"Jesus Revolution"

A movie and movement review from fifty years on.

Last week Jeanette and I went and saw the movie “Jesus Revolution”. If you want to understand the Jesus People movement of the 1970’s, or if you are a “Jesus Freak” and want to go back home to your youth, I highly recommend this movie. It accomplishes those goals and does so with really good cinematography and a sound track that isn’t embarassing.

Some people have criticized the movie for not delving deeply into the alleged Bisexuality of Lonnie Frisbee. Some wanted him entirely erased, some wanted his homosexual behavior to be front and center and celebrated, some wanted it used as a warning and a hammer. The movie is from the perspective mostly of Greg Laurie, and in interviews he has said he didn’t know Lonnie Frisbee was engaged in that behavior until Frisbee was dying of AIDS almost twenty-five years later. It wouldn’t make sense to put that in the movie because the participants in the story had no idea of it at the time.

Having said that, there are some rather clear historical inaccuracies in the movie and as a historical document or accurate retelling of the history of the Jesus People Movement, I don’t recommend it. The Jesus People Movement began BEFORE Lonnie Frisbee and Chuck Smith met. The movie itself makes clear that Frisbee had many converts among Hippies, but that they had been rejected by churches. In other words, there was a move of the Holy Spirit among Hippies that was totally divorced from any existing church structure. Indeed Frisbee himself had been part of a Christian Commune in San Francisco BEFORE he met Chuck Smith. There was something going on for at least two years prior to 1968. There were even in Pasadena Christian crash pads and coffee houses before the time in the film. Also Contemporary Christian Music existed before Calvary Chapel. Both my childrens camp counselor, John Fischer and Larry Norman were writing and performing Christian Rock Music for at least a year before Lonnie Frisbee and Chuck Smith ever met.

Secondly, I had close family friends who knew Chuck Smith and his family well and I knew them through these family friends. The Smiths were BURDENED for the Hippies and the lost children of America. Chuck was never a Hippie hater. He was early on confused by them, but not revolted. Chuck’s daughter Janette was NOT a snarky person towards her parents as is portrayed in the movie BUT she did have a internal struggle between the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the New Testament and the life the established Church proscribed for Christians. She was undergoing a crisis of faith WHEN HER BOYFRIEND picked up Lonnie Frisbee hitchhiking, and brought him to the Smiths BECAUSE LONNIE FRISBEE WAS THE ANSWER TO CHUCK SMITHS PRAYERS for a Hippie he could bring into the Church and who would help him bring and rescue many more. The scene of Chuck Smith slamming the door in Lonnie Frisbee’s face upon meeting him was an excellent dramatic device for the movie, like Janette’s portrayed Snark and her picking up Lonnie hitch hiking, but none of that happened.

Third, Lonnie didn’t preach in the tent. The FIRST TENT (There were three . The tents kept getting larger. I went to meetings in each and the eventually built permanent structure) wasn’t erected until Frisbee left. I heard Chuck Smith speak about Lonnie Frisbee. I never heard Pastor Chuck say a bad thing about him and I don’t know what the genesis of their split was. I suspect it was exactly as is portrayed in the movie. Chuck Smith had a REALLY difficult time as a traditional Baptist accepting the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Lonnie doing sudden prophecy and healing in the middle of preaching was considered by Pastor Chuck to be “out of order”. In the late Jesus People movement, we used to joke that Calvery Chapel was Baptists who spoke in tongues and the Vinyard was a Calvery Chapel that had found prophecy and healing. I don’t believe the Smith/Frisbee split had to do with Homosexual acts on Frisbee’s part or some kind of ego issue on Smith’s part.

I picked Lonnie Frisbee up as he was hitching in the mid 1970s (I had my 56 Buick but was still shaving off my facial hair, so I suspect that was 1977), without knowing who he was. As we were talking about Jesus (each trying to witness to the other, Lonnie took out a joint and wanted to smoke it with me as we prayed and I drove towards Orange County. I pulled over and requested he leave my car. I guess I’m an L 7 after all… He went on after that to help found the Vineyard. Later, as Tammy Faye Baker prayed in public for Lonnie to be healed of AIDS, this so enraged Jerry Falwell, that he went to war with and brought down the Bakers. Certainly, Lonnie Frisbee is a central figure in the history of American Christianity in the late 20th Century. I believe Lonnie has heard “Well done good and faithful servant” and is with Jesus. I’m happy about that.

