A Hill(song) On Which to Die

The contrast is striking. Brian Houston, lead pastor of Hillsong, tells The New York Times that his church is in “an ongoing conversation” about homosexuality and same-sex marriage. This might sound cryptic to Houston, but its code has long since been deciphered. “Ongoing conversation” almost certainly refers to a change that has already happened, not one that is to come. The “conversation” meme was co-opted several years ago by the Emergent Church movement to intitate gradual theological reorientation without scaring evangelicals away. Houston is, I’m sure, aware of this, and in any case, his interview (assuming he was quoted fairly by reporter Michael Paulson, and we’ve no reason to doubt it) leaves more than one clue that Hillsong has punted on biblical sexuality.

Meanwhile, another Houston is forced to take a stand. The pastors in mayor Annise Parker’s city who were served subpoenas certainly are not wringing their hands about how “the world is changing” on the meaning of marriage, sex, and Gospel. Right now they don’t have that luxury; they must prepare to feed their churches on Sunday morning with the knowledge that their city government has flexed its muscle in their direction.

I imagine the pastors to whom the subpoenas were delivered plan to tell their congregations that the grass withers, the flowers fail, but the word of the Lord stands forever. I imagine that these pastors will plead with their people to stand by the truth of the Gospel and to believe that what God says about Himself, us, and the world is true even if the mayor, the President, and 99% of America disagree. I imagine these preachers will have to be honest to their people about the changing cultural landscape of their country. After all, sanctimonious babbling about “white male Christian privilege” sounds even sillier if your pastor was instructed to turn over the emails you sent him about what the Bible teaches about transgenderism.

A question: Which Houston is displaying courage? Is it Brian Houston, who worries about the relevance of his global, platinum-selling, arena-filling ministry? Is it Brian Houston, who says “the world is changing” as if the world has heretofore been the same since Christ gave his apostles the keys to the kingdom? Is it Brian Houston, who deflects concern over his beliefs by saying he agrees with traditional Christian teaching, but his church may not?

Or, is the true courage being demonstrated by the nameless pastors in Houston, Texas? These pastors sit atop no Christian empire, no Billboard-topping record labels, no record-setting conferences. They struggle in anonymity as their civil authorities single them out for nothing more than adherence to 2,000 years of Christian doctrine. Announcing to their congregations that God had revealed to them a “new way” would let them join hands with those who seek to silence them. Yet they know that the Truth sets the world freer than liberation ever has.

I wish pastor Houston would see that the only relevance that matters is eternal relevance. I wish he would see the struggle of his brothers in Texas and realize that real irrelevance comes when one ceases to strive for the truth. If he is convinced in his mind that God made male and female in the beginning, then I hope he has the courage and faithfulness to steer his church in the direction of faithfulness.

Listen to the words of one of my favorite Hillsong anthems, “Hosanna:”

I see a generation 

Rising up to take the place

With selfless faith, with selfless faith

I see a near revival

Starting as we pray and seek

We’re on our knees, we’re on our knees

Yes, yes, yes. Let the revival come as we pray and seek, not cower to the spirit of the age. Let the generation rise that will selflessly disregard the esteem of the world. Hosanna in the highest, indeed.

[Edit 1: I have read and re-read Pastor Houston’s statement about the NYT interview. Frankly, it doesn’t say much, and nothing that would make me reconsider any substantial part of what I said in this post. I’m not sure if Houston feels misrepresented by Paulson’s reporting; he insinuates as much at first but then appeals to the piece as representative of his views later.]

[Edit 2: I’ve decided to close comments for now. I value the input of readers, but several recent commenting threads have been irreparably hateful and counter-productive. I read every single email I get, so please feel free to contact me with your thoughts.]