Lonnie Frisbee, a flawed but effective Jesus Freak
Viewing the new movie “The Jesus Revolution” refreshed many memories. I returned to God then, attended the Calvary Chapel Saturday nights in the tent, passed out Jesus flyers at the 1971 Rose Parade, even led a Christian coffee house at my church. But more deeply, the Jesus freaks speak to us today.
First, in both eras, Jesus intrigued people, but his church didn’t. The 60s saw the church as inflexible and unwilling to adapt to a changing world. The church continued with medieval hymns as rock and roll took over. Today many see the church as judgmental, legalistic, unloving, reactionary: we want to impose our morality on them.
Both eras face a hostile culture: the 60s experienced an explosion of sexual immorality and drug use and moral relativism and Eastern mysticism. The church scorned the paganism and stayed separate. Today, church attendance and self-identified followers of Jesus decrease in numbers as immorality increases and the Judeo-Christian ethic is almost banned from the marketplace of values.
Both have similar youth culture. My Baby Boomer generation grew up with optimism and hope, only to see the assassinations of John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy and the Vietnam War shatter our optimism. We wanted more, yet society didn’t provide it.
Having taught high school and college before my retirement, I see the millennial generation with the most idealism since those 60s. Their sacrifice on mission trips astounds me. They have the practicality we never dreamed of. Our long hair has transformed into their tattoos.
Yet in that ferment, the Jesus Movement erupted. Young and idealistic long hairs, searching for significance and something to commit to, fell in love with Jesus. They found churches who would accept them, like Calvary Chapel, Hope Chapel, the Vineyard, and a host of others. Over the next 40 years, they transformed the American church. We called them Jesus freaks for their freakish devotion to Jesus.
Can we see a similar Jesus Revolution? Only if we change our paradigm. We have tried to force Christian morality on the culture that once embraced it. We regret the loss, understandedly--we’ve learned that God, as Creator, best knows what to do and what to not do. God’s norms of behavior aren’t arbitrary but benefit us. Yet God allows us to ignore him and his laws. Yes, consequences come. But if we restore America to godly values without people coming to a relationship with Jesus, we just have better-behaved sinners going to hell.
Very pragmatically, our methods of returning the cultural values to God aren’t working, either in bringing people to Jesus or getting them to accept those values. Let’s give that up in favor of something better.
Jesus.
He himself said mankind puts itself in one of two groups. Just two. Those who believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord, and those who do not. That’s essence of all that matters: “Whoever believes in him (Jesus) is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18).
Pretty clear, isn’t it? Our moral values and behavior don’t matter with the key determiner of destiny. Our connection to Jesus does, then God’s Spirit will transform our lives.
So, the new strategy (OK, it’s not totally new; I stole it all from Jesus). Let people see Jesus in us. Focus on that. Take time to build bridges with those who don’t know him. Sheila and I had dinner on occasion with neighbors; he used to ride with Hell’s Angels, and she says, “We’re not much into church.” But we like them. They seem to like us.
Don’t argue morality. Let the culture go the direction it’s chosen. Societies tend toward either self-correction or destruction. Hopefully ours will see the bad consequences (like many of my hippie and druggie friends from the 60s did) and realize God knows best. Best of all, if we make Jesus attractive, as he is by nature, then we’ve made a start.
If a friend chooses a gay lifestyle, I hope I can love him just as much. More than disliking his gay behavior, I most care that he comes to know Jesus. But trying to impose Christian morality on non Christians gets us sidetracked from knowing Jesus.
Kick Starting the Application
What is your focus on in relationships with unbelievers? Reversing our cultural drift, or showing people knowing how gracious Jesus is? Have you looked more to one than the other?
What are you doing to graciously interact with those who don’t believe? Is your lifestyle a good picture of whom God and Jesus are? What changes can you make in your life to be more effective?