Again, it’s a good movie, I encourage everyone to go see it, it’s not a documentary.

The Movie “Jesus Revolution” has gotten me to thinking a LOT about those days. There is in Urbana Ill. every three years a gigantic world missions conference called “URBANA” followed by the year. I went to URBANA 76. URBANA has most of the Christian intellectuals come to speak. There are plenary sessions and break out sessions. Roughly twenty thousand students attend every three years. I met MANY famous Christian ministers and theologians at URBANA 76. It’s kind of a theological WOODSTOCK that has been going on every three years since the JESUS ONLY revival of 1947 to 55, the revival that Billy Graham, Campus Crusade for Christ, World Vision. the Navigators and most of the para church organizations came out of.

I was really excited one morning as Dr. John Stott, the leading theologian of the Anglican Church and a person believed to be the inheritor of the intellectual mantle of C.S. Lewis was going to speak in a breakout session that was planned for a long question and answer period. I spoke to him briefly before, carrying letters to him from various Lake Avenue Church and Fuller Seminary dignitaries. They were confident i would run into Dr. Stott and that became one of my conference missions. So, Dr. Stott spoke briefly on of all things the historical impacts of revivals on Western Culture. It was a great talk, but the talk isn’t what I remember most. What happened next, the first question asked, became all I really remember of URBANA76, and it totally changed my life.

A guy clearly from Jews for Jesus in full regalia, stood up and asked Dr. Stott a question something like this :”Dr. Stott, will the Jesus People Movement finally lead to more unity between Judaism and Christianity and what will be the long-term impact of this revival in society.”

Dr. Stott smiled very slowly. It was a icy smile. Then he responded with something almost word for word to this:

“Young Man, while I admire your zeal, you need to throw off the clothing and customs of Judaism. You are free from all that. Be free. “

I found this profoundly inaccurate and insulting. the scripture in the New Testament was clear, Jews should remain as Jews, even when believing in Jesus as Messiah, and Gentiles as Gentiles and before the Lord returns they would be forged together in one new man, a tribal unit of difference in culture and sameness in redemption. My esteem for Dr. Stotts theology evaporated, but worse, he went on:

“As to the so called “Jesus People Movement”, it is made up of selfish narcissistic children who are determined not to grow up. Look at the so called “worship music” It’s gone form the Beatles “I wanna Hold Your Hand” to a somewhat less articulate mumbling of Jesus name over and over in an attempt at ecstasy. Jesus is just another high for them. Jesus is NOT YOUR SURF BUDDY, he is your redeemer, your Lord and your King. Until you realize you have signed up for the King’s army and not the Kings spiritual opium den, you will just go into churches, sing happy songs, hide from the anti-Christ and wait for the rapture. All about YOU- nothing about the Kingdom. There will be no effect on society.”

Those of you who know me now know where I cribbed “Jesus is not your surf buddy” from.

Listening to that it was as if Dr. Stott had beat me with a cricket bat. I determined to prove him wrong and set off in a life of social activism. I met almost no Jesus People there. I spent most of my adult life behind enemy lines with no re enforcements. they were busy blissing out in Church and hiding from the Anti Christ. They often criticized me for not spending enough time building the local pastors personal empire. That wasn’t the kingdom whose army I volunteered into.

I’ve been talking to a lot of people about the movie “Jesus Revolution”. Almost all of them say something like “I want it to be like those days again.” They are looking for a few more hits of bliss when they say that. I don’t want it to be that way, although at the time it seemed wonderful. I want the next wave of revival to be a part of the Church Militant, to have the army of Jesus Christ take societal territory from Satan, hold it and transform it to justice, righteousness and real transformation and personal and societal liberation. I want Dr. Stott to be wrong about us in the end.