Revival or Hype? When Superlatives Outpace Substance

Have you heard? Revival is...ON! If you don't believe it, just read the next quote....ripped from the headlines of the "Revival Chronicle."

"Revival has officially begun, and words can hardly capture what we’re experiencing! The atmosphere was electric, the fellowship meal exceeded all expectations, and the turnout was nothing short of miraculous. Every detail—from the smoked meats to the spirit in the room—was divinely orchestrated. The evening service? Beyond description. God is doing something unprecedented. Make plans now—this week is destined to be transformative!"

If you’ve spent any time on social media among fundamentalists or evangelicals, you’ve likely read posts like the one above. Packed with superlatives and brimming with enthusiasm, these reports give the impression that heaven itself visited the church parking lot between a brisket sandwich and a Southern gospel special.

But is that really what revival looks like?

In a time when spiritual shallowness is repackaged with passionate language and production value, the church must pause and ask: Are we celebrating a move of God, or just marketing momentum? Have we confused emotional energy with spiritual awakening?

1. The Panglossian Predicament: Always “Amazing”

We are not the first to be tempted by optimism untethered from reality. In my previous article on the Panglossian Spirit, I described what I call the Panglossian Predicament—a worldview that insists everything is not just fine, but fantastic. It’s named after Dr. Pangloss from Voltaire’s Candide, a character who naively believes “all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.”

Likewise, many today act as if the church is always thriving, every event is “life-changing,” and revival is always one service away. Such language, used carelessly, doesn’t stir hunger—it dulls discernment.

2. Superlative Saturation: The Problem with Overstatement

“Amazing.”

“Incredible.”

“Life-changing.”

We’ve worn out the words.

When everything is amazing, nothing is. When we declare revival based on headcounts and dinner menus, we dilute the meaning of true, Spirit-wrought awakening. Biblical revival brings:

• Repentance (Isaiah 6:5; Joel 2:12–13)

• Brokenness (Psalm 51:17)

• Fear of God (Acts 5:11)

• Lasting fruit (Galatians 5:22–23)

Where these are absent, the best we can say is that people were stirred—not revived.

3. Emotional Hype vs. Biblical Holiness

True revival may involve emotion, but it never stops there. Yet today, “revival” often means:

• Good attendance

• A dynamic speaker

• Extended altar calls

• A well-rehearsed music set

• Good food and fellowship

None of these are evil, but neither are they synonymous with the moving of the Holy Ghost. Emotional hype can be manufactured; biblical holiness cannot be staged.

4. Revival is More Than a Schedule

You can schedule a series of meetings, but you cannot schedule a sovereign work of God. When churches equate planned events with supernatural movement, we reveal how little we understand of revival. Revival is:

• Not the result of marketing, but of mourning over sin (James 4:8–10)

• Not driven by crowds, but by contrition

• Not “produced” by music, but provoked by the Word

5. Call for Discernment and Depth

This is not a call to kill joy or squash excitement. It’s a call to recover a reverent, sober view of spiritual renewal. Let’s rejoice when God works—but let’s also be discerning enough to tell the difference between emotional momentum and eternal movement.

Let us be cautious not to speak great swelling words when heaven is waiting for us to humble ourselves.

“Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”

—James 4:9–10

6. The Delusion That Derails Revitalization

One of the greatest tragedies of emotional hype masquerading as revival is its power to stunt true revitalization. When leaders and congregants alike become addicted to excitement, numbers, or manufactured moments, they no longer feel the weight of their true condition.

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

—James 1:22 (KJV)

The danger is not just exaggeration—it’s self-deception. It is possible to be so committed to preserving the illusion of health that we never actually seek healing. Churches in decline begin calling themselves “thriving.” Shallow services are rebranded as “powerful.” Programs become replacements for repentance. And the sheep are left unfed while the shepherds are busy posting praise reports.

This is not harmless optimism. It is a false narrative that blinds us to what the Spirit is truly saying. Like Laodicea, we say we are “rich, and increased with goods,” but do not realize we are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17).

Real revitalization requires truthfulness, brokenness, and the courage to see things as they are—not as we wish they were. To shout “revival” while the church is spiritually asleep is not faith—it is fantasy. And fantasy cannot fix what is broken.

Let us not pull the wool over our own eyes. Let us not deceive ourselves with metrics and momentum. If we are to see real renewal, we must begin with honest evaluation, humble repentance, and holy hunger—not hype.

Revival: More than a Meal and a Meeting

Let’s not confuse fantastic BBQ and a full house with the fire of God falling. May we long for more than a moving service—we must long for a moved Church.

Revival isn’t loud. It’s lasting. It doesn’t start at supper. It starts in the secret place, in the prayer closet, on the altar of surrender.

Revival is not hype. It is holiness. It is a movement toward Christlikeness!