A well known phenomenon of the ‘60’s, it was coined the “Jesus Freaks”, and it cut a wide swath in the so-called Hippy culture. Once called the “hope for the modern world,” they were not angered by the term “freaks” and made no effort to distance themselves from the possible meanings of that term. A sociologist pronounced their “demise,” saying their effort had “lost its steam,” and many in the mainstream of life and of religious thought were relieved.
The duration of the movement was quite brief, though remnants survive to remind us of their ways. The sociologist remarked that their roots were in “poor soil,” leaning too hard upon the “mountain-top experiences” to find new converts. Evidence confirms that a faith established on the “mountain-top” often has difficulty when ultimately forced to return to live in the valley.
The person who can worship only when standing on the side of a mountain may collapse when forced to face the frustrations, the problems of everyday life. As one author surmised, they may come to the erroneous conclusion that “The Lord is God of the hills, but not of the valleys,” 1 Kings 20:28. That kind of thinking can lead a person to think God is not God after all. Personal problems, pro-longed illness or trouble between parents and children can quickly melt away the veneer of a faith founded only on an emotional experience. The “freaks” often spoke of getting “high on Jesus,” but the high was known to lead to a “downer” when the stimulant was removed.
The “mountain-top experience” is not wrong, it’s just over-estimated. Working with young people for almost twenty-five years gave me opportunity to see and be part of such “mountain-top” times. To hear young voices singing praise to God in the midst of nature’s beauty was and is an experience not to be forgotten. We studied and discussed ways of taking the gospel to a campus numbering more than 15,000 students and were edified by reading and pondering the marvelous word of God. The hard part was discovered when we descended from that “mountain top” and knew we needed to get to work doing what we had planned to do and knew we must do.
In agriculture I am told that the soil on a mountaintop is seldom suited for a bountiful harvest. We discover that we are edified by the experience but still must be motivated to the task at hand. That was not always as much “fun” for many of us. Why? Could it be that we were more interested in what we needed and what we wanted than what others need?
It’s a lesson all of us need to learn – that when I serve God and others I also satisfy my own needs. Self-centered and self-serving actions may boost our thoughts for a while, but will fade quickly. Fruit seldom grows in abundance on the top of a mountain, but that beauty and majesty may help those of us in the valleys to work harder at our daily chore of planting the seed so that the fruit can grow.
When Jesus came down from the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17), notice that He and His disciples went back to work teaching lessons on purity, humility and forgiveness. We are well schooled on “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” Romans 10:17, but that passage also asks, “how shall they hear” without someone who will teach them. That’s where we come in.
We can only read and wonder what it must have been like to be on that mountaintop with Jesus. It must have been exhilarating to have been there, but we must remember that Jesus did not avoid warning them of the trials that would threaten when they followed His example. He warned them of His own death. He told them they would face the same opposition, the same threats, the same charges He faced. Those times would not be as thrilling, not as exhilarating, not as pleasant as the mountaintop.
Religion without emotion is like a body without life – useless and dead. Religion that thrives only on feeling and excitement is like a runaway train, unpredictable and dangerous. There are plenty of mountaintop experiences out there for Christians today, but they are the products of our work, not merely our feelings.
If you want a truly thrilling experience, be the one who brings a person out of service to Satan and into faithful service to Christ, Romans 6:18. See the marvel of changing one who is “…without Christ...having no hope, and without God in the world…But now in Christ Jesus…are made nigh by the blood of Christ,” Ephesians 2:12-13.
There is nothing so fulfilling as seeing someone obey the gospel of Christ as a result of your own personal efforts. Why not bring a soul to Christ? You will never forget it, and it will whet your appetite for more.
