According to Gallup, there are an estimated 70 million born-again Christians in the United States.

How could we be so grossly pagan from coast to coast and have that many claiming to know Jesus?

You must either say that this is an extremely exaggerated number or there is something horrendously wrong with many of whom claim Christ.

While I am sure there is some exaggeration, there remains the fact that this estimate of how many Christians are in America did not come from an evangelist; it came from the secular press.

So the problem must lie mainly in the individual condition of believers in our country.

We have an epidemic of uncommitted Christians. It is as simple as that.

Most respond to appeals but their repentance does not cause a revolution in their behavior. While many are afraid to reject Christ, they are equally reluctant to follow Christ into victorious faith.

The result is a generation that believes in the person of Jesus Christ but does not follow Him with ferocious zeal.

If Christians cannot get on fire, no wonder our nation has lost her moral compass. Take a careful look at us. We are a generation preoccupied with escapism, drowning in trivial pursuits.

As a minister of the Gospel, I am supposed to attack this and release people into authentic life in Christ.

Instead, many individuals want me to cater it. This theology asks God to engage a person in his whims.

Vast numbers of ministers have portrayed faith as painless and profitable. So now we have reaped a generation that can’t stand in adversity and refuses to grow.

Probably the most abused phrase today is, “God loves you just the way you are.”

Let me assure you that I believe it is true, but the way it has been applied is, “I don’t need change; I don’t have to grow up.”

God loves us too much to leave us the way we are.

I refuse to stew over all the nominal Christians who would rather have, teaching on controlling their feelings of depression than training to win souls for the Kingdom.

I would rather seize this moment and fan their embers of faith into raging fires of revival. I want to see believers whose walk with God has teeth!

So how do we have real revival from the heart? First, we need to recognize the need for God to be real and active in our personal lives.

Second, we need to return to the Word of God and make a commitment to grow.

Third, we need a reemphasis of the Cross of Christ daily. We need to be different and make a difference to those we come in contact with.

The only way you will ever know that you have gone from surviving to reviving is when you have started to minister to someone else.

It is time for you to get along and pray wholeheartedly to be useful.

Talent is not the major issue. Commitment is.

---

Joss Walter is the Campus Pastor for the First Assembly of God Church.