In my church there is frequent talk about the necessity of revival. And we are quite serious about it. So serious, in fact, that we talk about it very often. And, we hire a preacher every six months or so to come and preach for four or five days so that through his message the fire in our hearts for God might be rekindled and we might reach the world with the Gospel. I don't know how popular this practice is in mainline Protestant churches like the Presbyterians and Lutherans, but for some years it has enjoyed great popularity in the evangelical world. In the Wesleyan Churches I have attended, revivals are expected, almost a requirement, although the practice of "holding revivals" seems to be in decline among the larger churches. But my church still clings tightly to it.
But rather than resorting to a modern practice to satisfy our hunger for revival, why not figure out what vivified the Church in the first place? The answer can be found in the practice of the apostolic Church of the New Testament. The early disciples met daily for "the breaking of the bread, and the prayers" (Acts 2:42, Young's Literal Translation). More to the point, the disciples on the road to Emmaus found that Jesus "was made known to them in the breaking of the bread" (Luke 24:35, YLT). So, just what is this "breaking of the bread" for which the disciples met daily and through which Jesus makes himself known? The answer is very simple: the Eucharist, or Holy Communion which Christ himself gave to us. Paul describes its institution this way:
The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. (1 Cor. 11:23–26, New International Version).
Jesus alludes to the life-giving principle of Communion in a discourse he gave at Capernaum:
I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.... If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.... I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink (John 6:35, 51, 53–55, NIV).
This discourse is difficult for most Protestants (and apparently for some of the earliest disciples—see John 6:60 ff.) Their doctrines on Holy Communion require them to reject the ancient belief of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist—that the bread and wine of Communion are literally the body and blood of Christ. This is a very important topic for discussion and I may cover it later. However, whether Jesus is being literal or figurative in this passage is irrelevant to my point here.
My point in this case is that if we truly want to have life within us (which is what the viv in revival means), then our best bet is probably not hiring preachers to talk to us every six months. What would be far more effective is to do what the early disciples did daily, what Christ himself gave us to do, and what Christ himself promised would bring us everlasting life. What gave life to the early Church can give life to us today.
