The Jesus Revolution
A clever marketing company has laid out the red carpet for this new leader. Is it the Jesus we all know, the One our grandparents introduced to us through the Holy Bible? I could give you a quick answer, but I would like you to decide.
'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false. (Revelation 2:2)
These are the words Jesus spoke to the church in Ephesus. He also said, 'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. (Revelation 2:4)
How can Jesus compliment the church in picking out false teachers yet be fronted with losing their first love of Christ – the real Jesus? In our culture, the masses have emphasized overcharged “love,” so the church has lost its ability to discern who the false teachers are. So, what kind of love is Jesus referencing?
The short answer is that God is love (1 John 4:16).
The longer answer might shock some readers. The “kind” of love that replaced God is love that the Ephesus church initially believed is nothing short of a demonic “love” that embraces sins, lifestyles, gender identification, or other self-identified identities. We grace teachers once called it the movement of Gracilism – excessive grace that embraces salvation WITHOUT coming to the end of yourself, repenting of all sins, and accepting the indwelling Life of Jesus.
I was also a part of the first Jesus Revolution in the 70s. Not once did the revivals I attended address these issues. It was a full-on love fest with “Jesus” at the center of the gatherings. We were discouraged by the state of the organized church, hated wars, and were revolted by the thought of submitting to authority – of any kind. I was “proud” to be called one of the “Jesus People.” However, I didn’t receive Jesus INTO my life at our rallies.
I hunted down a pastor in the local community who explained the finer points of salvation and led me to the real Jesus. Even then, I intuitively knew something was wrong with our Jesus Revolution. It wasn’t long before I realized this movement was soon to fade. And it did.
Months back, a ministry leader friend asked if I wanted to participate in the Jesus Revolution film promotions. I said I wouldn’t commit until I reviewed the details and footage of the film. I did my homework and found many disturbing highlights in the film and the research books it was based on.
First of all, Jesus is not a revolutionist. The word itself derives from revolt. The real Jesus is the Son of God, who happens to be God, who came to us as a Savior. The movie accurately depicts the Jesus People using Jesus to overthrow existing authorities – the church, governments, and other power players. When the real Jesus walked the earth, He never fought to overpower other powers. He respectfully demonstrated proper submission to governing authorities.
Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. (Romans 13:1)
Jesus and His disciples demonstrated this mandate with the utmost respect. The movie leaves viewers with a probable “woke” view of the “Jesus” portrayed. Highly charismatic and accepting of all subculture lifestyles. Setting the movie aside, I can tell you personally, as an x-Jesus People, before the word woke was cultural, the Jesus that was introduced to me during this movement is NOT the same Jesus I know today. In the movie, the main character named Lonnie Frisbee, finds “Jesus” while on an acid trip – begging for this Christ to reveal himself. He saw a “Jesus.” While on this “trip,” he saw thousands of people being baptized. After coming out of this acid trip, he decided to dress and act like Jesus – to be a Jesus to the people in the flesh. Lonnie was one of the primary leaders of our Jesus People movement.
Throughout Mr. Frisbee's ministerial career, he continued experimenting with drugs to elevate his “visions.” Furthermore, he maintained a homosexual lifestyle until his death, which resulted in contracting HIV and dying of AIDS in 1993.
The most alarming theological error was in real life. Lonnie was an American Charismatic evangelist and self-described "seeing prophet," primarily through drug induced preaching, in the late 1960s and 1970s. He maintained a hippie appearance to draw followers to a man. He was notable as a minister and evangelist in the signs and wonders movement ignited through, at the time, the Charismatic Revivals of the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout his career with Calvary Chapels, he placed most of his teachings on the Holy Spirit versus the doctrines of the Bible. At the time, he did not emphasize that new converts needed to be grounded in Biblical doctrines for obvious reasons. Thus “converts” found hope and life in the movement of the Holy Spirit through worship while maintaining their chosen lifestyles. While it is a separate topic, this movement began our present “following” (seeker-friendly) based worship seen in most churches. While this bio openly incriminates him, the theology he believed in was based on charismatic doctrines he embraced through the Charismatic Revivals.