Hillsong, Mars Hill & The Good Samaritan

As described earlier in my blog, Why So Tribal?, the Church could be described as a beautiful mosaic picture that when unified creates a magnificent image of God’s love for His people. But what happens when well-known church leaders behave so terribly? Or when church members justify their leader’s bad behavior by pointing to all the good things that he has done. It is an interesting tension that occurs within church culture but it isn’t new. History books are full of stories of church leaders behaving badly because of narcissistic behavior. So, am I surprised when documentaries come out about misconduct that goes on behind the scenes at churches like Hillsong or Mars Hill? Absolutely not. Or when Hillsong’s board tries to explain Pastor Brian Houston’s behavior by saying, “…Following an in-depth investigation, it was found that Pastor Brian became disoriented after a session at the Hillsong Conference, following the consumption of anti-anxiety medication beyond the prescribed dose, mixed with alcohol. This resulted in him knocking on the door of a hotel room that was not his, entering this room and spending time with the female occupant.” Instead of giving answers, the board’s dumbfounding explanation makes me ask more questions; How long ago did this take place? How long had the board known about it? Did the pastor face any real repercussions? But what really perplexes me is this question: When did church leaders forget how we are to treat our neighbor? This topic is essential for us to understand if we want to stop the victimization so common within today’s local churches. Jesus gave us a blueprint for how we are to treat each other in the story of the good Samaritan. In this parable, the religious leaders were the main perpetrators against the victim and in my opinion that is the same problem we have today. Jesus tells us the story of the good Samaritan as He responds back to an expert in Jewish law. The question was asked, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responds by asking the expert what is written in the Law? The expert responded correctly by saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” The expert, wanting to justify himself, asks, “and who is my neighbor?” Jesus then proceeds to tell him the story of the Good Samaritan. In today’s Honest Conversation we will discuss why we so often ignore the victims in church conflicts and emphatically side with the religious leader.

Jesus tells us the story of a traveling man who was beaten, stripped, and left half dead in the road. The story goes on to describe how two different religious leaders saw this beaten man and passed him by without helping or even acknowledging him. They saw him and not only ignored him but crossed to other side of the road so they didn’t have to even come near to him. But when a Samaritan came along and saw this injured man, he had compassion on him. How could this be? Samaritans were considered outcasts, they were hated by Jews because of a long history of conflict and because they intermarried with Gentiles. They were seen as the lowest of the low. Yet it was the Samaritan who attended to this man’s wounds. It cost the Samaritan time and resources and he even made a commitment to follow up with the injured man. Among the three travelers on this road, it was not the religious-acting leaders who loved their neighbor. They ignored the victim and compounded the problem by leaving the victim to die. It's one thing for evil to be done by an evil person but it cuts much deeper when religious leaders that profess to love God ignore the victim. Just like the priest and the Levite who crossed the road to avoid the injured man, religious leaders today often act as if the victim does not exist simply to prevent damage to an institution or some religious leader’s reputation.

The religious leaders avoided the beaten man and went to the other side of the road to pass him by. In the cases of Mars Hill and Hillsong, the common theme was that victim complaints kept coming to their leaders for years but they were simply ignored. Church leaders that blatantly ignore these problems have become masterful at their tactics. They justify keeping criminal acts quiet by saying that if you address a criminal act then you are not honoring the office of the pastor. They say that exposing pastoral wrongdoing might hinder people from coming to know Jesus. In the end they will label you as being a bitter person for simply telling the truth. Leaders kick the can down the road hoping that the victim will lose hope and give up and unfortunately many times they do. This cover-up mentality is at the root of how pedophiles, sexual deviants and unscrupulous leaders have gotten away with so much abuse in the history of the church.

Having a multi-dimensional perspective within the church is crucial especially when we ultimately need to answer the question, how does God see it? I would dare to say that any organization that lacks multi-dimensional perspective has a propensity to walk a fine line between creating culture or acting cultish. It has been eye-opening in the 16 months I have been out of church culture to see how it looks to those who are watching Christians ignore bad behavior that would not be tolerated at a secular workplace. Recently, I have been asking upper echelon denominational leaders a simple question wanting to learn about their multi-dimensional perspective. I have asked, “Can you please tell me the reasons why you support and promote churches that currently are in violation of church polity and have a history of complaints?” Interestingly enough they address it by giving a CYA response or maybe a letter but they never address the problem. A one-dimensional perspective is like blinders on a horse. Blinders can be useful if your only goal is to win that day’s race but not looking at the full picture is very destructive in the long run.

So why do church leaders and church attenders tolerate this? Churches function as 501 c3 institutions that have financial obligations. I have done loans for churches and one of the criteria you must prove is how many “giving units” are at the church, these can be thought of as contributing households. So, churches are very motivated to increase the number of giving units they can count. If you do not have people coming to your church, then you will not have an income. No matter the size of the congregation, churches today are stage-driven and the participants are paying for that show. One of the more ridiculous examples of this is something I call Superhero Landings. This is when you see pastors acting like a Marvel character, down on bended knee, one arm pounding the ground while looking up letting everyone know they have landed. Look at most pastor’s social media posts and you will see them do what I call the Super Pastor pose. They are front and center, demonstratively preaching while making sure to get the size of the crowds in the picture. It’s all about doing everything they can to show how awesome their church is doing. Sell the church, sell the pastor, and hope for more “giving units.” Most of all protect the institution at all costs. Another reason why we just ignore those that have been victimized is described in Psalms. We have become blind, deaf and mute because we have become like the very idols we worship. These idols can’t hear, see, or speak. Idolatry promotes self and pride. Those of us who are church leaders have become blind, deaf, and do not speak because we have become like the very thing we worship. God hears, sees, and has a lot to say about the outcast.

“Teach your church that any form of abuse is NEVER acceptable to God no matter who does it or how important the abuser is. Call your people to holiness in all the corners of their lives.” (Diane Langberg, PhD)