Right now I'm visiting my parents in Sydney and so is my uncle. A friend of my uncle's regularly visits Hillsong church when he is in Sydney and recommended that he did the same. I thought it would be nice to accompany him to what is undoubtedly Australia's most famous church. It would also be a good excuse to check out what Hillsong is really like. I've heard raving endorsements as well as scathing critiscims including tales of prosperity gospel preaching. Putting these things aside I decided to try and go in with an open mind, at least to find out why this kind of church is so popular.
Like a football game we were ushered in to a parking bay, then like concert we walked passed all the merchandising and take away foods and were ushered into the auditorium and church began.
There were lots of points I could talk about like...
Like a football game we were ushered in to a parking bay, then like concert we walked passed all the merchandising and take away foods and were ushered into the auditorium and church began.
There were lots of points I could talk about like...
- How the music was so incredibly polished it seemed to lack any soul at all.
- How the mini sermon before the offertory slowly morphed from Jesus saying to a rich young ruler "give your money to the poor" to why don't you put some money in the offertory buckets (yes they were buckets but they are a big church so I didn't mind).
- How Darlene Zschechs's sermon not only didn't really seem to say anything but also didn't even seem to have it's own internal logic or any structure.
As much as I could write about these things I'm sure they are probably all old ground for many people.
What struck me the most about Hillsong was how bored I was. Hillsong is about as professional looking and slick as you can get, but like a big blockbuster movie with loads of special effects and no story line, it was boring. This, I wasn't expecting. Once you get over the idea that the church has a decent enough band to back any professional middle of the road artist, the images and film are high quality enough to be used by a home renovation TV show and there are actually lots of people there, there is so little to be impressed about. I was bored out of my brain and completely unmoved for better or worse. My uncle was both thoroughly disappointed in the experience an glad that I didn't bring my wife along and waste her time (as he saw it).
So why is this church popular? I'm not sure but I wonder if it's popular because it's really easy. Turning up every Sunday to watch a big TV show for one and half hours is really easy. You just turn up walk in, sit down, watch and leave. There are no awkward lonely people to meet afterwards, there are no people who need extra help next Friday night for the church bread run and there is no need to help pack up at the end of church. What is more there is also no guilt about not doing this because during the service you can give money to fund outreaches to lonely awkward people, outreaches to hungry people and money to keep a venue that doesn't need to be packed up for other purposed during the week.
So, this got me thinking what should we expect from Church? This will be a future post.
What struck me the most about Hillsong was how bored I was. Hillsong is about as professional looking and slick as you can get, but like a big blockbuster movie with loads of special effects and no story line, it was boring. This, I wasn't expecting. Once you get over the idea that the church has a decent enough band to back any professional middle of the road artist, the images and film are high quality enough to be used by a home renovation TV show and there are actually lots of people there, there is so little to be impressed about. I was bored out of my brain and completely unmoved for better or worse. My uncle was both thoroughly disappointed in the experience an glad that I didn't bring my wife along and waste her time (as he saw it).
So why is this church popular? I'm not sure but I wonder if it's popular because it's really easy. Turning up every Sunday to watch a big TV show for one and half hours is really easy. You just turn up walk in, sit down, watch and leave. There are no awkward lonely people to meet afterwards, there are no people who need extra help next Friday night for the church bread run and there is no need to help pack up at the end of church. What is more there is also no guilt about not doing this because during the service you can give money to fund outreaches to lonely awkward people, outreaches to hungry people and money to keep a venue that doesn't need to be packed up for other purposed during the week.
So, this got me thinking what should we expect from Church? This will be a future post.
6 comments:
bored? surely not!
this cannot be
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remembering that different people seek different things, knowing you as i do i am underwhelmed by this response. i wonder however what you would do if hillsong had invited you to preach at a service as happened when you went to your current church.
would this have been enough engagement?
could you have explored possibility of change or reformation?
hi.. i researched "hillsong", and I found your blogger, and I read your post and it really surprised me.. Hillsong Church bored?? One of my desires is to visti this church one day, to know how are they lifestyle... hahahaa
well... anyway, your post was very interesting..
god bless you o/
Thanks for the comment Felipe,
Like I said in the post I wasn't expecting to be bored. But it was like a movie with lots of special effects (like say star wars episode 1) and no story line or good characters or a song with lots of polish and production but no melody. Kind of all style and no substance. Or like a Big Mac seems great at the time but has very little nutrition and doesn't sustain you in the long run.
I went to an Orthodox Good Friday service last year, and afterwards thought it was just like being at a movie - except it was a fantastic epic saga kind of movie. It went for 3 hours which seems like a long time, but the whole time the story of Jesus life was being sung, and chanted and read and enacted. It was like having the whole story unfold in front of you and wash over you. I still remember one of the lines, chanted over and over throughout the service, "...trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs he is bestowing life."
Actually by the sound of it, it may have been from the Easter Sunday service.
Anyway, the whole movie thing just reminded me. I know what you mean, I've never been to hillsong, but to a big excellent production church. It was pretty lite on.
I went to the London version for 2 and a half years. Yep it's pretty much what your describe. I also found a lot of the preaching very negative and condemning after a while as well - I never felt good enough and never felt like I was doing enough. I still can't believe that people are so sucked in by the hype
hillsong is not perfect... as no church is... but i guarantee they are doing a lot of good in this world... and there is a lot of wisdom in the preaching. as for the worship... you only ever get out of it what you put in... it's between you and God. if you spend your time judging everyone in there of course you will miss the whole point of what God is trying to speak to you about. attitude is everything... when you seek you find. when you judge you are blind
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