History Is About Him

This is from an interview with Collin Hansen, related to his chapter in the book Don't Call It a Comeback: The Old Faith for a New Day.

What is one of the most important things many evangelicals don’t know about their own history?

I’m afraid that many evangelicals don’t know that their history is about God. We so often tell our history as a succession of famous leaders, writers, councils, and battles over doctrine. I do a lot of that in my chapter for Don’t Call It a Comeback. And to some degree it’s true: God has worked through great leaders, books, and councils to preserve his church and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But I fear that this way of telling the story leads us to draw the wrong conclusions for our own day. We think if we can just get our doctrine right and honor the right leaders, then God will bless us with tremendous church growth. But as I researched A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories That Stretch and Stir, I learned that’s not what history looks like. The most gifted, faithful Christians may toil in obscurity. God uses leaders with mixed motives to accomplish his purposes. And just when all hope seems lost, God sometimes revives his church with a tremendous outpouring of his presence through the Holy Spirit. This way God reminds us that history is about him, his story of salvation from first to last.

Where will we fit in this picture?