History of The Jesus Revolution
(Wikipedia writes:) The Jesus movement was an evangelical Protestant movement that began on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and primarily spread throughout North America, Europe, Central America, Australia and New Zealand, before it subsided in the late 1980s. Members of the movement were called Jesus people or Jesus freaks.
This was an interesting time to be living in when Jesus, God-awareness, church activities, and a sense of unconditional love seemed to surround the new Jesus set. I knew one of the "I Found It" people, and she always scared me to death whenever she went into the Book of Revelation in an attempt to reach me. I recall the bumper stickers and the buttons that read: "I Found It" plastered on car bumpers, or pinned to T-shirts. It was indeed quite commonplace to see these everywhere.
Its predecessor, the charismatic movement, had already been in full swing for about a decade. It involved mainline Protestants and Catholics who testified to having supernatural experiences similar to those recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, especially speaking in tongues. The two movements similarly believed that they were calling the church back to a more biblically accurate version of Christianity. Furthermore, they believed that these changes would result in the restoration of spiritual gifts to the church. [Sherrill, John and Elizabeth, They Speak with Other Tongues, Chosen Books, 2011]
The Jesus movement left a legacy that included the formation of various denominations, church groups, and other Christian organizations, and it also influenced the development of both the contemporary Christian right and Christian left. It was foundational in several ongoing Christian cultural movements, including Jesus music's impact on contemporary Christian music, and the development of Christian media as a radio and film industry. [Sahms, Jacob (September 27, 2021). "The Jesus Music: Revolutionizing How Church Music Works". Dove.org. Retrieved March 1, 2023.] [ "NRB Members Speak to the Culture Through Film". NRB. May 19, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2023.]
My Take
During this period, I was not a Christian, but I recall the movement quite well. A certain resurgence of "Jesus Freaks" had taken a prominent position in American culture. Altogether, it was not a bad thing at all, but actually very positive, and much more love and peace inspired than the actual '70s themselves.
The "Jesus Freaks" were ostracized, and largely ignored by certain majorities proving only what the Holy Scriptures themselves taught in John 15:18-19: "18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."
