I wonder, can a movement be manufactured by man?
If so, I guess the apostle Paul wasn’t as good at it as church history gives him credit. Look at the following:
27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your[g] own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29 And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
30 “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”
32 When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” 33 That ended Paul’s discussion with them, 34 but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council,[h] a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Acts 18:1
After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;
Paul tried his hardest to debate the leaders and even some of the average Joes of Greece in their place of philosophy—Athens. Yet the more he countered their arguments, the more arguments they threw at him. In the end, only a handful of people put their trust in Jesus Christ—preferring to stick with worship of their “unknown god.” That’s right, they chose an impersonal, nebulous, nothing of a god over their own creator.
Bizarre.
So Paul moved on.
No movement materialized in Athens at that time.
Next stop—Corinth.
Let’s take a look at what happened there…
1 Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.[a] 2 There he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had left Italy when Claudius Caesar deported all Jews from Rome. 3 Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers[b] just as he was.
4 Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike. 5 And after Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul spent all his time preaching the word. He testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. 6 But when they opposed and insulted him, Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, “Your blood is upon your own heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.”
7 Then he left and went to the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and everyone in his household believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also heard Paul, became believers, and were baptized.
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! 10 For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.” 11 So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God.
Check out that line I put in bold in verse 10, “for many people in this city belong to me.” Isn’t that interesting?
What about Athens? Didn’t many people in that city belong to God as well?
Not at that time apparently.
They weren’t ready to listen with their hearts as well as their brains.
They just wanted to debate round and round and round again.
An exercise in futility. And Paul soon realized it.
and left.
No, we cannot manufacture movements of the Holy Spirit.
But we can ask for them.
We can pray for the people we love and want so desperately to reach with the good news of the gospel message. And then keep preaching the good news.
And let God manufacture the movement.