A great spiritual awakening seems to be happening in people everywhere. Particularly in the US, I have noticed that many people are being drawn to the occult and New Age as opposed to Christianity. It would seem that most of the growth happening is among spiritual groups other than Christian churches. An example is Wicca which has grown more than 1500% over the past 10 years. This makes it one of the fastest growing religions in the world today. There is a big spirituality revival happening today but unfortunately much of it is happening outside of Christian churches but it is not a true revival from God.

As we have been doing evangelistic outreach events using new creative ways to demonstrate God’s love and power, we have found that people are very open to knowing more about God and even Jesus. Unfortunately, most of them see no relevance in being part of a Christian church. In the minds of many people, Christianity has lost its appeal. People are longing for something that will actually change the quality of their lives.

Though Christianity can bring this change, many spiritual seekers who attend a church are not able to connect with this life-changing God in a way that is practical. So instead they look outside the Church to the Human Potential Movement, for example, to bring change to their lives. Earlier this year, God directed me to attend a secular conference by a popular motivational speaker. I was shocked to find that the principals of change that were being taught were actually biblical for the most part, but lacked reference to God. Millions of people are now flocking to the movement because it is giving them tangible results in their day-to-day lives.

I believe that we are currently caught in an era of transition. Many of our Christian experiences have occurred in a lukewarm program-based church. Though things have been getting slightly better in some churches, the majority of Christian churches today are not exactly a good example of God’s power on earth.

In Matthew 9:16-17 (NIV) Jesus says, “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

We are in a time where the old church experience is not satisfying thirsty spiritual seekers. As well, the new has not yet been established. Just as in the days of Jesus when He brought a new and radical religious experience, this coming Jesus revival will look equally radical and many Christians will be apt to reject it. To prepare for this new revival, I believe we need to ask the following questions:

1. If Jesus were to start a Church today to reach these spiritual seekers, what would it look like?

2. What is it that spiritual seekers of today are looking for and how can we meet that need?

3. What do we need to change about how we “do church” to reach spiritual seekers and are we willing to do that?

4.Think about someone in your life who seems open to God but does not go to church. Ask them to tell you about any experience they have had in going to church. Ask them to describe the ideal church that they would want to be a part of.

Copyright 2006 Doug Addison
For more information about the ministry of Doug Addison visit www.dougaddison.com. This article may be used and shared with others for instructional purposes. If you do use it please give credit to the author. Written permission must be obtained to reprint this article.