My Thoughts on Episode 1 of Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed

April 14, 2022

There’s a new Hillsong documentary making the rounds. If you’re reading this site, then you’ve likely already seen it or have heard of it. The film’s title—Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed—tells you precisely what it’s about.

It’s clear this documentary is made for a general audience even if they’ve never even heard of Hillsong. That’s awesome. More awareness should be raised as to what’s going on with the Australian megachurch. For someone like me, and other people in the deconstruction world, the Hillsong documentary contained a lot of information I already knew since I tend to keep up with happenings in the church world even after leaving my own church and deconverting from Christianity years ago.

However, there was a decent amount of stuff that I’d never heard before and some perspectives that I hadn’t considered. Here are my thoughts on Episode 1:

Background

I enjoyed the crash course in Hillsong’s history. There was some stuff I didn’t know.

For instance, I didn’t know the church was originally called “Hills Christian Life Centre” and that only the band was named Hillsong. But it makes perfect sense. Only after Hillsong-The-Band’s music exploded in popularity did the church adopt the name for everything. It’s a completely understandable business decision and I likely would’ve done the same thing.

We hear about Frank Houston (who we’ll hear even more about in Episode 3) and how he was a “fire and brimstone” preacher—a real grim guy. Basically, the opposite of his son Brian Houston’s approach. Brian would be the one to build a church where “all are welcome” that makes being a Christian nice and comfortable because the sermons don’t focus too much on sin.

Hillsong-The-Band’s music was so popular because they emulated what was already on popular radio—yet another business decision that makes perfect sense to me. In the ‘90s the church began licensing out its music to churches around the world, giving them a massive new revenue stream. Before long, most songs sung in modern churches were written by Hillsong, whether the congregation knew it or not. This reminded me of Max Martin, the guy who’s written nearly every pop song that’s been on popular radio since I was born, regardless of the artist who sings it (look him up; it’s quite mind blowing how one man has literally written the soundtrack of your life).

Not only that, the songs were intentionally written to be highly emotional. One big revelation of those deconstructing their faith is that many modern worship songs are purposely written to be that way. When you hear them, you feel your emotions stir, and you believe it’s God’s presence, but really it’s the chord structure.

Regarding the emotional chord structures, this particular quote from the film stood out to me:

“It’s made to make you feel something. They want you to feel the presence of God. But it’s easy to mistake emotional manipulation for the presence of God… the chord structure is built to make you cry.”

Hillsong NYC opened in 2010. It was first held in a building that was primarily used as a night club and bar. That little tidbit really felt like it closed a loop for me. Back when I was a Christian, I heard so many of my friends rave about little churches they’d been to, heard about, or were involved in that were held in bars and nightclubs. They loved being able to say that. The contradiction was sexy. They felt like they were going into a “place of sin” and changing it from the inside out by having church. When, in reality, no one—including the bar owner—gave a shit what was happening there early on Sunday morning, which is pretty much the only time of the week when they literally have nothing else going on. This made me wonder if Hillsong NYC started this trend or just popularized it.

But it seems having Hillsong NYC start in a night club was quite poignant. Why? Because the church would operate like a night club. Attendees would stand in a massive line that wrapped around the block while they waited for the church to open—just like a normal nightclub that maintains a line outside (even if there’s hardly anyone in the club) just to make it look popular.

I also imagine that was a “thing to do” among regular attendees. I can hear it now: “Church starts at 7:00, but I like to get there at 5:30 so I can stand in line and fellowship! That’s half the fun!”

The church also borrowed the classic nightclub tactic of striving to get young, attractive women to attend so that more men would be inclined to go. Literally all nightclubs in the world do this, so if Hillsong was intentionally trying to be “modern” then I can’t really fault them. Besides, I remember when I was a young man and the pretty girls at youth group were one of the reasons I kept going back…

PreachersNSneakers

I’d never heard of this Instagram account before I watched the documentary.

The IG account’s name tells you exactly what you’re going to get. The creator, Ben Kirby, never intended anything malicious or to start a discussion. He merely had an interest in fashion and found a way to express that through niche content. However, in doing so, he and others kept noticing how some preachers were wearing clothes and brands that were very expensive.

I really noted how Kirby mentioned he’d received hateful messages—including death threats—because of the account. They accused him of trying to “turn people away from God.” To me, these are the people who are very far down on the “deconstruction ladder,” which I described here. They don’t want to ask any questions at all. Even when presented with photographic evidence that someone might not be practicing what he preaches, they preferred to remain ignorant.

Everyone else, however, was ready to ask the obvious question: How are these pastors able to afford such a luxurious lifestyle?

The Rise of Carl Lentz

When churches grow large, they start looking for additional ways to vacuum more and more money out of people. One classic page from the playbook is to open a church college. When Hillsong did it, they drew students from all over the world. One of those students was twenty-one-year-old Carl Lentz.

This was when Brian Houston met Carl, and Brian—with his keen eye for business—immediately knew Lentz was just what he needed. Those interviewed in the film said Houston instantly liked Lentz and took him under his wing. It’s suggested that Lentz was “groomed” for his future role at Hillsong.

I understand the word “grooming” has some pretty negative connotations in the way that it’s normally used, but I’ve heard it used a lot in church circles when it comes to those being “groomed” for ministry. I didn’t know about the origins of Carl Lentz before watching the film, and it makes me wonder if Lentz even really had a choice. Technically he did, of course, but I wonder just how impressionable he was when he was 21.

One of the people interviewed said Carl was in the wrong profession. I strongly agree with that. Carl Lentz is the kind of person who wants to be famous, known, and wants every opportunity to be on stage, doing something in a very public way. It turned out that thing would be preaching when he probably really should have been something else, such a comedian, musician, or motivational speaker.

Why? Because being a preacher meant there were certain lifestyle constraints that Carl Lentz never had any interest in. That’s explored in much more detail in Episode 2.

I wish the documentary had dug more into the relationship between Brian Houston and Carl Lentz. I noted the short clip of Brian Houston and Lentz sitting next to each other while being interviewed. If I recall correctly, it’s the only time in the documentary in which they are shown together. Lentz comes across as completely different when he’s in the presence of Houston. He’s tense, his shoulders are up, he’s looking down, and he has closed off body language. He comes across as nothing like the Carl Lentz we see in the rest of the film. It looked like Lentz regarded Houston as some big bad father figure and that he walked on eggshells around him.

The first time I heard about Carl Lentz was around the same time the rest of the world did—when he started hanging out with Justin Bieber and posting about it on Instagram. It was the infamous photo that went viral at the time. I’d originally seen it on Joe Rogan, and Rogan said what everyone was thinking: he called out Lentz for showing “dick root” and that he “probably dicks chicks down for the Lord.” Astute observation, Joe.

I’d assumed the Bieber-Lentz relationship had evolved naturally. At the time, Justin Bieber was stirring up drama and drawing a lot of ire from the general public. I figured he’d “found God” and did it at the most modern and mainstream church that was available to him. However, the film suggests that Lentz targeted celebrities as a way to raise the church’s profile (and his own). I’d never considered that before, but it makes a lot of sense after learning about the church’s background and how everything was a business decision.

Of course, Justin Bieber has since severed ties with Carl Lentz after Lentz stirred up his own shitstorm of drama. All of that is covered in detail in Episode 2 of the documentary, which I’ll write about separately.

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