thanks for putting into words what many of us on the ground don’t have time to do. Word up from the Town.

San Franciscans already voted for this brand of christianity, if you look at the churches in which they caucus. Especially the natives who left churches that serve baos for those that serve espresso.

“The Kingdom does not belong to us.” – Therefore as a part of the collective “us”, you don’t have any business judging the gospel efforts of another church! I assume you know all the entire history of this church to back up all the intolerant statements found within this piece? Is that Hillsong’s history – oppression?

I don’t disagree with your statements of a presence of churches for decades already in SF. But if they’ve been there so long, why is there still a need to help the people of the city? Should they have long ago accomplished all you claim the church should be about? No? Then why not welcome another part of the “The Kingdom [that] does not belong to us”?

My statements are general in nature, because, I don’t live there. But I find a lot of assumptions being made.

YES.

This is such a beautiful post. For what it’s worth, I attend Hillsong. The North American church has been colonizing Sydney for years. They love its koalas, its Harbour Bridge, and they even turn up at Hillsong’s campus in their thousands and under the guise of their role as college students they displace Australian congregation members, and I sit here in the gay heartland of Sydney working amongst Aboriginal Christians who feel displaced and lost, thinking “oh my gosh, how do I reconnect and reconcile with my neighbours who hate me”? The thing is, I do have hope because of posts like yours. Perhaps we can together join our hearts and voices, and dialogue to learn what is God’s and what is simply ours. Oh, I need a heart of flesh, not one of stone. Thank you so much for your reminder.

Wow that sounds angry! Heaps of pastors church plant in cities. 99% of them have no profile such as Hillsong but never the less your comments could be aimed at some of them as well. Instead of anger phone him up and welcome him to the city and ask if there is anything you can do for him. Then take him to coffee and love on him. There could come a day when you will need each other. Love and blessings. Ian

Reminds me how much I dislike rootless and clueless evangelical salesmanship churches who are holding the first annual anything.

Or… instead of a lengthy blog post criticizing their plans, y’all COULD pray for them, and ask God to lead and guide them, and bless their efforts. Starting a new church planting effort is not anything new and everybody knows it’s not easy. There’s no guarantee of success. Perhaps they start the project with pie-in-the-sky, starry-eyed ideas, but then there’s ALWAYS the reality of the rubber hitting the road. That hard reality brings us to our knees, which is a good place to be. It’s the right place to be.

God bless them!! Who are we to say whether God really spoke to them or not? It’s not our place, and it’s not our business.

This seriously pisses me off. Christians bringing down other Christians. We are suppose to be supporting each other and be thankful that churches are being opened. People act like they know Ben Houston but they don’t. I don’t myself but I take part of Hillsong LA and have seen all the good it has been doing for homeless people and families.

People are so blind . Be thankful a church is being opened up not ANOTHER JAIL or strip club. I grew up in church and one thing I learned is that some Christians are WORSE then people who don’t go to church!

You go Ben Houston open up all the churches you want change this world! Let’s make it a better place !

Hi Nate,

Before I say anything, I just want to say thank you for a thoughtful response and that I really do echo your sentiments and concerns with Hillsong SF coming. I personally was not that excited mainly because of the watered-down Gospel that they preach in the name of “relevance” that basically has no transformative power in peoples’ lives, but that’s another matter…

I have to say though, that despite some legitimate concerns, this response is pretty unbiblical in attitude and character for a couple reasons:

You cannot DEMAND humility. Isn’t it ironic (and prideful) to call out someone’s lack of humility by pridefully demanding it?? I think it’s perfectly okay to notice a character flaw and call them to repentance, but you have no biblical right to DEMAND that someone sit at your feet and basically “sit down and know your place.” That is SO unbiblical and ironic. Yes, Houston’s comments were ignorant and lacked much tact, but that doesn’t give you justification to basically tell someone that they can’t come here. Is there a certain type of “qualified” missionary that you allow here? Which brings me to my next point..

Do you own San Francisco, or does God? How are we okay with letting in Syrian refugees who might have intentions to blow up the city, but we’re not okay with letting in another church, a member of the Body of Christ, because they have iffy intentions? And trust me, I think you’re right about the blind ignorance and optimism, but you don’t have a biblical right to shut them out in protest and rise up in anger against them.

May I suggest a similar attitude to Paul said in Phillippians 1 as an example?

“Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill; the former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely…” (Let’s say this is them, in our eyes)… “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”

Jesus also said in Luke 9:50 of someone trying to do the work of the Kingdom, Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.”

