As I remember there
was this huge Christian community that I was connected with who was all caught
up in walking around everywhere with bibles in their hands parroting Christian
buzz words like “Praise the Lord, Jesus is Lord, and turn or burn”. We would carry these bibles into grocery
stores and the workplace and share Christ with anyone.
It was the culture of the Jesus movement in
Southern California, there wasn’t much depth but there seemed to be a lot of
conformity to this model and it was held to with a lot of fervor.
To appeal to this generation of young
converts there were the Maranatha concerts on Saturday nights which introduced
new bands to this growing population of Christians. We met musicians like Randy Stonehill, Bob Bennett, Keith
Green, Love Song, Stryper, and many others which reinforced the message of the time which was “Jesus was coming soon, and we must be ready to
share the news with others”.
The Jesus
Movement became a sub-culture where we could develop relationships, learn about
scripture, live among other Christians, and enjoy our own music, it really was
a “Christian Disneyland” of sorts.
There was genuine love expressed to one another.
There always seemed to be a
desire to demonstrate love in one form or another, either by praying for one
another or by serving each other. The whole
culture was based on loving Jesus, and what could we do to participate in the
life of the Church. But like I said
there was little depth to sustain this from continuing.
The Jesus Movement began to fall out of favor
with people because it was stuck in a mold that it couldn’t break loose from. The
message that “Jesus was coming soon” as the mantra of the movement began to
lose traction because He wasn’t coming back fast enough and people were becoming
anxious for His return and becoming disillusioned. Many left the movement to pursue other interests
while others were hearing Jesus speaking to them about moving on to different things and
interacting with the establishment and share Him outside of the Church walls.
My point in
bringing this up isn’t to bash the Jesus Movement, it was a tremendous move of
God at the time and many became saved through this culture, but rather to focus
on what Paul was speaking in Ephesians 4:1-4.
We have a high rank in the Kingdom, Jesus says our rank is that of a priest or a King, and with this high rank there must be a disciplined life that
follows that rank, otherwise, the Lord is dishonored by our lack of wisdom or
ability to grow into that rank.
Holiness is
a deepening of our resolve to be separated for the Lord and His purposes and grow
in deeper fellowship and communion with Him and with our community, fostering peaceful interaction with others who may
even be difficult to communicate with, that is where the bond of peace comes
into view as we pursue unity and guard it with all that we have within us, for
we are of one spirit in the Lord and with each other.
Even though
the Jesus Movement was amazing and swept many converts into its ranks, there is a new and greater move of God that is calling people into a deep abiding relationship
with Jesus which is without all the noise of concerts and notoriety and such, this is a new
movement of commitment to integrity, changed lives, and corporate unity.
The end times are upon us and integrity is
the name of the game. Satan is also
upping his game so that we are tried and tested in our integrity to ensure it’s hold on our lives. The last battle won’t be
over theology or ideology, it will be about virtue and the people who stand passionately
for Christ amidst an onslaught evil against them to be victorious in Christ
even to their death.
This is a battle for
love and truth.
I am
grateful for the roots of my experience in the Jesus Movement, because it gave
me a glimpse of what was to come, it wasn’t the full picture only a glimpse,
and that was enough to drive me on to a lifetime pursuit of Jesus to know more
of Him and to grow in virtue and integrity that His Kingdom might come into full
view.
That is why
I write these blog posts so that others may know Him and be drawn into a deeper
relationship with Jesus and experience the Joy of knowing Him deeply and
fervently. And that they may also know
that integrity and virtue matter in the Kingdom of God.
This is the battle of the ages which is against an enemy
who wants to try to defeat God and His people, a battle that we will win because
we serve a loving God who is victorious over the ultimate enemy which is death.
With Him residing in us we cannot fail.
That is the
glorious hope of our divine destiny.
Be Blessed;
Stephen
Barnett
No comments:
Post a Comment