Jesus Christ in our lives, they will, as the “ hippies” have done, stamp “ hypocrisy” over the church and Christians. They’ll say, “You don’t really believe the love you preach!” The “ hippies” are searching. They’re trying to find love, but they don’t know where it is. They want to do away with their evil ways, but they don’t know how to get out o f the bonds of sin. They are groping for happiness, and not reaching it. Their desires are good, but their sources are wrong, and their movement can only prove a dis appointment because their foundation is not based on God’s Word. One “ hippy” said his generation was fed up with one-day-a-week-Christianity. When I asked him how he’d like to enjoy complete peace and love day by day by day, he said, “ I’d like that! Man, I’d take that!” And when I explained to this fellow and some of his friends how they could have that peace and love by coming to God through Jesus Christ and making Christ a part of their everyday lives, they were far more receptive than many people to whom we have witnessed. These lost souls responded to the Word more than many of today’s modernist, liberal, so-called Christians. The “hippies” have evaluated society correctly and have rejected it. Thus the left wing, the com munists and the socialists are taking an active in terest in them. But how much interest is the church taking in them? As a church and as Christians, we look down on the “ hippies” ; we don’t want to be associated with them, we would “wash our hands” of them. Yet these are the ones for whom Christ died! In I Peter 1:22, Peter outlines what the “ hip pies” should see in the church: “ Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fer vently.” The “ hippies” need to see that kind of genuine love prevailing in the authentic church of Jesus Christ. The “hippy” must look at the cross o f Jesus Christ and realize that there is the expression o f God’s love. He must be purified, have a “born- again” experience and acknowledge that his body is the temple o f the Holy Spirit. The “hippy” can come to God through Jesus Christ. He can enjoy salvation based on the living, revealed Word of God to the world, but the true church o f Jesus Christ must share the Word! Christians have the answer to the “ hippies” search for love and peace. That answer must be demonstrated by our actions, by our attitudes, by our dedication to the things of the Lord. Let us live our lives that we might be living treasure, worthy of discovery and emulation by the “hip pies.”
personal work rather than on external materialism. True “ hippies” go out of their way for one another. They are not anti-society; they have just despaired of society. The Bible bears out their disillusionment with society: Ecclesiastes 1:2-3: “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?” As the “ hippy” views the world, apart from God, he says it is all vain and it isn’t worth it. In this respect, he is absolutely right! Besides researching publications, I interviewed many “hippies” so I could better appreciate them and their attitudes. At California State College at Long Beach, a student who called himself a “hippy,” said, “ Society is a failure.” Look at his evidence: From the war of 1914 up to the present conditions in Israel — continual social unrest and upheaval! What has caused this wide-spread “hippy” movement? I think it is because o f the inheritance of the “ hippy.” When we look to the Word, in I Peter 1 :18, we find that Peter described his gen eration as those who had inherited “ futile habits of life . . . from your forefathers” (Weymouth), “ the empty folly of your traditional ways” (New English Bible). The “ hippies” have inherited a similar society — a sick, sick, sick society — produced by their parents. Here are some statistics that reveal the degree o f sickness: In 1903 Bolshevism was bom with 17 supporters, and Communism today domi nates one billion people. American Communists spend 38% of their gross income for their cause, yet American Christians spend less than 1% of their income for foreign missions, less than $3.00 a year per individual. If you were a “hippy,” and you knew an Ameri can Communist gave 38% of his income, and an American Christian gave $3.00 a year, which one would you believe practiced what he preached? The “hippy” cries out: “Hypocrites!” Why? A government that adds “under God” to the flag salute, then outlaws prayer in schools! Active min isters who confess God, yet deny the virgin birth, the resurrection of the body, and the dying of Christ for the remission o f sins! Social groups that attest devotion to the needy, yet shun the neediest o f their society! The “hippy” looks at organized, formalized, ritualized, ecumenized religion and pronounces it “ futile, empty folly.” He echoes the words of Jesus Christ, “ye whited sepulchres, dead men; clean on the outside, filthy on the inside.” In their evalua tion of our “ sick society,” the “ hippies” are abso lutely right! Here also is a threatening tragedy: Unless the young people in our churches see the reality of
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FEBRUARY, 1968
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