Why did Mark keep disappearing? We were delighted when he came to church to thank us for the eyeglasses he received at our free clinic. He began attending regularly, but then he would disappear. That is when we discovered he had a severe addiction to alcohol that he had been struggling with for many years. After a few months, he let us know that he had lost his home, as well as nearly everything else, and was now living on the streets. How does God bring revival to someone as far gone as Mark?
The fruit of revival
“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other” (1 John 3:14).1 Passing from death to life is resurrection. The fruit of revival is not only attending church more, reading the Bible more, or having greater power to tell people about Jesus but also loving others as Jesus does. As John goes on to write, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (vv. 17, 18). Revival results not just in having good things to say but also in practical actions of love toward those who need any help we can offer.
Without condemnation
We offered Mark a shower, fed him, helped him get the supplies that he needed and a better place to stay, and began walking with him on a long journey toward recovery. For the next two years, there were the exciting moments when he broke new barriers of sobriety. First, it was passing 30 days, then 50, and then 100. But then another heartbreaking relapse would happen, and that came along with an underlying expectation from Mark that we would walk away from him like many others had done.
Love is patient. . . . [Love] always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails (1 Cor. 13:4, 7, 8).
Imagine being in Mark’s place and having someone show up each time without condemnation. Whether it was to help him clean up his place from his latest binge, drive him home from another city, or help him find another job, our simple goal was to be there for him—no matter what. Love restores life!
Going the distance?
Eventually, Mark decided to be baptized and join this loving church family. Soon he was working for the church as a janitor and grounds keeper. This time he was sober for over six months, but then several relapses came.
Love is patient. . . . [Love] always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails (vv. 4, 7, 8).
Could it be that our lifelessness as a church is due to our unwillingness to go the distance in practically loving others, no matter the cost? God will not force us to love. Love cannot be forced. We need a transformed way of thinking, otherwise known as repentance. This will give power to our witness. Just look at the book of Acts, where great power to share about the Resurrection (Acts 4:33) is set in the context of everyone sharing what they had with anyone in need (vv. 32, 34). Maybe God is waiting to pour the Holy Spirit out with power until we are willing to love like Jesus loves.
Love is life
As I write this, Mark has over 19 months of sobriety,2 his own apartment, his dream job, and more. But most important, he frequently tells others that it is God who has restored his life. In fact, Mark has invited many people to our church. One has already been baptized.
Mark recognizes that he has passed from death to life, and this only takes place because “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16) and “love is life.”3 And this reality will bring revival to our churches.
One leader recently remarked, “I’ve learned more about love through watching Mark’s recovery than I have ever learned before.” Let us pray for a revival through love because God is love and love is life.
- Scripture quotations in this column are from the New International Version.
- In fact, we touch base every day by text message to count the days. When I was writing this, he had been sober for 599 days.
- Ellen G. White, “For God Is Love, and Love Is Life,” Christ’s Object Lessons (Battle Creek, MI: Review and Herald, 1900), 258.
