What The Jesus Revolution Has to Tell Us About Today
Much like the “hippie” culture of the 60’s, we should not write off this generation
Watching The Jesus Revolution, I thought two things: 1) this was an actually pretty good movie about the Christian faith, with quality acting and a good script that didn’t “dumb down” it’s message, and 2) it has something important to say about the time we are living in today. The filmmakers seem to be drawing a pretty clear parallel between the Hippie generation of the late 1960’s to mid-1970’s to today’s Gen Z and Millennial generations. More importantly, perhaps, than trying to draw a direct line of comparison in the values and cultural habits of these generations is comparing how the hippies were treated by the church in their day, and how the latter generations of today are treated by the church in ours.
You might have noticed that we live in a very polarized time, politically and ideologically, to put it mildly. There seems to be less and less interest in viewing everyone as human beings and more and more tendency to view those who don’t share our values as “destroying America”. I hear this often from many in the ministry. It seems to pervade a lot of the sermons and faith-based conferences that take place across the country. I was in one just a couple of weeks ago where the ministry leader brought up “those people who want to destroy America” and how God would soon punish them. “Oh yeah, I’ve got a list”, someone behind me piped up.
It’s not terribly hard to decode who is being referred to as “those people”. And the majority of “those people” will skew younger because they are the ones that trend toward non-institutional thinking and a rejection of what has long been accepted as how things are. They are far less likely to vote Republican, or support bans on abortion, or reject “critical race theory”, whatever that means this week. They often commit the cardinal sin of being “woke”, and if you can tell me what “woke” actually means, other than “whatever the left is doing” then I will shake your hand.
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
- Matthew 7:3-5 (ESV)
It is little wonder that the younger generations are disillusioned with our hypocrisy. Church leaders who rail against the godless values of many of our young people probably mean well enough. They don’t want their congregations to be compromised by a worldview that is not based on scripture. Neither do I. But we shouldn’t kid ourselves that our own generation (whatever it was) was somehow different in being in conflict with our parents’ generation. Point me to a single generation in the second-half of the 20th century that was understood or appreciated by the one that preceded it. You won’t find one.
We rail about the godless ideas of the next generation as if they emerged entirely from their own minds. We conveniently overlook that they inherited their values from us, and the world they live in today is the one we shaped while they were still in diapers. If we don’t like their values, we should take a hard look in the mirror and ask ourselves where they came from. It is one thing to teach our children about our principles with our words, but it’s another to teach them through our actions. Did we live up to our own lofty ideals about living out our faith in Christ? Can we really, honestly say that the 80’s and 90’s in this country were a shining example of godly character and Christian principles? We were already on the trajectory that has taken us to now. Our children just picked up what we taught them through our own godlessness, and built on it.
The Jesus Revolution cuts through this hard-heartedness like a knife. When Lonnie Frisbee first comes into the life of Pastor Chuck Smith, he challenges his ideas of how God sees the hippies. Up to this point Chuck seems to view hippies with disdain, feeling their pursuit of drugs and sexual freedom are an affront to God. Lonnie explains that their pursuit of these things is based on their desire to find God, and they are unaware that it is a deception that one can find God through the perceived spirituality of “mind-expanding” acid trips and free love. This is a generation that is ripe for the harvest, he says, but they will only walk through a door that is open to them. “Your church”, he tells him earnestly, “is a door that is closed.”
Chuck takes this point to heart and welcomes Lonnie and his friends into his church, leading to a rejection by many in his old guard congregation that feel these people don’t belong there. Chuck’s response is to double-down, going so far as to make the point of washing the bare feet of the hippies coming to the church the following Sunday. He directly challenges his congregation to practice the kind of love toward these newcomers that God has for them.
Chuck’s openness to Lonnie and his willingness to seek out these young people is what finally gave God the partners He needed to start the revival He desired for that generation. We hear a lot of talk about revival, how we should pray for revival, work toward revival. I’m all for these things, but we should not overlook the critical importance of living out our faith in Christ first, including not judging our young people because they seem to reject our Christian values, instead of considering how to show them who Jesus really is and why He understands them.
