It hasn’t been since the 1960s that there was so much political and social unrest in America, prompting some to speculate that other parallels might exist between then and now. For instance, it was out of the turbulent ‘60s that the Jesus movement was born, which makes you wonder if we might be on the brink of another spiritual revolution among millennials and Gen Z youth. There was a huge disillusionment with politics and institutions 50 years ago, and a great distrust in those who were in power, not just in the government, but in the church as well. That certainly is true today. That’s why so many young people were taking a fresh look at Jesus.

Jesus, walking out of the pages of history as recorded in the Bible (not out of the pages of a tidy Sunday school curriculum) is a Jesus few know in any age. Those of us who witnessed or were influenced by the Jesus Movement started all over from scratch. Biblical portrayals of Christ caught many unbelievers by surprise. In Christ they found a champion of justice, a friend of the poor, one whose teaching and personal indictments flew in the face of established religion, and whose actions had little use for traditional rabbinic law — one who fostered peace, love and community, and His love and compassion was always on display. Bring all this forward and you have much of the same tensions at work today. Jesus will always be controversial. His arguments are always challenging; His thoughts, always arresting. Jesus was more than a long-haired hippie with sandals, He was, and is, a revolutionary figure in any age and any generation.

Which is why we’re focusing so much on Jesus lately, because when you bring history forward, you find the same thing today. You find a younger generation turned off by the church and most Christians, but not turned off to the historical Jesus, if they, in fact, take the time to research Him out, or we take the care to inform them.

As a recent tweet I found states, “As a 22-year-old Christian, too often it feels like I’m a Christian in spite of the church rather than because of the church.” A  popular sentiment among his peers; the author of this message stated it was the most liked and retweeted tweet he’s ever shared.

So when someone wants to comment on Christianity, religion or the church, deftly change the subject. Talk about Jesus.