I recently watched the movie Jesus Revolution.

I was deeply moved by the main theme of the movie. It doesn’t matter how much a particular group offends your personal standards of behavior and upsets your judgemental apple cart. We, as followers of Jesus, have been commanded to love others and to share the hope we have in Him.

“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” (John 13:34, NLT)

Not suggested.

Commanded.

I grew up in a church that was much like the lukewarm assembly that Pastor Chuck Smith shepherded in this story. The congregants were set in their ways and had no patience with these long-haired hippies committing heinous sins like drug use, unmarried sex, and angry protests against the government. It was true that those actions violated God’s standards for believers. Too many in the church held these young people to standards that were proclaimed for Christians and not for those who still needed to find Jesus. What frustrated me in that season of life were these self-righteous churchgoers who had tons of patience with their own sins of hypocrisy, gossip, and not caring about the souls of these hippies.

The story of the Jesus Revolution is powerful. Many of these young people were desperately looking for identity, purpose, and self-esteem in all the wrong places. When they discovered that Jesus offered the things they were looking for it caused a revival that swept Southern California and the rest of the country. I personally know a woman who came to know Jesus in that tent at Calvary Chapel and was baptized at Pirates Cove in the Pacific Ocean. She is still a devoted follower of Jesus. Her testimony is one of millions that attest to the reality of that spiritual movement.

Pastor Chuck Smith was moved by the passion of the young people who had moved from drugs and other sinful pursuits to find peace and hope in Jesus. He allowed these “hippies” to attend his church much to the horror of the uptight congregation. Chuck Smith followed the command of Jesus. He loved these unlikely new members.

I left the theater feeling uplifted and convicted at the same time. I wondered if the Holy Spirit was showing me how the church today is judging young people and not actively caring about sharing the love of Jesus with them. At the risk of getting canceled, I hear often how angry and judgmental Christians can be toward young people trying to figure out cultural issues like gender, historical interpretations, and losing the ability to communicate because everything is offensive to them.

I kept thinking about how God used a small movement in Southern California to show what the power of Jesus can do in a life that is confused. Are we missing the chance to make a difference by not being accepting of young people who are pursuing the same things the 1970’s hippies were trying to find? Identity. Purpose. Self-esteem. Hope.

So I am asking myself these questions. Do I care about the souls of these young people going down paths that I might think are crazy? Do I pray for them? Am I willing to welcome them into my fellowship? Do I think that Jesus loves everyone no matter how much I might disagree with their current philosophical positions? I looked at those angry churchgoers demanding that the hippies be sent away and wonder if we are doing the same thing with the younger generation today.

God does not ignore sin. God will judge all of our sins. But God is always mercifully seeking sinners. Paul said it so perfectly.

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8, NLT)

Every single one of us was doing things that violated the holy standards of God. But His patience and gentle persistence brought us into His fellowship through Christ. We can’t let sins that offend us more than our particular sins affect our heart for reaching out to others with the Good News of the Gospel.

There is a scene in The Jesus Revolution where there is clear division in the room. On one side were the traditional conservative church goers wearing suits and dresses. The other side was filled with barefoot young people wearing tie-dyed clothes, jeans, and flowers. At one point an angry older man stood up and demanded that control to be returned to the people who supported the church financially. Pastor Chuck Smith refused. He led a group of people out of the church. On his way out the man turned and looked at an older gentleman with a look of expectation that he would join them. The old man stood up and began to walk. All eyes were on him as he slowly moved out of his pew. He walked over to the hippie section and settled in with them as the others slammed the door on their way out.

I want to be that guy. The one who cares about people different from me. The one who is willing to move out of my comfort zone to share the grace and love of Jesus.

Today there are signs that a new revival is sweeping through the younger generation. I want to be a cheerleader and prayer warrior for that movement. God is creative and I don’t want to get in His way.