Last week, Shana and I took our daughter to see the movie, Jesus Revolution. I’ll admit, when a Christian movie comes out, I’m not typically very hyped to go see it. But hey, we traded Kirk Cameron for Kelsey Grammar. So, I thought, we’ve gotta go check this out. I’ve always been interested in the “Jesus Movement” of the late 60’s and early 70’s. Being a child of the 80’s, some of my early musical influences were Keith Green, Phil Keaggy, Larry Norman and Petra. Watching the movie made me realize how much of my early years as a Christian were shaped by pastors and Christian leaders who were saved during this incredible move of God.
It’s quite out of the ordinary for me to do a movie review, but I want to share 4 things I truly appreciated about the film:
1) They did not whitewash hippie culture like many Christian films tend to do. Drugs, music, and culture in general were on display. In fact, in the movie Lonnie Frisbee pointed to these elements of hippie culture as proof that the hippies were actually searching for God. He said, “There is an entire generation right now searching for God…I know we must seem a little strange. But if you look a little deeper, if you look with love, you’ll see a bunch of kids that are searching for all the right things, just in all the wrong places.” Jesus Revolution is a beautiful redemption story.
2) The movie also fairly depicted disagreement from within the church. As we’ve seen in our own context recently, it can be an embarrassment when Christians publicly disagree. However, this too is an accurate depiction of real life. We read stories of disagreement within the early church in the Bible. We’ve all experienced it. The relationship between Chuck Smith and Lonnie Frisbee is no exception. Lonnie was the charisma and source of energy, Chuck was full of wisdom and the source of Biblical depth. There was a great scene where Lonnie tried to re-create the mysterious work of healings in the church. It’s not uncommon for church leaders to seek a formula to re-create experiences from the past. In Chuck’s wisdom, he held Lonnie back from trying to manufacture these supernatural elements of the faith. Sadly, this was the beginning of the end of their ministry relationship.
3) My favorite part of the whole movie was the scene when Lonnie Frisbee led Greg Laurie to be saved and baptized. I’m sure some Christians watching might have wondered if Greg understood enough about salvation to engage in baptism. But that’s exactly what defined this movement: a simple, raw, and mostly un-discipled faith. Its simplicity was beautiful. As I watched, I sat with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. Greg Laurie recently wrote, "God used Lonnie powerfully at one time in my life, and I told him so. God often works through ways that surprise me, ways that I’d never choose.”
4) Lonnie Frisbee was honored despite his personal failures as a Christian, a husband and a church leader. At the end of the movie they told a little more from the stories of the main characters, including Lonnie Frisbee. While he had his struggles, he was also a major player in establishing the Vineyard movement of churches. Lonnie’s story is a beautiful reminder that God, always has, and always will, use flawed people. Greg wrote, “We came for Lonnie, but we stayed for Chuck. Lonnie Frisbee was the magnet that drew us; Chuck Smith was the stabilizer who kept us and grounded us in the Bible.”
If you have an opportunity, go check this movie out. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, but more than that, you’ll likely leave with a renewed passion for sharing your faith with those who are far from God.