The Jesus Revolution?
The Jesus Movement. The Hollywood Free Paper, CC BY-NC-SA.
The worldwide release of a new film entitled Jesus Revolution is set for today, February 24, 2023. The film is based on a book by the same title written by Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, CA. The book and the subsequent movie tells the story of Laurie’s conversion during the so-called Jesus Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, centralized in southern California, as well as some of the central features of that movement. Being rooted in the hippie culture, most of those involved in the Jesus Movement were young people who were experimenting with drugs, sex, and religious pursuits. Hippies were a counter-cultural group of adolescents and young adults looking for meaning in life in the face of what they viewed as a meaningless war in Vietnam and a frustrating American political and cultural climate.
The Jesus Movement is said to have been a major spiritual working of God in these hippie sub-cultures, not only in southern California, but also around the nation. Converted hippies in this movement were called “Jesus People” or “Jesus Freaks.” There were, no doubt, many young people who were truly converted and sincere in their faith. However, the Jesus Movement as a whole is not something that should be celebrated as “revolutionary” or exemplary.
The best description of Jesus is not that he’s a revolutionary, but that he is a Redeemer. Jesus did not come to overthrow some kind of political system. While the Jews may have hungered for that to happen, political or even cultural revolution was not Christ’s purpose in his incarnation. The salvation that Jesus provides is not meant to be a politically revolutionary movement either. Neither were Christ’s apostles considered to be revolutionaries. They did not fight for political upheaval. They preached the good news of Jesus Christ and saw lives transformed for the glory of God.
Was the Jesus Movement transformational? When a person reads about the Jesus Movement and its people, transformed lives are not immediately evident. For instance, when Jesus removed the demons from the demoniac of Gadara, that man was transformed. Rather than wild and naked, he was sitting down, dressed, and in his right mind. From what I can gather, the converted hippies largely continued in their hippie lifestyle, still experimenting in drugs and sexual immorality. Their physical appearance identified themselves more with the unconverted hippie movement than with a new life and “new creature” values.
This lack of transformation can perhaps be most easily seen in their leader, a man named Lonnie Frisbee, who is featured in the “Jesus Revolution” book and movie.1 Lonnie Frisbee’s claim of salvation is rooted in a time when he was 17 years old. While on an acid (LSD) “trip” in a California wilderness, he stripped naked and called out, “Jesus, if you’re really real, reveal yourself to me.” He claims to have then seen a vision where hundreds of young people were being baptized in the waters off the coast of California. This sketchy salvation testimony led him to change his appearance to make himself look like an Old Testament prophet, or Jesus (the Hippie Jesus look so prevalent of his day). Frisbee became the de facto leader of the Jesus People movement.
As his prominence grew, Frisbee was integral in the various Jesus People ministries. He was involved in starting several churches and even helped John Wimber formally establish the Vineyard Church Movement. Yet through this time he was also involved in a homosexual lifestyle and continued to experiment with drugs. If any of our churches was found to be led by a man actively involved in homosexuality and hallucinogenic drugs, he would be immediately removed from his position and the church. Lonnie Frisbee is not the kind of Church leader who should be elevated as an example for future Christian generations, as the Jesus Movement and Jesus Revolution does. Because of his deviant lifestyle, Frisbee eventually contracted HIV and died from AIDS in 1993.
The Jesus Movement was built on a theologically weak foundation, with a theologically weak man (if he was even truly converted) as its leader. Yet it has been called a Holy Spirit Revival amongst young people in that day. The movement also produced theologically problematic fruit. It was a major contributor to the modern Charismatic movement, as well as the modern Contemporary Christian Music movement. The high-emotionalism, theologically weak Charismaticism, and undiscerning cultural accommodation of the Jesus Movement have been the key ingredients that have been mixed together to help produce the modern Contemporary Worship scene and make it what it is today. While we should be thankful for any true conversion, we should carefully evaluate both the theological underpinnings as well as the fruit of movements such as these. By their fruit we shall know if they truly are from God, or if they are merely the products of overcharged emotionalism. Ultimately God knows, but as believers who are to be discerning and carefully judge with righteous judgment, we must not simply take everything at face value. Approve those things that are excellent, not merely those things that are exciting.
For further research on the Jesus Movement, consider the following resources:
- God’s Forever Family, the Jesus People Movement in America, Larry Eskridge
- A History of Contemporary Praise & Worship, Understanding the Ideas that Reshaped the Protestant Church, Lester Ruth and Lim Swee Hong
- “Frisbee, the Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher,” a film documentary available for rent on Amazon.
