THERE ARE many pitfalls in the effort to  prepare for revival. One is that we can cause offence through what seems trivial actions.

 I've told before of the problems we faced on Beach Mission at Eden in about 1968, when, a few days before the end of our mission period, we had made no discernable impact on our fellow campers.

 Unlike what churches often do, we made a determined effort in prayer and consultation to discover why things were going wrong. It didn't take long to come up with answers.

 The most serious was that teasing was out of hand. One of the girls had bitten at a comment, and so we often teased her about her reaction. The reaction was hers, and she probably needed to do something about it. But the teasing belonged to the rest of us, it was aggressive, and it needed to be apologised for, confessed, and turned from.

 Added to this was what someone jokingly referred to as a 'worldly' attitude. He was more right than he knew. Yes, there was the occasional slightly 'coarse' banter. But it was the
underlying attitude which was the real problem. Some of us were not taking our mission seriously. We had come for fun and to do a job. The relationship with Jesus Christ and his
calling upon us were not treated seriously.
 

 Both these were faults of the men rather than the women. On the women's side, a couple were bossy and arrogant, and unwilling to be team players., and led many of the others in the same direction. Some of the men were also reacting against that attitude, but taking out their irritation somewhere other than where it belonged.

 Most of an afternoon was spent in soul searching, in confession, in reconciliation.

And the result? Our final four days of mission saw more conversions than we had seen in any ten day mission period to that time! We didn't have to go out and tell people we had
changed: we had changed, and they could sense it! 

What are some "little foxes that spoil the vines" for us to watch for?

 When I first came to Marrickville, I had to face my own racism. There were people in
our community whom I had been taught to be wary about. Suddenly, I had to learn to deal
with these people for whom Christ also died. I'm glad I did, because I have met some
delightful people from such groups.

 But it's still easy to stereotype people. At one time, I met several women from a
certain group who had experienced bullying from fathers, brothers or husbands. I can easily
stereotype all men from that group as bullies. But other experience says that that is definitely
not so. Still, I have to remind myself...

 We can allow prejudice, stereotyping and racism to take control and destroy
Christian relationships.

 The 'Tall Poppy Syndrome' is a very Australian attitude. It's a matter of class
prejudice, something Pauline Hanson has managed to exploit very cleverly in recent times. It
applies in both directions.

 Anyone who speaks differently, who likes the wrong kind of music, who has a
different level of education, who doesn't drive our brand of car, anyone who doesn't fit the
mould is fair game for the arrogant and the poppycutters. When this attitude invades the
church, it leads to stagnation and mediocrity. And, of course, it creates division.

 Because these things are seldom spoken aloud, they create unrecognised divisions,
and divisions break down community, and, without the formation of community, there is no
revival.

 What do we need to repent of so revival can come?
 

© Peter R. Green 1998.