religion continued/amended

I realised that my description of my Hillsong experience was incomplete as early as a few minutes after I'd written it, so I'm going to continue and hopefully clarify it.

First of all, I'm standing by what I said before. I will just clarify, though, that by "played the crowd" I mean that they tried to encourage the congregation to be more excited about just being there, much the same way as the lead vocalist for a rock band would try to get the crowd to shout louder at a concert. They did this a couple of times by asking a question of the congregation, saying that they could do better and encouraging them to answer louder and more emphatically. The reason I'm not keen on that can be made pretty evident if you put yourself into the shoes of someone who's just lost two of their friends in a car accident over the weekend, or of someone who's battling with intense scarring from a recent abusive encounter or relationship, or similar. They aren't going to want someone to tell them to be happy. It's not that easy, by a long shot, and in many many cases it isn't even appropriate. Joyousness on command is different from the joy that comes through faith - one is shallow, the other is deep; one is temporary, the other is permanent; one is based on the immediate surroundings, the other is based in the greatest love, the greatest sacrifice and the greatest hope the world will ever know. I feel a little strongly about this as someone who suffers from depression. You can change the way you feel, but the only lasting way to do that is through hard work over a long time... trust me.

The main reason that I thought I should continue my previous description is that it's decidedly negative, while I actually found it to be a very positive, helpful and even challenging experience. I was surprised by how normal a service it felt, after the initial sensation of cautiousness died down. They read from the Bible, which I was glad to see, even though they didn't wield that double-edged sword as deftly as would be most fruitful for them (by which I mean they should use it more, and should use it in context). They sang with passion and joy which was great to see. Their songs only lack the description of what God has actually done - they say that God has done great things but don't go into much detail. And while I'm on the topic of songs, I get really annoyed when songs say that God has done or said something that I'm pretty sure can't be found anywhere in Scripture. I can find one example, if anyone would like me to. The speaker I found to be convincing, and the message I found to be spoken in the Spirit, even if neither seemed particularly well grounded in Scripture. And they definitely have an evangelistic passion to everything they do. So I definitely saw good things.

In summary, I will definitely say now that I have brothers and sisters in that church and churches like it. However I am concerned for them, because they are on a perilous brink without a guard-rail. They need more of God's Word to anchor and affirm what it is that they do and say, because much of it is at least superficially spot-on, and to correct them in the areas in which they have strayed, and to deepen and strengthen them in faith and perseverance. I would love to see that happen in that church and those like it, and I would love to see that kind of passion supplement the joy and fruitfulness at Barneys.