So I saw the movie “Jesus Revolution” last night.
4 stars out of 5.
As far as I understand, the movie is historically accurate
to the times. The “Jesus people”
movement of the 70s was not just a copy-cat of the hippie movement, but was a
real spiritual awakening. The movie
contrasts Timothy O’Leary’s message of “turn on, tune in, drop out,” with the
Gospel message of forgiveness in Jesus Christ for your sins. Both messages are clearly shown, and the fruit
of them shown, too. Drugs lead to car
crashes and near- or actual-death. The
Gospel leads to new birth.
The doubts of all sides are shown well. Greg Laurie wondered if this religion was
just another new high that will pass.
Chuck Smith wondered if he would lose control in his church if he let
the hippies in. Lonnie thought God had
abandoned him when everything didn’t go how he wanted.
The message is very relevant today, as drugs continue to be
an escape for many – yet this path remains a dead end. When the stoner comes to the end of his rope,
the Gospel is still there for him. The
movie conveys the second chance everyone gets to receive grace, though they
have made a wreck of their lives.
Jesus Revolution shows the polarity between the younger,
immature, but vibrant, Spirit-filled faith, and the older, mature, but
calcified faith that needs shaking up. This
is a real thing. But as Hollywood will
do, it leans heavily in the direction that the former is absolutely better and
life-giving. This is not entirely wrong,
but the young need the old to mature as well.
The movie doesn’t portray that at all.
So no 5 stars. The megachurch has
been stuck ever since in immature mode.
The church needs to welcome in the immature, but insist that they grow
in the faith, and not stay the spiritual infants they often are.
I’d recommend Jesus Revolution for a few reasons:
1. A history lesson of the church in the last 50 years.
2. Evaluating how churches should present the Gospel to
various generations and ages.
3. Understanding the faults that all sides are prone to:
traditionalists, new believers, and unbelievers pursuing the truth in bad ways.
No comments:
Post a Comment