I remember a good friend of mine, whom I’ll call Maury, who told me that he wrote a song called “Jesus People: Where Are You Now?” which was about the lack of fruit and ongoing discipleship and mentoring he’d expect to see by that time (the late 80s, early ’90s). He told me that the Lord had “not released him” to record it or put it out. I was always curious as to the Lord’s apparent motivation to keep a song like this from being created. When I asked my friend, I recall his answer had something to do with the bitterness in his attitude towards his older brothers and sisters in Christ.
I love the thought of walking close with God, where you can hear His voice tell you things, like “Don’t go into Asia to spread My Word right now,” as well as, “Give brother James some money. He could really use $100 right now. Just do it.” It reminds me how our relationship with God can be real and living, just like any relationship we might have here. His wise guidance might restrain us from spreading a funny joke (how I wish I would have obeyed that kind of warning a few times, as my impulsive behavior will sometimes run with a prank and the surging excitement of a prank/joke overwhelms any caution I might have…).
So, this Ed Underwood guy, who now pastors Church of the Open Door in the Los Angeles area, experienced the Jesus movement firsthand. It’s thrilling to hear/read his accounts of being swept into the movement by common people like a dude named Bobby in his town of Bakersfield, CA. This movement was one of the most radical and widespread revivals the church has ever known. It helped spawn the Christian rock subculture that HM Magazine now covers. It happened everywhere all over the world, but a tremendous beginning has been traced by many to be in SoCal, where several hippies embraced the simple teachings of Jesus – taking Him at His Word – and some pastors and church leaders that were willing to “think outside the box” and this thing spread instantly and grew exponentially. It was amazing.
I saw much of this first-hand in my family, only a few years later (1972, to be exact, where my grandparents pulled up into our driveway with their motorhome and we had 17 teenagers stay in our house in Richardson, North of Dallas, for this Campus Crusade weeklong event that trained willing and excited believers in evangelism – called Explo 72). My grandparents were very involved in Teen Challenge and the exciting meetings over at Calvary Chapel in SoCal. One by one my family members started getting saved. It was powerful. It was exciting. It was something I wanted (and I signed up for it at age 11 in 1974).
This book also chronicles how the movement stopped moving. It kind of fizzled out. The author goes over 6 deadly sins (or, more accurately, what he called “Six Lies We Believed”) that kind of derailed the movement. By his estimation, they were:
1. More is better
2. “Churchianity” is Enough
3. Power is Good
4. Bigger is Better
5. Enemies All Around
6. It’s All Mine
It’s heartbreaking and very insightful to read how the Jesus movement, by and large, bought into each of these lies, which kind of strangled the simple and pure love for Jesus. It didn’t necessarily cause people in large numbers to fall away, but it kept the movement from continuing.
It goes on to talk about how we can get this Revolution reborn. It’s where I’m at now in my current reading of this book. I’m so into this that it’s exciting to turn each page – and this isn’t a novel that’s entertaining and fun. Some of it is very challenging and piercing to the heart. But I love it.
I guess it releases in June of 2010 (published by David C. Cook), so be on the lookout for it. I think there is a STRONG chance I’ll be blogging more about this book…
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