…misreading the signs of the times

07/10/2016

I was born and grew up in Southern California in an era that moved from innocence to havoc in one short decade.  The 1960’s.

When the Beatles arrived in our living rooms on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, I watched the audience hysteria safely with my family in the living room. What was going on?  Why the screams? Why the tears? Why the noise?  It was just music.  Or was it?  In the style, with the instruments, through the lyrics, it was the advent of change.  Change that was not conceivable at the time.

During the ’60’s America became caught in the throes of cultural change. Our parents were shocked by what they saw on TV and read in the paper. The civil rights movement, the assassination of JFK, the Viet Nam war protests, the 1965 Watts race riots, the flower children in San Francisco–so much erupted in the media in such a short amount of time.

Of all things, even our places of higher learning became battlegrounds—arguments over values and the way we live.. The public forums in the square on college campuses became spring beds for activism. radical voices assailed the status quo, questioning traditional values, curriculums, and methods. In a short time generations were angrily clashing over previously accepted and assumed values–often those in conflict were sitting across from each other at the kitchen table.

This was the questioning ’60″s. Everything was fair game. Cultural norms, established institutions, academic practices, traditional careers, and more were intensely scrutinized by dissidents, by the alienated, and by the young advocates for reform. Angry voices, spontaneous public altercations, and organized demonstrations were used to make their claims heard. Organized disruptions, boycotts, sit-downs, sit-ins, take-overs, and defiant marches multiplied.

Oddly, in this massive cultural clamor and upheaval, spiritual conversations began out of nowhere. Strange. In the midst of cultural conflicts, racial tensions, and the divisive generational gap, discussions emerged among the young to talk about “truth.” Against the backdrop of social mayhem, eastern religions and philosophical teachings were everywhere–promising enlightenment. Kahil Gibran, Edgar Cayce, Herman Hesse, and many more exclaimed that transcendence was attainable. All varieties of religious expressions jumped into this active arena of the exchange of ideas for genuine enlightenment. Our parents saw their traditions of Biblical truth and church experience dismissed. To the dismay of worried parents, the cults, the sects, and the eastern philosophies attracted the young generation.

Even in the traditionally stable university, the citadel for career advancement, Humanities and Philosophy classes were full as rational minds examined diverse religions for their “eternal truths.” In the midst of cultural upheaval and social chaos there seemed to be a longing for spiritual answers. Odd. But who would ever go to “church?”

Also evident to the many distraught in the 1960’s was a social revolution. There was a “dropping out” of the norm of culture, as if not wanting anything to do with the previous generation. It became evident through the fashion and the lifestyles of those with new world views. Communal living, free love, drug use, aversion to institutions and government. Among the young, the police, civil positions of authority, and political candidates were ridiculed and satirized.

The church kept a safe distance from the supposed craziness of a new generation. The church was fighting for its Judaic-Christian moorings to influence culture in a general sense. The new generation viewed the church, the Bible, and prayer as irrelevant and outdated. And for those looking at the new rebellious generation, it seemed as if everything was spiraling into decadence and immorality. A generation adrift. All in a short few years.

One uneventful day, In the middle of the unexpected, turbulent, cultural upheaval over the accepted American way of life, there occurred an odd encounter with a hitchhiker and a pastor and his wife. It seems that the wife encouraged the pastor to pick up the hitchhiker. Just a kind thought? Stepping outside the comfort zone for many is not always easy. But they pulled over and let the stranger in the car. On the way, in the car, the interested hitchhiker asked questions that displayed to the surprised couple: spiritual hunger about Jesus.

A GOD Who “sees the end from the beginning (He is that BIG—He’s GOD)” Isaiah 46:10. GOD was strategically at work. In His brilliance He is able to unfold His plan that was conceived in eternity. In the creative workings of a BIG GOD this “unnoticed, ‘chance encounter’ ”(?) exploded and multiplied and influenced that tumultuous, lost generation, and, consequently, was carried into the the next generations (plural) .in the hearts of those incredibly touched by Jesus.. “In our tiny-ness” of thinking we assume that we should see the brilliance and omnipotence of GOD as if He is just a bit greater than us in our thinking and being. Our understanding, or rather, “speculation of God,” without divine revelation, is laughable. While we are perplexed, we continue to theorize and speculate about what we know nothing.

In the late 60’s, when many parents and family members had given up on dear ones, what no one expected., happened. A generation that seemed so fractured by ideologies, sexual liberty, drug use, disdain for authority, and in search for new identities, many in this lost generation of youth re-discovered… Jesus. Not by stepping into churches to learn. But by grasping Jesus through—of all things—to those who thought they were enlightened—the supposed “irrelevant” Scriptures. What had seemed outdated became a life-source for the spiritually hungry.

An earnest quest of the truth of Jesus moved a new generation not into the status quo, or a return to a traditional lifestyle and career. But on a spiritual quest “to experience Jesus.”. The encounter with Jesus and His Spirit moved a generation into “the God story”, as revealed by the Scriptures. Discovering and then facing their own sin and brokenness, each personal seeker needed inner healing, restoration to have more clarity. This young, revolutionary demographic needed new life, new hope, new birth. Through owning their bad behavior in “repentance,” and receiving a supernatural sense of forgiveness, hearts came alive. Suddenly the movement was underway.

Radical life change motivated by Hope traveled fast. Word spread quickly among this lost generation where many put words to their inner emptiness:: spiritually hungry. Everybody knew somebody. The troubled seekers with their questions appeared at various places, as if driven by a gaping need. Turning from empty and unsatisfying philosophies, dismissing the wild claims of false eastern prophets of the day, they started arriving at Calvary Chapel each evening, in Orange County. Former drop-outs, drug users, free lovers, police-haters, anti-establishment protesters came to the front to own their bad behavior and repent. The focus was authentic relationship with a captivating, supernatural Jesus..

And this surprising event confused outsiders without the spiritual drive and sentiment, but gathered momentum, and spread quickly, connecting with like-minded believers. Concerts, house gatherings, coffee shops, and more were becoming meeting spots for sharing discoveries and inspiring stories. Across California, spreading into the other states, and into Europe and other parts of the world Jesus truth was connecting and galvanizing. Aptly, it was called “The Jesus movement.” Youth captivated by the simple gospel and consequently, changing their behavior in front of their families, friends, and acquaintances. Unlike much of traditional church, there was continual excitement about “the move off the Holy Spirit during worship, prayer, and fellowship”. Repenting, then being baptized as a sincere profession of faith in Jesus,, and radically turning their lives around with new desires., led to thoughtful, moral choices. Which revealed changed behavior to family and friends. The call was o follow Jesus and learn His truths. To read the Word, to pray, to worship, to fellowship, and to share their stories of new life with others. The quest for authenticity in relationships found profound meaning, and motivation in Jesus.

No one saw it coming. The movement spread for years and influenced the next generations as parents cultivated their faith in Christ in and out of various seasons of relational life, Presently, the evidence and experience of the Jesus movement is still with us. These were serious believers who had discovered the truth of Jesus in an unsatisfying, superficial, and chaotic world,—decades later they were not going to let go. Because of the BIGNESS of GOD, the Jesus movement. emerged in an immoral, corrupt, turbulent, racist, substance abused, alternative-lifestyle, politically-charged generation—full of skepticism and doubt.

“You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but are you unable to discern the signs of the times?” Matthew 16:3