Hi MGC Pal,

You make my point for me! The centre of Christianity IS Jesus - but Hillsong and churches like it have bastardised the gospel so as to be be more appealing to the masses.

My "fixation", as you put it, with leadership at Hillsong is for this very fact. My concern is that they are leading the Church (Christ's followers) astray.

Runner and Dan S de Merengue,

I do take your point: God will in time deal with the weeds amongst his crop. But isn't it only responsible to encourage others to think for themselves, and weigh everything up before buying in to something like the Hillsong phenomena?

Theo, how can you say that Hillsong has bastardised the Gospel of Jesus Christ unless you have attended for at least a year. I go to an Anglican Church on a Sunday and Hillsong on a Saturday, and having three years of a law degree I would be most upset if the stories told in one place were contradicting the other.

The stories and teaching are the same. The difference is that the Anglican teachings were originally put together for a captive audience because before the atheists got the Parliaments to pass the Australia Act 1986, God was Sovereign, and church was where you learned the Rules of Court. The Supreme Court was the Court of the Supreme Being,and if you went to church regularly you knew what to expect and what was expected of you.

Hillsong has grown up in the atheist, post Australia Act, era, and has had to attract its followers. It has had to make its services attractive and fun as some Anglican Churches have done, St Matthews Manly for example,and has attracted lots and lots of young people, who would otherwise be leaderless and lost to Christianity. It has its share of greybeards like me,and as one of them said, I would be out of here like a dog shot in the bum, if they bastardised the Gospels.

This comment has attracted quite a few comments, but the atricle by Peter Sellick, an Anglican, on Atheists has been a real hit. Hillsong has no issue with any Christian Church. In fact it attracts Anglicans, Presbyterians, Uniting Church Pastors, and the Salvo's, and has support and resources readily available to all comers. Yes they ask for money for God's house,and the Anglicans dont at some churches. There is no compulsion, and in fact the Widows mite story is told at times. She put in tuppence, and it was all she had. That brought her a blessing. they say , Go in peace to love and serve the Lord, at the Anglican Church, at Hillsong they say be blessed.

Christianity is all about love, not church politics.

Peter the Believer,

I was a member of Hillsong for 7 years, 5 of which I was on paid full-time staff there. I think I have a little authority to talk about its inner-workings.

I also have a bachelor degree in theology, so you might say I have a little authority in matters of Christian faith, too.

See my thougts at:

http://www.thethinkingtheologian.blogspot.com

Theo,
Is it inevitable that by their very nature, mega churches like Hillsong always 'bastardise' the gospel, as part of their appeal to the masses?

I hope not !

Even if that is so, I would still be glad Hillsong church is effective in attracting people.

Perhaps you should return to Hillsong to set up theology study groups to cater for those who feel the way you do, those who would otherwise leave the church. There would be a healthy balance then and Hillsong church will cater for a wider range of audience. You may even become one of the church leaders..., (of course not a 'superstar' type).

I guess I am more about putting one's gift to good use, rather than being too cynical.

This is a true story about an Irish Catholic friend I had in England.
Patrick (his real name) was a law-abiding hard working person who had one failing. Every now and then he went on a weekend 'bender'.
One Monday morning his wife woke and Pat was in bed after a weekend away, and the lounge room was full of tins of paint. Pat had no idea where the paint came from.
The local paper arrived with a story about the local paint shop being robbed, and being reasonably intelligent Pat and his wife were able to make a connection.
Pat decides the immediate course of action should be to see the local priest and make a confession. After his confession the priest said he would come to the house on Friday and bless the house. Pat and the priest were old friends.
Back home Pat and his wife decided that if they painted the house before Friday and the priest blessed the house everything would be OK. On Friday the priest ignored the smell of fresh paint and blessed the house.

Somehow remembering Pat always reminds me what it is about organised religion that I object to. I simply cannot accept that anyone can be God's lawyer (if God exists) and that the performance of magic rites changes anything. I am an agnostic whose leaning are towards God but away from religion. God and religion have nothing in common.

Theo

'Runner and Dan S de Merengue,

I do take your point: God will in time deal with the weeds amongst his crop. But isn't it only responsible to encourage others to think for themselves, and weigh everything up before buying in to something like the Hillsong phenomena?'

I totally agree. At the end of the day no one should violate their conscience on any issue. You must also be aware that any church with people in it will never be perfect. I think its important that you feel comfortable that the undefiled gospel is being preached before you can commit to something. Obviously your view is that Hillsong is not doing that. I can't comment on that side as I have not attended Hillsong church on any sort of regular basis. I have observed however that the bigger a church is the more they push their progams rather than just preaching from God's Holy Word.