Maybe Hillsong can reach some people in SF that you can’t, Nate. And the right response of the Christian is to say, yes, they’re being a little foolish, but if they’re here to preach Christ, we rejoice and we welcome the missionary that comes in the name of the Lord. If they’re here to genuinely preach the true Gospel, then we should be rejoicing at the furtherance of the Gospel.

These are just a couple of the main points of concern I have with this response. Not to mention the implications of this attitude to foreign missions – what if the church in India or the Phillippines said “No, no one will ever come here until they understand the plight of the people, and if they do come, they will sit in total silence because they have nothing to offer.” What kind of attitude is that to a well-meaning brother or sister in Christ? How many of us have gone on missions thinking that we were bringing them something, only to realize that they taught us so much in return? That’s what I think is going to happen to Hillsong SF. I think they will come here and possibly “learn the hard way” about ministry here and I personally just wish them good luck, you know?

Again I’ll say this: you totally have the right to question Hillsong SF and you do have a right to raise concerns about the way they’re coming about the whole situation. But the way you do it should be of loving concern and NEVER with anger, offense, and bitterness. I would humbly submit this to you for your consideration because it brought me a great deal of sadness when I read this post. It’s got some good points, but to me, it’s done in the wrong spirit.

Thanks for hearing me out 🙂 Hope you’ve been well & I would love to catch up with you sometime 🙂 –Emily

To me, it sounds like you have been hurt by the city, and feel like because you have whethered the storm you deserve to pastor in that city more than those who have not. To me, it sounds like hillsong is excited to be apart of Gods plan for the city, and you want to keep them out so you can personally play a bigger part in that plan. Your words are clearly not anointed from God, but hateful rooted in jealousy.

I have been attending Hillsong NYC for the past few years now, and the church that I have come to know and love doesn’t operate under white christian exceptionalism in any way shape or form, and by no means does Hillsong believe that they are the only ones capable of facilitating the gospel message. I would agree with your statements 100% if I wasn’t immersed in the culture of Hillsong Church, and if I didn’t know the hearts of the pastors and have knowledge about how the church operates. While the phrases seem imperialistic the language used to describe the San Fransisco church plant is the same language that the main pastor Brian Houston uses at his home church in Australia, and at all of the campuses across the globe. Every Sunday I hear both “The best is yet to come” and that “God has great plans for this city,” because he does. Hillsong is not saying that they are going to make San Fransisco great it’s already fabulous. No disrespect Bay Area you are much loved.

This article sounds like an angry rant. I’m glad Hillsing is coming and I’m glad to see SF change

Wow, Nate. I agree that the cheesy video makes me sad, but don’t worry so much. In the thirty years I’ve lived here, we’ve seen a lot of “church planters” come and inflict their model on us and then leave. Many great people were involved and some stayed and loved the City even as the megachurch organizations pulled out. A couple of the churches that came planted deep roots and now they feel the joys and pains of this land. We become brothers even though we were born brothers.

At one point in the late eighties, a local pastor who had been here for a generation, made a comment to me about how tired it made him to have yet another young church/ministry planter show up with a plan to save the City that didn’t respect (or even acknowledge) the many years of ministry that have happened here. I hear you saying the same thing a generation later. Guess some things don’t change.

I remember when far-right intolerance and racism was being passed off as Christianity in the 80’s. It failed, badly. Here, far-left intolerance and racism is being passed of as Christian humility. Fail!

Jesus always (always) responded to the faith and humility of the individual (or the lack, thereof). He did NOT respect the arbitrary group identity assigned to that individual. He was hated for that. How dare Jesus not bow down the to manufactured social imperatives meant to control Him! Didn’t Jesus know he might hurt someone’s feelings or piss of the ‘elders’?

No, Jesus knew their hearts. Instead, He healed, forgave and even performed miracles for both the oppressed AND the oppressor. Jesus didn’t play identity politics, nor respect pigment-based, status-based, residency-based or culture-based bias and racism. This post, quite beautifully, cosigns a divisive deception of our time – this neoliberal intolerance and racism, married with the delusion of entitled tribalism. And, how many admonitions are in the Word to NOT mistreat (AKA pre-judge, marginalize, ridicule, accuse) newcomers, visitors, transplants, and migrants entering your city?

Look, the challenge to check your motives and sit in judgement of yourself first is a true one. We can all use more of that. But, this post betrays the core example Christ gave to us to live by. It sounds like a Pharisee wrote it – sitting in his high-chair of entitlement.

