Whether you are a Believer or not, I cannot imagine that the outpouring of faith at the Memorial Celebration for Charlie Kirk this past weekend did not affect you. For those who were disturbed by [or antagonistic towards] the display of faith by the crowd of 200,000 people who arrived to honor him, it was a picture of the influence Charlie had in stirring up the hearts of people to embrace demonstrable faith in Jesus Christ.
To be honest, I was surprised to see the negative and hateful remarks on social media, as well as the vitriolic speech by talking heads in the media. I guess I shouldn't have been. Satan hated that display of Christ's Love towards Him and each other. Even more startling to me was the report by the Barna Group and Gloo on the State of the Church. First let me explain who these two research groups are. Barna Group is a Christian research organization that provides data and insights on the trends affecting faith, our culture, and the ministry today. Gloo is an AI-powered community engagement platform that was designed to use machine learning to understand the individual needs of a community. [NOTE: I'm a little concerned that a machine might be able to lead those engaging with it towards research results that meet the pre-determined bias of its creator. Are they authentic results? Just my opinion].
Now to the research results that were reported on September 3, 2025, exactly one week before Charlie Kirk's assassination. According to ChurchLeaders.com, both Barna Group and Gloo revealed "a historic shift in church attendance. For the first time in decades, younger adults, specifically Gen Z (ages 13-28) and Millennials (ages 29-44) are now the most regular churchgoers". What happened? First of all, these are the same age groups that were isolated during the pandemic of the early 2000s. So let's think about the consequences of that isolation.
It seems [to me] that when the Covid pandemic started, Gen Z were the kids who ranged in age from 8-23, when schools were shut down and students were forced into being kept apart from physical contact with their peers. The Millennials were older and either just beginning their careers or climbing the ladder, and they, too, suffered from being isolated and disillusioned at home in front of their computers. This resulted in both generations becoming divided into two distinctly different groups. Both groups became hungry for a connection, meaning, and purpose in their lives. But the isolation created a vacuum and a void in the lives of these impressionable young people. And that gap, left by the loss of a significant part of their identity, would be filled with either Good or Evil; a purpose or meaninglessness/lack of direction; and Jesus or the devil.
Group One found a longing for the spiritual, and a deeper relationship with Jesus for their identity and purpose. Group Two found their meaning and direction in chat rooms that were perfect breeding grounds for the lies of the Enemy. Combine this with the trend of older adults whose faith had become "lukewarm", and those who identified with Group Two and had no foundation of faith to support their sense of aimlessness .... the perfect opportunity to malign the Church and faith as a means of comfort and connection. These kids and young adults found both comfort and connection through gamer platforms, violent video games, exposure to inappropriate content of a sexual and/or societal nature -- all of which can [and did] lead to social isolation and hindering their development of real-life social skills. When you don't feel like you belong, the devil will introduce you to some of his followers.
Our society is showing signs of this division; between those who seek Jesus and those who revile Him. And in the midst of these last 5 years since the height of the Pandemic, God sends Charlie Kirk into the fray. Actually, Charlie volunteered. He knew what his purpose was and told God, "Send me". Charlie approached the differences in a new way. With a heart to see everyone come to a personal relationship with His Lord and Savior, Charlie invited these kids [who had become isolated and lost] to engage in a conversation about the issues of their generation. No topic was off-limits ... discussions about abortion, gender identity, racism, and faith, itself, were opportunities for him to reach the aimless who were looking for something to believe in. He challenged them to think for themselves. And in the midst of the conversations and debate, it was an opportunity to introduce them to Jesus who knew exactly what their purpose was. And thousands of this generation responded with the hope they were seeking.
So, now we are all hearing words of hope and expectancy ... Revival and Awakening! Such promising words! We must pray for them! But, in all due respect, I offer a word of caution... Is there a difference between the meanings of these words, and what are the signs we can recognize that we are experiencing them authentically? An Awakening is a hunger and a stirring up of our spirits as God sovereignly pours out the Holy Spirit to cause an impact in our culture. A Revival in the Church is more than that. Yes, a true Revival begins with this kind of awakening. In fact, a Revival is the spiritual reawakening of a lukewarm Church who has been content to rest in its prosperity, its reputation in society, its ability to entertain the masses, and sadly, personal identity and recognition among its members. In other words, it tends to serve itself instead of the lost of the world, whom Jesus came to save.
I do not intend for this post to be a condemnation of the Church, but hopefully, to inspire genuine reflection. Have we forsaken our first love (the passion with which we first came to Christ)? Have we become ensnared by the rituals, just going through the motions, and no longer experiencing the joy of serving the Lord? Has the Church compromised with the world and incorporated the world's values into our theology? [Remember that Jesus said Satan is "the prince of this world" (John 14:30), and Paul said he was the "God of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4) -- how much has the Church partnered with the devil by staying silent about sin in the world?] Have we tolerated false teaching that undermines the spiritual life and power of God's True Church?
Yes, the Church needs a Revival! And the Church needs to be Restored to its original power! But I'm not sure we can call this amazing supernatural hunger for the Word of God that we have seen ignited [by God] through Charlie Kirk, "a Revival" just yet. We can most definitely call it an Awakening! And it's a beautiful movement in the Spirit across our land. So now we need to pray that it continues and grows in strength. There have been several magnificent awakenings in our country since America's inception. When we were still colonies, Jonathan Edwards reported that one of the signs of spiritual awakening was that young people were being drawn to the faith. Hallelujah, we are seeing that again today!
But here's the thing ... The seed planted in Awakenings must be watered in order to grow into pure Revivals! Awakenings don't simply evolve into Revivals. We must understand the importance of divine intervention for spiritual revival [and pray for it]. In addition, we must see sustained fruit if we are to call a movement a genuine Revival. In fact, there have been several Awakenings throughout history, and sometimes Revivals followed, only to dwindle in passion and pass into oblivion.
History shows us that Jonathan Edwards' First Great Awakening in America (1741) declined due to division within the Church over theology. A Second Great Awakening took flight in 1790, nurtured by Edwards' grandson, Timothy Dwight, but it was not sustained either. Since then, Awakenings among college students came to life during the American Civil War; movements in the 20th Century such as the Student Volunteer Movement, Youth for Christ, Young Life, Campus Crusade for Christ, Azusa Street, the Jesus Movement, and now, through the ministry of Turning Point USA.
Some resulted in short periods of authentic Revival. But as you can discern, these "awakenings" and "revivals", while not resulting in the restoration and regeneration of the Church as Jesus desires, are reasons to be grateful for the fresh wind of renewal that we have witnessed over the last week. God is at work, once again, among our young generations. Praise the Lord! Will you join with me and all the generations by praying that this latest Awakening will continue to stir up hearts and spirits and lead to a multi-generational (and real) Revival that will sweep our land and around the world? And, Lord, I fervently pray, "Let it begin with me!"
Psalm 85:4-7 Now restore us again, O God of our salvation. Put aside Your anger against us once more. Will You be angry with us always? Will You prolong Your wrath to all generations? Won't You revive us again, so Your people can rejoice in You? Show us Your unfailing love, O Lord, and grant us Your salvation.
