"...I plead with you to walk holy..."Ephesians 4:1-4 (TPT)

No one ever told me that being a Christian was easy, in fact, if I think back when I was first saved there wasn’t much fanfare at all, it was just a slow burn with the revelation of Jesus.  

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