Lessons learned at a revival

Our youth group was invited to a revival this past Sunday. At first I was a little apprehensive. I will be honest and tell you that a lot of times I go to Pentecostal services, I always feel judged. I feel like they are preaching to me and telling me that I'm a sinner and unworthy or salvation because I smoke (back when I was smoking), or drink or dance or because I haven't been "saved." I know that not all Pentecostal people are like this, but that has been my usual experience.

And at the beginning of the revival, it was no different. Several speakers got up and said they don't believe in dancing, that they only dance for God. And here we are preparing for our family night with all kinds of dances. I guess I'm going to hell. LOL But then our Worship Team got up to testify through their music. At first I sensed a lot of people there were caught off guard. I could see the look of confusion on some peoples faces. Wait a minute, how can these kids testify about the love of God when I just saw them smoking outside. I heard they went to the Fiji concert last night and then went...dancing afterwards...or whatever it is they do at karaoke. But they're quoting the Bible and testifying about God's grace in difficult times and...this just doesn't make sense.

When the speaker got up, he said he never thought he'd see the day when a mainline, LMS church would have a Worship Team singing at a Pentecostal revival. Praise the Lord. His message was, in my view, directed at the contradictions in my heart. He spoke about how important it is to have a pure heart. He said that the Lord doesn't look at our actions as much as He looks at our hearts and the pure love we have for Him. He said it's easy to come to church and lift up our hands and say hallelujah, but when church is over a lot of us use that same mouth that we had just praised the Lord to curse someone or gossip behind someone's back. In the church parking lot no less. He continued that just because someone smokes or drinks doesn't make them a sinner. He quoted the Bible that it's not what goes in a person's body that defiles them, it's what comes out of it that defiles a person.

Now it was my turn to have the perplexed look on my face. Wait a minute, this is a sermon you usually hear at a LMS church. Am I really at a Pentecostal revival? The speaker went on to say that we would all stand before God and will be judged by the purity of our hearts and the works that we did for God. I was amazed. And humbled. Here I was accusing them of being judgemental, yet I was also judging them and assuming that they all had the same mindset. I learned a valuable lesson and was fed spiritually. Never judge a book by its cover.