Proverbs 12:9 (NIV) says, “Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food.” There was a recent RNS article titled Hillsong was extraordinary. That’s the problem. Hillsong is continually in the spotlight for scandal after scandal and cover-up after cover-up. Hillsong prided itself on running a “tight ship” on Sundays, complete with the most influential preachers, best music (they write their own songs by professional musicians), and building a worship experience that sets the mood and draws people closer to God. One paragraph in the RNS article really resonated:
“But the problem of Hillsong NYC goes deeper than the scandals surrounding a few celebrity pastors. The problem of Hillsong arises with the desire to be an extraordinary church led by extraordinary communicators and extraordinary musicians creating an extraordinary experience. When it comes to church, we don’t need to be entertained. We don’t need to be wowed. We need ordinary churches with ordinary people doing ordinary work in communion with an extraordinarily loving God.”
https://religionnews.com/2023/06/02/hillsong-was-extraordinary-thats-the-problem/
In Acts 3 Peter and John healed a lame man as they were walking up the steps to the temple. Needless to say, it caused quite a stir among the religious leaders. What happened next is astounding: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13 ESV). Ordinary churches with ordinary people doing ordinary work in communion with an extraordinarily loving God!