amazing things targeted for Christian women that is substantial, unlike what is typically marketed to women. For years, Ligonier Ministries under Dr. R.C. Sproul has been engaging believers in content that bridges the gap between the local church and a seminary education. John Piper, before he stepped away from Bethlehem Baptist Church, preached massive sermon series from Romans and Hebrews (I wrote about that here). May their tribe increase.

And then maybe we can have revival.