You may expect me to say that what Australia really needs is revival, and that is what we need, but not the kind of revival that you may be thinking. Many think of revival as a mysterious religious fervor that God sends arbitrarily depending on what mood he is in and how frantic we are in prayer. I’m not saying God doesn’t move in amazing ways at various places and times, but I am saying that we must never let a lack of that kind of revival keep us from the revival that matters most—daily revival.

Face it, we are Romans three humans. The flesh is still resident within us. Until we take our focus off of some mysterious thing that God may do, and put it on the objective thing that God has told us to do, we are missing the point. God wants us to walk in daily submission to him. That’s daily revival.

The question is, do we really need supernatural revival or do we need steady faithfulness to the revealed will of God? Do we need hundreds of men to surrender to preach or do we need hundreds of men to surrender to spend time with God in his word every day? Do we need to send hundreds of missionaries around the world or do we need to sit down with our unregenerate friend over coffee and share our concern for their soul? The fact is, we do need supernatural revival, we do need hundreds of men to surrender to preach, and we do need to send hundreds of missionaries—but these things will never happen until hundreds of people do the simple, little things that it takes to walk in daily revival with God.

Oswald Smith said “The light that shines farthest will shine brightest at home.” Australia will never shine five hundred missionaries bright until we shine one thousand churches bright at home. Our churches in Australia will never shine bright until our lives shine bright. Australia will never see great things accomplished for God until Australia sees little things accomplished for God in our lives. It all starts with us.

So, what does Australia really need? Radical action? Fanatical living? Extreme experience? Not really. What we really need is commitment to our relationship with God, steady growth to spiritual maturity, humble Christ-likeness. I believe Fundamentalism will see radical growth in Australia, but it will only happen because a lot of people decided to do right—one day at a time.

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About Jason Harris

Dr Jason Harris is a writer, pastor, and academic. He has authored multiple books, articles, and papers including his book Theological Meditations on the Gospel. Jason has a PhD from James Cook University as well as degrees in theology, music, accounting, and research. Jason has lived in Cairns, Australia since 2007 and serves as pastor at CrossPoint Church. You can contact Jason at jason@jasonharris.com.au.

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