Churches Need to Welcome "Hippies" Again



In the sixties and seventies there was "the Jesus movement." It was hard for me to understand but it has been described as latching onto "revolution" instead of what was then conventional Christianity. Young people road around in buses, took off their clothes, lived communally, talked of peace and flowers but had their own concept of Jesus. Like today's youth they were suspicious of wealth, corporations and wars.

My wife and I were young faculty and had plenty of conversations with those young people. I remember talking with our Presbyterian pastor about hippies. He was mostly an open minded fellow but he said he had a problem with hippies because they were so focused on themselves and not on the broader world. I gave him my view that this was mostly incorrect. They had a broader view of society but it was different than conventional wisdom. He thanked me for explaining that.

There were churches who latched onto those young people back then. The churches that opened up to new ideas were rewarded as these young people had families and careers.

Today, about 75% of young people are opting out of the religion they grew up in. This generation has no objection to their gay friends or an equal role for women, including the right to abortions.

Churches would do well to wake up and see the history lessen in front of them. The old cliche is the young are our future still applies.

Comments

  1. tsmNovember 24, 2018 at 10:29 AM

    you certainly like telling Christians what they should do. Ironic coming from an atheist who thinks that Christians should go to hell (figuratively, of course)

    ReplyDelete

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