A call for Christian revival in 2021

Last year was one of the weariest we can remember. It brought school conducted behind screens, fewer trips to restaurants, and no escapes to the ballgame. The weekly routine of sitting in a church pew on Sunday morning is gone for many. How can we not be weary?

There is no guarantee that 2021 will be better, but Christians must step up. We need to challenge one another in love and support each other when facing strong headwinds. If we live like the world, why should non-Christians listen to us. More importantly, why would they listen to God? With this in our mind, here is our charge to the body of Christ for 2021: • Read the entire Bible. This is a blessing—and doing it in a year takes only about 15 minutes a day. There are plenty of reading plans and even apps to make the process easy. Encourage others to join you. How can we expect to share God’s word passionately and accurately if we Christians are not Bible-literate?

• Pray. Pray for our pastors, teachers, politicians, family and friends. Many of us tell others that we will pray for them, but do we do it? Don’t simply tell someone that you will pray for him. Stop and say, “I am going to pray with you.”

• Repent. Repentance is a word American culture have lost sight of. It means to turn away from the direction one has been headed. Repentance applies not only to salvation but to everyday life. If 2020 has exposed worry, jealousy, racism, pride, greed or anger in our hearts, we must repent.

• Return to our home churches.

The relationships built in our local churches are critical for our personal growth— and the church’s growth as a whole.

• Give tithes and offerings. The Bible requires Christians to give to the church. We can debate whether tithing is Old Covenant or New Covenant, but we all know God calls usto give—and to give generously.

We don’t know what the future holds, but God called us to follow him. It’s long past time for a Christian revival in this country, and following the steps above is a call to action that will change this country in unimaginable ways.