We could start by observing how social issues were often close to the heart of the Jesus Movement. Chuck and Lonnie didn’t come from a place where they despised everything about the hippies and what they stood for. They came from a place of understanding why they were standing on those issues and addressing how Jesus met those concerns. Racial equality and anti-war activism were a key part of the hippie cultural identity. Hippies were driven by their desire for community in a world that had become increasingly isolated and uncaring, and rejected traditional institutions that they felt had contributed to society’s movement toward a lack of caring for one another.
Likewise, Millenials and Gen Zers in broad terms desire community, social equality, racial justice, and have rejected a system they feel perpetuates injustice, inequality, and creates separation and apathy toward each other. Has the enemy exploited these desires for his own purposes? Certainly he has. But there is not a work of the enemy that the Lord cannot take over and use for His glory. It shouldn’t be that hard to see how Jesus’s admonition to treat others as we would want to be treated is a strong argument for racial and social equality. His repeated assertions that we should look after the poor, and His assertion that the prostitutes and tax collectors would be the first to enter the kingdom show He is no respecter of wealth, race, privilege, power or authority (or for that matter, traditional institutions of the same).
Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
- John 4:34-36 (ESV)
The Jesus I know, the one who openly dined at the homes of hated tax collectors, who’s disciples included prostitutes, and who first revealed His resurrected self to Mary, a woman who had been delivered from seven demons, is not one who would reject anyone who came to Him. Nor would He decide that some people just weren’t worth it because they were too “woke” to be included among his disciples.
We don’t have to embrace every idea someone has in order to invite them into the body of Christ. We can let the Holy Spirit deal with what needs to change in them to set them on the path to holiness. I certainly cannot speak from experience to someone living a far different life experience than my own about their own life. I can, however, demonstrate the character of Jesus to them as a way to introduce them to Him, and help them understand His deep, deep love for all people.
I can recognize that I, too, have plenty of dross that needs to be refined away, and that God can teach me something through every person I encounter, no matter how different their life might be compared to my own. I can acknowledge that I am no less a sinner than anyone else, and just as much in need of God’s grace. I can take inspiration on how to be a blessing to others by watching how our young people volunteer their time to help their neighbors, working at food pantries, aiding the homeless. I can pray that God moves me to increase my own love to my neighbors through their example.
I don’t have to compromise my Christian principles in order to exemplify Christ to someone who walks a different path. We can be the open door that any generation is seeking to walk through in their search for God, because we can be assured they are seeking God. If we start from that understanding we won’t be so quick to assume, as many did about the hippie generation, that they are beyond the reach of Christ. We won’t be speaking about them with disdain, but seeing in them an opportunity to swell the ranks of the body of Christ.
Revival is not a movement of people. It is a movement of the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit moves through people. God is looking for someone He can partner with to bring in the harvest and grow his church. Are we prepared to set ourselves aside and let Him work through us to do that? Are we prepared to love as Jesus does?
Lord, please forgive me for dismissing or judging others who may have different lifestyles or views to my own. Help me to be focused on loving all people as you love them, and not with how different we might appear to be. Help me to see others the way you see them, and to love unconditionally. Let me not think that anyone is beyond your reach, or not worth telling about the wondrous love of Jesus.
Notes Since writing this post, I have become more familiar with more of the facts and people involved in the Jesus Movement depicted in the film. Some salient points that have been made by those close to them have noted Lonnie’s struggles with his sexuality throughout the time covered in the movie and beyond, and how it doesn’t present an entirely accurate account of how Greg Laurie’s church ministry began. Most of these facts are well-documented and I have no reason to doubt them. In writing this post I have chosen to focus on the parts that I felt mattered most to how the move of God in that time connect to the cultural and generational circumstances that exist today. I also believe it is important to tell a truthful story and not cover up our imperfections in service to a more appealing narrative. If you want to watch a documentary about these events, “Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher” is one that I have not seen personally but have heard good things about.