Vagabond Revolutionary Reformers: Those Who Awaken the Dead

This is the first part to a research paper I wrote during my senior year in high school...

Revolution & Reformation

1. What is a Revolutionary Reformer?

When people see the word "revolution", it immediately reminds them of other words such as "rebellion", "insurrection" or even "mutiny". These assumptions are fully understandable when you look up “revolution” in the dictionary and note its fellow synonyms. Something just doesn’t seem to ring right. When I write "revolution" I intend the very word to revolutionize itself, shaking off the chains of false identity and stepping into the shoes it was meant to wear all along, a revolution that is a reformation.

Revolutionary is something characterized by, or resulting in, a radical change. Completely original or new and disruptive of the old.

Revolution is and can be new and original but only because what it brings back to life has been forgotten, erased and left for dead. What was old is what took over what is now new again, and here is where reformation comes in. Reform means "to improve, as by alteration, correction of error, or abolition of abuses and malpractices. To abolish. To cause to abandon irresponsible or immoral practices."

Revolution awakens and breathes life; reformation convicts and transforms.

The very core idea of revolution is the eruption of everything you know, to the belief in something you don’t know. What does that sound like? New birth in Christ, right? Salvation is a revolution, but who is willing to let it also reform them?

In Isaiah 55:8-9 God’s words revolutionize and astound our feeble minds with this mysterious statement, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. "For as high as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways." Man thinks he understands but he doesn’t, and that in itself, is revolutionary.

2. Evidence of a Revolutionary

Every thought, action, and word in this world only stems from another thought, action or word. Even those who are thought to be the greatest thinkers, leaders and spokesmen of all time, were those influenced by other’s thoughts, actions and words.

God is influenced by no one. His thoughts, actions and words are His own.

Great men and women, over the span of history, have instigated world-wide unity or war of every kind whether it be mental, spiritual and physical.These revolutions were, of course, very radical to whatever time period they disrupted, in whatever extreme you would like to choose, and all erupted both popularity and criticism. Many were long, slow and gradual, while others were powerful and quick. But most of all they were life changing!

God’s revolution is also life changing! The question is, which ones are positive and which are negative? How do we understand the difference? First of all, positive revolutions are only those that line up with the word of God and are guided by the Holy Spirit. If revolution is controlled by the individual’s assumption that his way is the divine way, then it is an entirely corrupt revolution that can only rot away the mind and heart with deception. Who is man for him to know what is true and just? Only God can judge.

A revolution has nothing to do with man at all, only his willingness to become involved, his readiness to be changed, and his acknowledgment that the way things are must be taken away so the new can become reality.

Secondly, a positive revolution stands for the truth, not the truth as defined by man, but as defined by God. " You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."(John 8:32)

Biblical truth sets people free, which is the purpose of a revolution. If the captives and those in slavery, whether it is slavery of the mind or the body, are not set free, then there has been no positive revolution at all.

A negative revolution exalts man, not God, and seeks to destroy the most precious gift that man possesses and this is his heart.

3. Knowledge of Good & Evil

"The heart is more deceitful than all else and desperately sick; who can understand?" (Jeremiah17:9).

The heart is deceitful and sick Jeremiah says. And indeed it is. As you look back on the history of mankind and see where the world is today, you know the heart has the most deadly disease of all, the love for itself.

In II Timothy 3, Paul speaks of such a disease," For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God."

That’s a long horrible list!

All these things stem from "men will be lovers of self", which brings us to the most important statement at the end, “rather than lovers of God." Not only is the heart desperately sick, but it is also deceitful. This deceit lies most heavily in the church because that is where it is taught. This twisted mindset is "how much can God love us?” rather than “how much are we willing to love God?" Of course, God loves us because that is who He is and God cannot be anything but Himself. The point is...He loves us so we will love Him.

But love has lost its meaning, trampled in the wake of our own adventure to find it. Love is denying oneself. Love is death. This is the love God gave when He killed his son. This love is the love He longs for us to return. Why else did He create us?

"Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." (Proverbs 4:23).

Out of your heart flows the springs of life. Wait a minute! How can a deceitful and sick heart flow forth springs of life? Love does it! Deceit fades in the face of true love and disease has no ground to grow. In its place flows the springs of life, the secrets of the universe, the love of God, Christ himself. Now what has this got to do with revolutions and reformations?

Everything!

to be continued...