We’re into the heart of autumn here in the UK and my mind is already on my hopes and plans for my garden next year. I know it doesn’t work to wait until springtime to decide what I’ll grow if there’s to be any hope of a fruitful harvest in the summer. As for that new area for planting some new plants … if I don’t prepare the ground before the first frost then it’ll be too late.

This, the fifth of six, brief looks at some of the common factors that create an environment conducive to spiritual renewal, I’m flagging up ‘Authentic Social and Cultural Engagement’. A proactive involvement in addressing wider societal issues, demonstrating God’s justice, and extending compassion to marginalised groups, reflecting the transformative impact of the revival on the broader community. 

Very conscious of the old adage if we don’t learn the lessons of history we repeat its’ mistakes I instinctively look back to the eighteenth century and what subsequently is described as The Great Awakening. A. Skevington Wood in his wonderful The Inextinguishable Blaze (sorry no longer in print) makes the point in summing up the influence of revival ‘no human yardstick can measure the overall impact of the supernatural phenomenon of this order. The full effect of revival is ultimately incalculable.’  Nevertheless the briefest review of some the headlines is astounding by any measure:

1. The democratisation of religion and social life. It was the impact of the receiving of the gospel of Jesus Christ by individuals which led to its best legacy – ordinary people seeing their lives, communities and institutions in the light of the gospel. The emphasis was on a personal encounter with God, but its fruit was deeply public. 
2. The proliferation of new institutions for social good. The Abolitionist Movement Institutions provide the largest headline and we shall do well to not forget the very clear link between the impact and the outworking of the gospel in this way. However, the Methodist movement itself, which provided a significant positive Christian impact into last century should not be dismissed because the present condition in the UK. Sunday Schools provided basic literacy, Bible teaching and moral formation for working-class children who no other access to education. There was a massive increase in Charitable and Philanthropic Societies, which continue to this day. Hospitals and the provision of medicine and not forgetting the birth of the modern missionary movement. 
3. The expansion of the public sphere. The preaching of Whitefield, Wesley and Edwards, in particular, was followed by a whole raft of publications and pamphlets, which brought the challenges of the Christian gospel to countless people first-hand. They didn’t shy away from current issues and consequently their message was amplified through ordinary people.  
4. The engagement with questions of justice. Revival didn’t directly eradicate the injustices of slavery, inequality, or poverty, but the seeds were planted in many places, which would prove to be unstoppable.
5. The deepening of a culture of authenticity and moral responsibility. The first impact was upon the church itself in great need of renewal. The Methodist class system embedded a culture of personal accountability and there was a knock-on effect as this was translated into a desire for integrity in public life.

So where does this leave us today, if we have any desire to see renewal in the church and the revival of Christianity across our nation? There’s no shortage of issues for Christians to engage with and the availability of social media provides the potential for any follower of Jesus Christ connecting with more people than the great revivalists. 

In the hope of some of you reading to the end, I’ll be brief even though there’s a PhD thesis (or few) to be had in any of these! If we want to be ready for revival by cultivating an environment more conducive to Authentic Social and Cultural Engagement here’s the three challenges I struggle with most:

1. I need to remember the work of transforming a person’s heart, soul and mind is God’s responsibility. The rampant expressive individualism, a product of post-modernity has fuelled the collective mindset ‘I’ in in charge. Tragically, being called to any leadership responsibility within the body of Christ doesn’t bring immunity. Repentance must be a hallmark of my life; continually turning towards the life of Jesus, continually re-aligning my life (all of it, every element) with his. Not my will, but his will be done, must become more than the focus of an occasional sermon: it must be the magnetic pull of my heart, soul, strength and mind. 
2. I need to remember how I personally engage with any issue will have a greater impact on those for whom I have some degree of spiritual responsibility, than what I say. In other words, my personal integrity is the most critical factor here. Evangelicals need to become clearer and more willing to articulate their motivation for social justice, compassion and the big one: love. We don’t need to pretend we do anything better than the atheist next door, or the liberal in the church along the road, but we can be clear about whose name and glory we want to promote in our best moments. There was a seamless link between the words preached by a William Wilberforce, a John Wesley and a Martin Luther King and their actions. Whatever else we are learning in this moment, surely it is people are desperate for authenticity. Talk to new believers from a muslim background, the smorgasbord of the new age, or a Gen Z’er, you’ll hear the constant in the cry of their heart. That’s why when history looks back on this moment, the reputation of today’s church will rest on how accurately we point to Jesus in word and deed.
3. I need be committed to engaging with the social and cultural issues which I encounter first-hand, before I address the short-comings of anyone else. It’s the sermon on the mount stuff: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye (Matthew 7:3-5). You may well think my point three is a repeat of point two and may be right. Certainly, as I’ve engaged with the leadership of churches over the years, time and time again, I encounter the struggle to align personal practices with collective convictions. 

Always best to let Jesus have the last word: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Matthew &:15-20)

 1 For a reminder of the other factors see: https://seventy-two.network/2025/02/we-can-be-ready/

 2 The Inextinguishable Blaze by A Skevington Wood. The Paternoster Press 1960. Page 235.