Blame, Shame, and Reconciliation - 2

Over several decades, I have been privileged to witness seven small revivals. The first one took place in Kenya. I was a child there and then as a teenager, so I didn't have the tools to really understand what was happening in the East African Revival. Many other events were going on at the same time, something like countercurrents. 

Basically, European powers controlled African colonies, and African leaders were seeking their independence. Political comments were usually topics for adults to chew over after we children went to bed, not talking about around the meal table. 

At the time, I couldn't stand back and observe things analytically as I could later on. But Holy Spirit-led movements honoring Jesus Christ were a topic of profound interest at home. I wondered if I would ever see a real revival, and if so, what brought it about?

In the mid-1970s, a short-lived revival broke out on the Western Canadian Prairies. The topic of revival was important since my parents had an entire collection of books about the subject in their bookcases. Was it because of distrust among pastors and leaders that this movement faded away? Spontaneous meetings began, some lasting until late in the evening. Were church leaders uncomfortable with laypeople standing up, giving their testimonies, and with some confessing their sins?

Shortly after arriving in Brazil, and before I was entirely fluent in the Portuguese language, I was one of about 80 pastors attending the annual Pastor's Conference at Piraputanga, the beautiful Baptist camp not far from Campo Grande, in the western state of Mato Grosso do Sul. After a morning session, Pastor Jonathan de Oliveira, pastor of First Baptist Church, stood up unexpectedly. He called a deacon to the front. The surprised layman and all of us, too, heard this pastor say, "I'm sorry for what I said several years ago. Please forgive me. I was wrong." As they hugged each other, I could not control the tears flowing into my eyes. There was something about the sincerity of public repentance, forgiveness asked for, and reconciliation born that moved me deeply. 

Out of that event came the concept of forming a local seminary, away from the major cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Where leaders had lived with a defeatist attitude, harboring past wrongs, a tiny flame was sparked. Several other events had recently taken place in Dourados, a nearby city.

Leadership formation of an extraordinary kind was born. What happened over the following years is a story too long to repeat here. Some people like numbers to use as a measurement. In Campo Grande, where there were eleven churches in 1978, there are 110 Baptist churches today, according to one of my former students. The city tripled in population while the number of disciples grew tenfold. Truth be told, many other evangelical churches were also planted in that city and all over that western Brazilian state. God was glorified and is being glorified in thousands of lives. 

"Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand," said Jesus. 

I have given much thought to that single event in 1978. There was a public shame, a gentle, godly, courageous, and humble spirit of humility breaking down emotional separation. Would the same growth have come without that confession of sin? Confession, looking back on it, was such a simple act. For Pastor Jonathan, it must have been like dying to a whole part of his former self.

Arriving in Campo Grande, significant emotional turmoil existed between people. 

And I didn't know a thing about it. Things are usually that way. We can't come into a room, a school, a church, a business, or an institution and instantly be aware of past shaming or contemporary blaming. The same thing happens in family life, congregational life, sports teams, within businesses, across political lines, and even among entire ethnic groups. 

Whenever I think about that pastor's conference in 1978 (which is often), I think of these wonderful words: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4:4-32