Salt and Revival: Continuing the Journey of Faith
by Francine Taylor-Thirus, former staff, General Board of Discipleship

"Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?" (Luke 14:34, NRSV)

REVIVAL! REVIVAL! REVIVAL! The words shouted from a large billboard in front of a church. It continued with an invitation to come next week to the church's ANNUAL REVIVAL.

What does it mean to revive something or to be revived? Why is revival needed? Why do WE need it? To revive suggests returning from an undesirable state of being to a desirable state. It implies that something has slipped from a preferred condition of health, vigor, spirit, effectiveness, activity, animation, and vitality to a condition of despair, depression, fatigue, exhaustion, weariness, even near-death.

To continue the journey of faith in our lives and churches, we must "pause for the cause," as the saying goes. We must take time out for rejuvenation. It is rare in a basketball game that a player will play the whole game. A wise coach knows that more can be gained if each player is given intervals of rest for revival time. If a player is allowed to play the whole game without rest, his or her quality and performance levels decrease significantly. Although playing without rest increases the player's minutes on the floor, actual quality and performance levels decrease significantly. To get the best results from a team, the coach ensures that players get adequate playing time and rejuvenating time.

Members of churches cannot continue the journey of faith without revival time. We must intentionally make time for a proper balance of work, rest, and rejuvenation. Most churches in decline and in need of revitalization have not followed the basic model for revival set before us through Jesus Christ: "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest" (Matthew, NRSV).

Remember that I am the church, you are the church, and we are the church together. The church is no healthier than its members.

If any person in a church has become indispensable to the church, that person has become a burden, a risk, a liability, a hindrance, and an accident waiting to happen to himself or herself and the church. Christ's model teaches us to make disciples, not to make ourselves indispensable. We must not become so "heavenly bound" that we are no longer any "earthly" good.

"Increase our faith!" cried the apostles. The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you" (Luke 17:5-6, NRSV). And in Matthew 17:19-20 (NRSV), we are told, "Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, 'Why could we not cast it out?' He said to them, 'Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.'"

Just as salt can lose its flavor, so can a church. When salt loses its flavor, it is ineffective. It is no use. Your food will not taste right no matter how much salt you put on it. It is also of no use for preserving food. The church has lost its salt if it is no longer effective. But unlike salt, which must be thrown away when it loses its flavor, the church can be "REVIVED"! This revival requires planning, willing sacrifices, and commitment in addition to:

• Faith
• Rest
• Total dependence on God
• Willingness to do God's will
• Complete and humble obedience
• Readiness.

A revived, healthy church encourages, teaches, and models revitalization and "time-out."

Posted 5-20-03.