Revival Doesn’t Need a Crowd, it Needs a Spark

by Russell J. Schmidt

11:24 AM, 10/7/2025
 

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness…” — Isaiah 5:20
 

I remember those summer nights in the 1960s when neighbors walked the block on warm summer evenings and made new friends over coffee on front porches. Kids, like myself at the time, played in the streets. Life seemed much simpler. 

Trust came easier. Respect was a given. Community events were an annual right. Whether that was a Memorial Day parade and picnic, to 4th of July fireworks celebration, to Labor Day summer ending events, and climax the year with a winter holiday tree lighting. Community felt like a living thing. Though people lived blocks away from one another, you would greet each other with a warm greeting and ask how the family was doing when crossing paths in the local market.
 

But something began to shift during those years in 1960s, and cracks under the surface began to show in society. Tension began to sweep through the country with protests against the Vietnam War. The assassinations of JFK, RFK, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. were all traumatic events that shocked a nation. We also saw the Hippie movement and the onset of New Age religion. And while the headlines screamed, the quiet erosion of trust began to grow louder and louder.  

Today, we live behind locked doors. We barely know our neighbors next to us, let alone those families of the community who live blocks away. Suspicion is survival. Trust in our political process is at an all time low. Division among the country’s citizens has never been deeper. The wealth gap feels like an ocean – vast, deep, and impossible to cross. The middle class has all but been eliminated. The world feels upside down.
 

Isaiah saw this day coming when he wrote the scripture reference noted above. A time when good would be mocked, and evil would be normalized. Who would have thought the day would come when criminals would be exonerated and the victims would be held responsible for defending themselves, and even be accused of somehow encouraging the behavior of the perpetrator.  

Paul was right when he wrote to Timothy, in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, “3But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

Every one of these traits that Paul describes, we can see in our society today. And sadly, it has even entered the Church. The failures of those religious leaders and mentors whom we put our trust in and looked up to for biblical understanding has been a devastating blow to many in their Church families.  

If only for one day a week we saw them as an escape from the trials and tribulations we encounter in the world. They offered a sense of hope and peace with the words and promises of scripture. Only to get bowled over when we turn on the evening news to see them in handcuffs for either sexual or financial sins, and sometimes both. The heartbreak of fallen leaders has left many disillusioned—but not without hope.  

But here’s the real truth to all societies problems: It’s not the government, it’s not the communities we live in. The real matter lives inside each one of us – it’s a matter of the heart! It’s a matter of letting God mold and shape our hearts instead of the world. But hearts have been molded and shaped by the world and calloused by all the horrors we see in society.  

You may think to yourself, “It’s not me, I have a good heart.” And yes, you may, but each one of us can do better. And it starts with each of us in our own lives and communities. You don’t need to know every neighbor to start rebuilding trust, you just need to be the kind of neighbor who remembers how. We need inspiration to move forward.

And where do we look for the words of inspiration to help us attack this monumental task? First and foremost, We seek the One who removed our heart of stone and restored it with a heart of flesh. You need to know the One who gave you your heart, your breath, and your life. The One who is merciful and full of forgiveness, if only you let Him.

As the infamous scripture in John 3:16 reads, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  

In each one of us, whether you want to believe it or not, there is a spiritual homing device or spiritual signature of God that says you are His, and that He wants you to come home to Him. Sadly, many will not respond to this inner call within your heart.  

You may be one who is asking, “How do I respond to that call?” Or you may be wondering if you are even being called at all. My answer to that is, every single person who has ever been born has had a call of God on their lives, they just might not have recognized it, or worse yet, ignored it. Scripture tells us in 2 Peter 3:9 that God wants all to come to repentance, and in John 3:16, for all to have everlasting life!

Do you regularly read the words of Christ in your Bible? If you don’t, you should. Proverbs 4:20-22 reads, “20 My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. 21Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart.”

I started this by stating the memories I have of squandered traits of the generation I grew up in. But my generation certainly had its flaws like all do. But the truth is that God knew before creation that mankind would choose this path into the wilderness. And the prophecies have shown us what we are experiencing today is only the beginning.

Jesus told us that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. In other words, God wants us who have accepted his calling and are willing to step outside the world’s ways, to help fill the void of workers in order to help bring those home who are lost in this world. The lost children of God who need to know who they are and where they came from.

Not all of us are preachers, but all of us can set an example. We can do good where no good can be found. When we do those good things that are out of the ordinary, no matter how little they may be, it’s like planting a seed of hope to those who may see us and experience our goodness.

And if we plant those seeds with humility, courage, and faith, who knows, we might just ignite a spark in one person’s heart that will lead them to the truth. And that’s how it starts. But we can only plant the seeds, it’s the Holy Spirit who takes it from there.

Change won’t come through the halls of Congress, I think we have enough evidence to prove that by now. But change can start with a simple invite for a cup of tea or coffee on a front porch on a warm summer evening, or a hot cup of cocoa on a cool winter night. Or maybe just a simple wave and hello to a neighbor you’ve never entertained before.

Whatever the case, that kind of a spark can ignite a friendship, and may even encourage others to do the same. So, be a torch in a world that has traded light for darkness. Revival doesn’t need a crowd, it needs a spark!