Taigen Joos is the pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Dover, NH. He blogs here, where this article first appeared. It is republished here by permission.
I am certainly not of the Hippie generation, but some important formative years of my life came in the Calvary Chapel network of churches in upstate New York. More attention needs to be given to Calvary Chapel and Pastor Chuck Smith in this discussion than just Lonnie Frisbee (and Calvary features in the movie and book too)
I was baptized by immersion by Calvary Chapel pastors in 2003, and my first biblical college degree was a 2 year degree from Calvary Chapel School of Ministry, Farmington, NY in 2007. All during this same period, I was also being homeschooled using BJU Press textbooks–and there wasn’t a huge conflict between these two streams though obviously some areas would be different. In my 20s, I became involved with a fundamental Baptist church and now see myself among fundamental Baptists. Yet, I see far more in common with my past than might meet the eye. Chuck Smith moved in a conservative direction in some areas compared to where he came from. Before he took Calvary Chapel, he was in a very strong Pentecostal denomination called Foursquare. Some of the things I have in mind included expositional Bible Teaching in an Eph. 4:12 model of the pastor’s purpose, sound trinitarian Protestant theology from a non-Calvinist Dispensational perspective with justification by faith alone, a commitment to a biblical sexual ethic — Lonnie Frisbee’s later deviance I doubt was approved by Pastor Chuck Smith, and yes a continuationist perspective of spiritual gifts, but it was moderate and it was always controlled by their understanding of the Bible and not mere emotion. Their philosophy of ministry frequently chided “seeker sensitive” pragmatics even while making somewhat different choices. Some of these things were the very reason Vineyard left Calvary Chapel and broke with Pastor Chuck.
In passing, it is noteworthy that songs from Calvary Chapel’s Maranatha Music (e.g. “Seek Ye First” and “As the Deer”) are in Majesty Music’s hymnals (I count 3 in Majesty, but 11 in the newer Rejoice). In the case of the older Majesty Hymnal, this is all the more significant as it was in the 90s before recent controversies within FBFI about using other sources of sound, but in some way tainted in some’s eyes, music.
It was actually opposition to Billy Graham that I heard in my Calvary Chapel world that prepared me for a fuller understanding of fundamentalist separatism. I share the thanks for those who came to my region from Calvary Chapel and were part of my growth. As a fundamental Baptist, I do not work with them today. But, I remain appreciative and look forward to seeing many in heaven where all wrongs are righted, and full fellowship may be had.
Hi Jacob
I appreciate your comments. Certainly, the impact of Calvary Chapel can’t be ignored, especially in terms of promoting expository preaching and discipleship. Of course, there are evangelical compromises that make it impossible for us to work together.
I would point out, however, that while Calvary Chapel is involved with the “Jesus people” movement, their involvement is tangential and the focus of this article was on the Jesus people and Lonnie Frisbee. The group had a huge impact on many churches and denominations, not just the Calvary Chapel. Since the film about them was just released, it is important to point out the real flaws with the “Jesus people” movement right from the beginning.
On your points about the Calvary Chapel, it might be worthwhile to do an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses as well as explain why fundamentalists wouldn’t cooperate with such a group, despite strengths. A study like that would help explain the way fundamentalists look at the world and the reasons why we hold back from full cooperation (or any cooperation) with some groups.
Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
Thanks for your comments, Jacob. As Don mentioned, my purpose for writing this article was to focus more on the Jesus People movement as a whole, and Lonnie Frisbee specifically. You are correct that Chuck Smith was not identical to Lonnie, nor did Chuck follow Lonnie’s more pentecostal leanings. My understanding is that is why the two split, though amicably I believe. I have not studied the Calvary Chapel “orb” itself enough to make any real comments about it.
Thank you both for comments. I agree actually with you that the line between the Jesus Revolution and Calvary Chapel is confused to vary degrees depending on who you talk to. So, it’s understandable to join them together (it does figure in the book and movie after all from what I gather, and Greg Laurie now bridges both groups as both a CCer and as a Southern Baptist member I’ve heard too), but it is also appropriate to see the distinction that you’re emphasizing. I have continued to reflect on this in my own journey–and this post gave me opportunity verbalize them in this context. I will have to reflect a bit more on the specific direction for the reflection of the movement and give the rationale for why not to work together. In closing, I will say that the movement is not monolithic as you may expect–there has been a divide since Pastor Chuck died and I’m not tuned in anymore to that. I also recall that the network of CCs in my region (around 10-20 felllowships since the late 70s also had a distinctive flare for sure, and it was on the more conservative direction I think in these respects. This would not be the case everywhere.
Thank you again.