It’s not about going after a brand of Christianity, but there is something about Hillsong Church that just epitomizes the Spirit of Excellence and Creativity. I loveeee that.
Several weekends ago, I had the privilege of hopping on a quick flight from Seattle to go to Colour Conference in LA. It was a conference for women of faith that was put together by the Hillsong team, and which was focused on cultivating identity as seen through the eyes of God. The work that went into everything was…wow. I could care less about flashing lights or the little gifts given out, what was so impressive was how the putting together of the conference showed so much of God’s creative nature, that expressing His love and goodness can be translated into graphic design and videography work, into worship lyrics that were written through pain and trials. The attention to detail and the intentionality was really something, from the way the volunteer team was directed, to the little sail boat replica that was made as a mascot to the year’s sail theme.
Aesthetics matter not because we are materialists but because it can glorify God. Church does not have to come at the cost of creativity or innovation! I read Erwin McManus’ book, The Last Arrow, also the author of The Artisan Soul and pastor of Mosaic MSC in LA. In it, McManus challenges the church to remember God’s word that “he’s doing a new thing.” He exhorts Christians that we have a creative God who calls us to make our lives works of art, to take our lives as raw material to form it into something for His glory.
Brian Houston, the lead pastor of Hillsong, is lauded as a visionary by his associates, and rightly so, as he along with an amazing team had grown a little church on a hill in Australia dedicated to making songs for God to now a global network of churches that have revolutionized the sound of worship as we know it. And this network of churches have been able to relate to the youth and the millennial generation to an amazing degree through cultivating excellence in a variety of creative pursuits in addition to music. Just the other day, I received a handwritten note in a fundraising letter from Brian Houston and photo cards of Hillsong’s prison outreach to support the Hillsong Channel. It’s a letter appealing to fundraising, yet the gesture of handwriting and the cool photo cards showing their prison outreach work said so much about their team’s heart and dedication to excellence behind their endeavors.
Our expression of God’s love should be creative, fun, and done in excellence to glorify Him!