In a world where black slavery is again rampant (black slaves captured and owned by other black Africans), where Christian genocide is currently being perpetrated throughout the middle east, this blog article illuminates not the Hope of the Gospel, but the twisted, myopic, anti-Christian ideology of entitled intolerance and outright racism. An ideology mired in manufactured victimhood and a perpetual self-disenfranchisement. There is no healing, no peace, no hope, no light in your words, Nate. Praying for you!

Thank you for saying it! For too long we’ve wanted to be seen to be “doing great things for God”, yet very few have wanted to come and simply serve and support someone else’s work.

I believe it’s time to stop bringing in ‘our’ brand, ‘our’ platform, ‘our’ god to the table. Instead, how about we get down from the table altogether and start washing the feet of those who were already there…

Please take more care with vastly sweeping generalisations like this one: ‘Like it or not, Christianity is the reason nations have been exploited,
people have been enslaved, and communities have been robbed of their
culture and personhood.’ This statement ignores the vast historical complexity of European colonialism and imperialism over 500 years, and the fact that political and economic imperatives drove colonialism, while Christians often worked to criticise and mitigate its excesses.

Not sure we know one another Nate but I would love to talk with you at some point about this man. Some really strong and potentially hurtful language here. Bless you bro.

Thanks for sharing this post. As one who has been to many countries preaching the Gospel and now heading to serve alongside Native Americans, I completely agree with the tenor of this post. I have seen it all over the world and especially here in the US where celebrity pastors are more concerned about book promotion and personal wealth than coming alongside the work the Lord is already doing in communities such as yours. Many people believe that since a man like Houston can draw a crowd he must be from the Lord.. not so, they preach 1/2 the gospel and spend more time and money in self promotion than they do reaching the lost.

Most churches such as this experience lateral movement rather than new converts so they actually come in and disrupt the building of smaller bodies that have been teaching the whole counsel of God for years. They are fulfilling 2Tim 4:3-4. “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, (4) and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”

We have seen many works where people see big numbers so they think it is God. I say, blow up a few balloons and you’ll get people to show up, that doesn’t mean God showed up!

Blessings brother… Keep telling the truth!

Reading this makes me sad. SF isn’t yours and for you to become so territorial and angry because another church wants to come in and further the cause of making Jesus known looks very insecure and arrogant. No ones looking to steal or take away people from your church or other churches, there are millions of people in SF how could you not be for another church starting up and making a difference? I’m from Toronto, there are tons of churches here already doing a lot of work here but if someone else feels called to starting a church here I’d welcome them in a heartbeat. We’re all after the same thing. Maybe if you’re open to it there’s something you can learn from them and vice versa. Don’t become burnt out and bitter in your ministry because from reading this that’s where it seems like your heading. Praying for you and your church.

The Apostle Paul said it best: “If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day. Don’t give the Devil a chance. … Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you. And do not make God’s Holy Spirit sad; for the Spirit is God’s mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that the Day will come when God will set you free. Get rid of all bitterness, passion and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort. Instead, be kind and tenderhearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.” – Ephesians 4:26-32 TEV

Hi Nate,

I read your post and agree with your perspective on Hillsong. I went to Hillsong College Sydney, I was part of the Church in Hillsong Sydney, Hillsong Brisbane and Hillsong London. I worshipped in the band with Darlene, Jad Gillies and Rubean Morgan all lovely people. However after some years I realised that Hillsong Church as a whole DO NOT preach the Gospel.

Now before I start getting hated on by many Hillsongers who may use Matthew 7:3 against me, ask yourself would any faithful Pastor release a book call “You Need more Money – discover God’s wonderful financial plan for your life”. No I’m not kidding Brian Houston (Ben’s Dad) senior Pastor for Hillsong released a book like that. He completely twisted God’s Word https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1c296256cc494641e6f623aab9586f68d8304486bf409947d7239e731d14bf88.jpg throughout the book and in doing so blasphemed God’s name.

The problem is many commenting on this blog have never been fed the real Gospel by Hillsong. And evidently many using profanity or 5th grade name calling don’t come across very Christ like. A big sign of maturity in Christ is discernment.

My question to current Hillsong members are you being Acts 17:11 Bereans in your discernment? Because if you are then it should be obvious the false prosperity Gospel you are being fed week in week out.

Discernment is important in every area of our lives – like choosing a college, a Church, a relationship, a car, a school for our kids, even in the little things like a Bible study book. This is an area we cannot afford to compromise in.

