Should Christians be using Music from Bethel/Elevation/Hillsong?
Question 60026
This is a question many believers wrestle with honestly. Bethel Church (Redding, California), Elevation Church (Charlotte, North Carolina), and Hillsong Church (originating in Sydney, Australia) produce some of the most widely sung worship music in the English-speaking church. Their songs appear in hymnals, on projection screens, and on streaming platforms across every denomination. The melodies are memorable, the production quality is exceptional, and some of the lyrics contain genuinely biblical content. The question is whether the theological problems associated with these movements should affect whether their music is used in corporate worship.
The Theological Concerns
Each of these churches carries distinct theological baggage that cannot be separated from the music they produce, because music is ministry and ministry flows from theology.
Bethel Church is led by Bill Johnson, whose theology includes the claim that Jesus laid aside His divinity during the incarnation and operated purely as a man anointed by the Holy Spirit. This is a form of kenotic heresy that goes beyond the biblical teaching of Philippians 2:7. Johnson has promoted “grave soaking” (lying on the graves of deceased revivalists to absorb their anointing), “glory clouds” of gold dust appearing during worship, and angel feathers falling in services. Bethel’s School of Supernatural Ministry teaches practices that have no biblical warrant and that treat the Holy Spirit as a power to be manipulated rather than a Person to be submitted to. The broader theological culture at Bethel aligns with the New Apostolic Reformation, which claims that modern apostles and prophets hold authoritative offices equivalent to the original apostles.
Elevation Church is led by Steven Furtick, who has made statements blending Word of Faith theology with mainstream evangelical language. Furtick has taught that God “broke the law” for love, a statement that misrepresents the nature of the atonement and contradicts the truth that the cross satisfied God’s justice rather than circumvented it. He has been linked to modalist language about the Trinity, describing the Father, Son, and Spirit in ways that blur the distinction between the three persons. His preaching style and theological content reflect an approach in which biblical texts are routinely bent to serve motivational and therapeutic ends rather than being allowed to speak on their own terms.
Hillsong has been associated with prosperity gospel teaching, with its founder Brian Houston having taught tithing-for-blessing theology, and its broader network has been marked by leadership scandals, including the widely reported fall of Carl Lentz and the legal issues faced by Brian Houston himself. The culture of celebrity, spectacle, and entertainment-driven worship at Hillsong raises legitimate questions about whether the model of church they represent is consistent with the New Testament pattern of gathered worship focused on Word, prayer, and the ordinances.
Can Bad Theology Produce Good Worship?
This is the heart of the question, and it deserves an honest answer. Some songs from these movements are theologically sound in their lyrical content. “What a Beautiful Name” (Hillsong) and “O Come to the Altar” (Elevation) contain statements that, taken at face value, align with biblical truth. The question is whether lyrical soundness is sufficient grounds for use in corporate worship, or whether the broader theological context of a song’s origin matters.
There are legitimate considerations on both sides. On one hand, truth is truth regardless of its source. If a lyric accurately reflects biblical teaching, the words themselves are not contaminated by the failings of the institution that produced them. Many of the hymns still sung in churches were written by individuals whose lives or theologies were imperfect. On the other hand, corporate worship involves more than the technical accuracy of lyrics. It involves endorsement. When a church sings a Bethel or Hillsong song, the name appears on the screen. Curious congregants may look up the source. The financial model of Christian music means that royalties from usage flow back to these organisations, funding the very ministries whose theology is in question.
A Pastoral Framework
Ian’s position is that churches should exercise careful discernment rather than adopting a blanket rule in either direction. Wholesale adoption of music from these sources without theological scrutiny is irresponsible. Wholesale rejection of every song regardless of content may be unnecessarily restrictive. The practical approach involves several considerations.
Lyrics must be examined on their own merits. A song that contains theologically problematic content — vague language about God, man-centred focus, prosperity theology, or statements that could be read in heterodox ways — should not be used regardless of how popular or musically compelling it is. A song whose lyrics are genuinely and unambiguously biblical is in a different category, though even then the broader context deserves consideration.
Leadership should be aware of the source and prepared to explain their choices if asked. If a church uses a song from Bethel, the worship leader and pastor should be able to articulate why that particular song has been included and what theological boundaries govern the selection process. Transparency matters.
The broader diet of a church’s worship repertoire deserves attention. If the majority of a church’s sung worship comes from theologically questionable sources, the cumulative effect shapes the congregation’s theological instincts even if each individual song passes a lyrical test. There is a vast treasury of hymnody and contemporary worship from theologically sound sources — Stuart Townend, Keith and Kristyn Getty, CityAlight, Sovereign Grace Music — that deserves to be the primary well from which churches draw.
So, now what?
The Christian’s responsibility is to worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Truth includes the truth of the lyrics, the truth of the theology behind the ministry, and the truth of how the church’s worship practices shape the spiritual instincts of its people over time. The question is not whether a catchy melody justifies overlooking theological error but whether the church is feeding its people well. Good worship music exists in abundance from sources that do not carry the theological liabilities of Bethel, Elevation, and Hillsong. Where a song from those sources is genuinely sound and serves the congregation well, its use may be appropriate with discernment. Where there is any doubt about the theology, the wiser course is to draw from the deep well of music that does not require an asterisk.
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16