Maslow's Pyramid

When I arrived in London, and learned about urban mission, one the chief influences on the scene, taught to me as a key for our task in the inner city, was Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. There are, he taught, a series of needs, which must be met, for a person to progress in their life.

It begins with basic physical survival, and progresses through safety and material security; love, relationships and belonging; self-esteem and recognition; to self-actualisation and creativity. Only when someone feels secure at a lower level, can they turn their attention to the upper levels.

Preventing Revival

There seem to be many initiatives at the moment aimed at revival in the church: including evangelistic campaigns and prayer gatherings. This is nothing new. I remember similar calls, during my student days in the 1970s. And there have been regular cycles of revivalistic enthusiasm at internals during my ministry life: from the New Churches in the 1980s, to prophetic predictions in the 1990s.