It is said the best way to understand what is evil is not by understanding evil, but by understanding what is good.

A Christian wanted to learn how a bank identified true currency from false currency 2. So he phoned up his local bank and asked to do a short course on identifying true currency.

He came into his bank and they began to teach him about what to look for in genuine currency compared to counterfeit currency it began to dawn on him.
He found it was apparent that experts on bank money fraud teams, didn’t get trained to be an expert in counterfeit currency by studying counterfeit currency. Instead they study good money.
They ran through a few examples of currency. Some counterfeit money was obvious, with the Queen’s head missing and clear fading. However some of it was less obvious. But all along because he was trained in what was right it was easy to tell what was wrong.

A defining moment came when the bank manager training him asked: “when somebody gives you money, you do always check to make sure its genuine right?” For money the stakes may not be that high £5 here or £10 there, however our Spiritual discernment should be of great importance.

What are the dangers of NOT discerning ?

When we are talking spiritually if a Christian isn’t exercising wise judgment between truth and error, they will be subject to any type of false teaching. This is dangerous because it will steer them away from Biblical thinking to un-biblical thinking. This will of course lead someone to living disobediently, and therefore being unrepentant before God. And Jesus said there will be many from the Church, on the day of judgment that will claim to have known him, but he will say “depart from me I never knew you” – see Matthew 7:23

We read in Acts 17:11 in the Bible of when the Apostle Paul came to Thessalonica and preached to the Bereans. The Bible states that they were “of noble character” and they “examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” And as Christians if we are to be “noble” we must test what we are seeing and hearing spiritually with what the Bible says. Because our spiritual health depends on it.

It disappoints me when I hear local preachers teaching that as Christians we mustn’t judge, sometimes even using Matthew 7:1-2 where Jesus says “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged…”. However this notion isn’t true and is a mishandling of the text. As when you read on in verse 5 Jesus says “first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Jesus encourages us to not judge hypocritically. In other words if someone who swore constantly, rebuked someone else for swearing they would be a hypocrite. Furthermore in John 7:24 Jesus encourages us to “Judge correctly”.

So how can we go about discernment in our everyday lives ?

– Test the Spirits.

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is whenever a Christian remotely says anything complimentary regarding Christianity we immediately hail them as our Christian poster boy/girl. However we must hold back and accept that not everyone who professes Christ possesses Christ.

John encourages us to think in this area. He says in 1 John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

Not every teaching that sounds good is good for you, slow down open up your Bible and match up what someone is saying with God’s Word.

We must protect our walk with the Lord and not get taken in by any teaching that sounds good. It’s so easy to think someone has “an anointing” or “Spiritual gift” just because they are saying something that sounds encouraging. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “you are what you eat”. Well it’s the same spiritually.

– Don’t always trust your feelings.

Another area that deceives many Christians is the “feelings” they have for a certain teacher or teaching. Remember it doesn’t matter if a so-called Gospel preacher/teacher: makes you laugh, is a good leader, has a University degree, or has thousands in his congregation.

What matters is are they preaching the Biblical Gospel ? Whenever a Pastor uses every other means to entertain the flock rather than, be faithful in allowing God’s Word to be proclaimed this should raise alarm bells.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 says “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.”

3. – Biblically grow and pray for God’s help

Discernment is an important aspect of growing in our faith, Paul advised the Church in Ephesus that when they grow in their faith “Then they will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” (See Ephesians 4:14).

As we feed ourselves more and more on God’s Word we will fine tune our ability to identify true and false. Indeed we are fighting a spiritual battle, therefore we must keep in mind the importance to arm ourselves or we will be an easy target for the enemy.

Sadly not everyone is exercising discernment. However it’s important to recognize in humility, that it is only because God has given us the gift of discernment that we have the privilege to exercise that gift. And if we see where someone in the Church has gone astray in their theology or preaching we must still be loving with them.

Our purpose must be to be loving. Paul directed the Church in Ephesus in the same way. He says in Ephesians 4:15: “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ”.

If we feel we ever have the need to challenge a leader, Pastor or other brother/sister in the faith we must love them first. Our purpose must be to always point them back to the Word of God, not to win an argument.

If you feel you lack discernment it’s important to pray and ask that God will grant you discernment. In Ephesians 6:18 Paul emphasises this – “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

There is many books in the Bible that deal with exercising discernment and identifying false teaching and false teachers. A good place to start is the book of Jude. Jude’s initial intention was to write to his recipients regarding salvation in Christ. However Jude felt it very necessary to instead warn the Church regarding false teachers.