The Counterculture of Christ // Part 1

In a day & age where doing whatever you want, being gender undefined, resonating more as an animal or object than a human being, having one night stands & regular Tinder hookups, free access to pornography, marketing our exposed & overtly sexualised bodies through social media, hailing our newest accomplishments & achievements online, merging into a virtual reality world, turning to A.I & technology to become like God… maybe it’s time to just step back & take a look at the bigger picture here.

2 Peter 2:17-19 // These people are springs without water & mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity for ‘people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.’

For a long time I thought I was escaping the system & had found freedom within freelancing & getting paid to do what I love- essentially surfing, travelling & meeting new people. I was obsessed with self-work & deep dove into the spiritual world of Hindu, Buddhist & Sanscript teachings; always eager to learn. Seeking, searching for truth & for answers. I thought I had found freedom in understanding how to manifest my dreams and personal desires, on how to create my dream way of life- a dream job, a dream home, a life of pleasure, of surf & travel- I wrote about this in previous articles. And hey, it all came true, it all happened. The power of manifestation & ‘co-creating your reality with a higher power / consciousness’ is very real and very powerful; but not as powerful as the Creator of the universe, the ruler of heaven & earth, the one that knows the number of hairs on our head. Our Lord & saviour Jesus Christ. I didn’t realise that I was still in fact a slave; a slave to sin, to the prince of evil & all of his ways. How I am so grateful to have come out of the darkness & into the light…

Acts 26:18 // To open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God…Colossians 1:13 // For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.

We live in a spiritual world, of both seen and unseen, of light & darkness. And the darkness, is not where you want to be. As alluring, enticing, & enchanting the new age, spiritualism & the occult is- it is extremely dangerous and not something to ‘lightly dabble in.’ For Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

Ephesians 6:12 // For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

So when everyone is screaming for attention & wanting to be different, is there not a more rebellious & countercultural thing to do than turning to Christ & becoming a Christian? After all, Jesus was the original rebel. He walked on water, he cast out demons from the possessed, he healed the sick. The Romans & even the high priests who believed in the strict observance of laws and traditions of the bible- all hated him & in turn put him to death! Jesus did not conform to the laws or rules of society, but instead preached truth. Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Utter blasphemy to some ears back then, & not much has changed today, because we all have free will in what we choose to believe, but those who have eyes to see & ears to listen; those who seek shall find.

1 Peter 2:9 // But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Matthew 7:7 // Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

This is an excerpt from a book I picked up whilst in New Zealand… ‘Jumping Sundays: The Rise and Fall of the Counterculture in Aotearoa New Zealand’ by Nick Bollinger.

Somehow flicking straight to old film photos of ‘Jesus loves you’ posters (the other 405 pages were on acid trips & the psychedelic 60’s movement). I had a bit of a chuckle, because I could fully resonate with this free-spirited, anti-religion hippie who had now given his heart to God…

“Back in the 70’s, when Christianity was at a decline, perhaps the most rebellious act of all was to turn to Jesus. And indeed, a new breed of Christian hippies, known as the Jesus freak began to appear.

Marcus Ardern, a young pot-smoking, anti-war activist with an interest in eastern religion had come to Auckland from Tauranga- he was a visible presence at the jumping Sundays: long-haired, bearded, be-robed, frequently holding court on a variety of subjects but often focusing on the contradictions in the Bible and the hypocrisies of its followers. In Albert Park he established his first Love Shop, a place where people could obtain without charge things they needed and give away things they didn’t. He spent time at James K Baxter’s Boyle Crescent crash pad & later followed the poet to Jerusalem. “I went there a hard-headed atheist,” he told the Listener in 1972. “I thought the idea of a God absurd. But I began to have all sorts of religious ideas I found I could indulge to the full, because Jerusalem was so far out in the sticks you didn’t have to be very rational anyway.”

For a while he moved to Wellington where he started another Love Shop, shifting the focus of his social services to the pensioners he saw living in substandard accommodation and sometimes without enough money to eat properly. One day he was visited by an old friend, a former heavy-drug user, who was now peddling ambiguous phrases like “I’ve been washed in the blood”, and “I’ve been born again”- mystical things that didn’t mean anything. One day, figuring he had nothing to lose, Marcus locked his door and asked God to change his life. He wasn’t sure anything happened, though halfway through the next day he realised he was no longer craving cigarettes, which he had been having trouble giving up. A few days later, still sceptical he asked for a stronger sign and was plunged into what he initially thought was an LSD flashback, something he had experienced once before. He began speaking in a language he didn’t know.

Not long after this he went to speak to a meeting of the Rotary Club, an international non-denominational association of service organisations founded on Christian principles and run by suit-wearing professional and businesspeople. As a novelty, the club had booked the outspoken hippie to teach them about Love Shops, Jumping Sundays and life in the counterculture. Instead, he told them about Jesus.”