Pastor Saeed Abedini—who recently regained his freedom after more than three years of imprisonment in Iran for practicing his Christian faith—is pleased that a lot of American Christians are now craving for a revival.
Unfortunately, Abedini has noticed that many of them care more about church growth rather than implementing real revival.
"After being far from the U.S.A. for four years and in prison and thousands of hours of prayer have happened, I see that more Christians seem ready to step into revival but not all pastors and leaders," he writes on his Facebook page.
"Could it be that pastors are so busy with ministry, church, financial growth plans, and building walls around their church that they are missing the most important thing?"
Without mentioning names, Abedini suggests that pastors are sometimes more focused on not losing their members rather than teaching their congregation how to practice sacrificial love. He mentions one pastor "who wanted increase in his ministry so much that it brought division in marriages and the unity of the church members, needing more control over them."
"Is it possible that some pastors need to repent and become humble before God and stop thinking and planning like the world? Where is the difference between church and business?" he asks.
For Abedini, Christians need to put their priorities straight and "stand up for the Lord and shine for Him."
But he says some pastors discourage their members from doing this.
"Maybe world politics has became the master in some churches and in others money is master. Sometimes pride or a denomination or race has kept people out," he says.
"Is it possible that sometimes pastors build a wall between Christians and revival instead of leading them to revival and they don't even know it?" he asks.
Abedini says it's time that the wall between the church and prayer be brought down, so that Christians will experience genuine revival.
"Christians need to go out from the walls of the church and reach the world, not expect the world to come to them inside the church as is today," he says.
