Churches Playing Bethel, Hillsong & Elevation Music - My Response to Jack Hibbs "Ignorance is Bliss"

Hello, in this video we're going to be looking at a clip from Pastor Jack Hibbs. Jack Hibbs is part of the

Daystar Television Network. So we've talked about him before, but this time it's not his fellowshipping with Joni Lamb that is in question.

It's a clip that I saw where Jack Hibbs is actually defending Bethel, Hillsong, and Elevation music being used in churches.

So if Christians are listening to Bethel, Hillsong, and Elevation, or if churches are playing their music, then according to Jack Hibbs, he doesn't have a problem with that.

So I'm going to play the clip and then I'll come back and I'll comment. But I just want to say this up front,

I'm not saying this to condemn anyone. I'm going to make an argument and you can agree or disagree, but I think this is an important issue that every church needs to look into, or eventually you're going to need to look into this and address this.

So let's watch. Who are the guys, who are the worship big deals?

Bethel, Elevation, Hillsong, is that it? Okay, so those guys.

Don't you know they, I don't know. Well, Pastor, you should know.

Wait. Are the words honoring and glorifying to God? Am I entering into the presence of God because it's doctrinally accurate?

See, because I don't spend the time to find out who wrote the song, I look at the content of the

English language used in the song, I judge it against my

Bible, and I conclude, that's an awesome song, I'm going to sing it. Oh, but if you knew the lady who sang,

I don't know her and I don't want to know her. My conscience is clear and clean before God, and I make that song a prayer to Him in worship.

And I have total liberty and freedom in Christ to worship Him, because I don't know what you know about that song.

Okay? Now, if you know something about a song that bothers you, then you can't sing it.

You can't sing it. You. But don't go tell your friend that they can't sing it.

Okay, so first off, if your church has played some of this music,

I'm not against you. I'm not condemning anyone, like I said. And please watch the full video to hear my whole argument.

So please do not leave a negative comment until you hear me out, because there's bound to be some misunderstanding of what

I'm trying to communicate. But before I respond to Jack Hibbs and his comments here,

I'm just going to assume that most of you know why Bethel, Hillsong, and Elevation are not doctrinally sound ministries.

But just a quick summary, Bethel is word, faith, hyper -charismatic. Their theology is pretty much the same as Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland.

In fact, they have ministered with both of those men. They are the most clear false prophets in the church today, and Bethel has platformed and promoted them.

And again, their theology is pretty much the same. Hillsong is prosperity gospel, same idea, hyper -charismatic.

The leadership at Hillsong is completely corrupt, totally disqualified.

Carl Lentz, Brian Houston, I mean scandal after scandal. And then Elevation, Stephen Furtick is sort of the new generation of the word -faith, hyper -charismatic movement.

Stephen Furtick totally twists and distorts God's Word, takes

Bible verses out of context, distorts the meaning in nearly every sermon.

Stephen Furtick is a modalist, he has ministered with the same types of people,

Joyce Meyer, T .D. Jakes, Furtick even replaced Kenneth Copeland on TBN.

So if you know anything about this hyper -charismatic movement known as word -faith or word -of -faith, name it and claim it, prosperity gospel, it's pretty much all the same thing.

And it's these groups, these churches, Bethel, Hillsong, and Elevation, they are really notorious for spreading heresy and false doctrine.

Okay, so now that we got that out of the way, what about Jack Hibbs and these comments?

Well, Jack Hibbs is asked a question, you know, what about people who listen to these groups?

What about people, or what about churches who play their music? And essentially, Jack Hibbs is defending that and saying it's okay as long as, you know, if you don't know, then you don't know, we'll deal with that.

But essentially, he's saying it's okay as long as the lyrics are good. So as long as the lyrics glorify

God, then it's okay to play Bethel, Hillsong, and Elevation.

I mean, that's what he's saying. And he's going to take it a step beyond that and he's going to actually accuse the critics of being sinful in a moment.

I'll show you that clip. But his main argument, let's deal with this, he says, well, you know, some people just don't know.

And if you don't know, then you don't know. And I actually agree with that to an extent, except that Jack Hibbs does know.

And he's saying it's okay, because in this hypothetical conversation he's having, or he's presenting, you know, what if somebody comes to somebody and they just don't know?

Yeah, but in this hypothetical, someone is being told. So Jack Hibbs himself, he knows.

He knows. And the people in this hypothetical situation, they're being told. So if they didn't know before, they know now.

And still, this is the problem, Jack Hibbs is still saying that it's okay as long as the lyrics are okay, then playing

Bethel Hillsong and Elevation is okay. But here's the problem.

Here's what I see as the main danger. When it comes to Bethel Hillsong, Elevation, it's the music that lures people into these churches.

Hillsong, the church, is popular because of Hillsong music. You can't deny that.

So the music is like the gateway drug that leads people into the heretical doctrine.

Or as it often happens, when a pastor brings in Bethel music, that is often a sign.

Not always, but often it's a sign. It's a sign that a shift in doctrine is happening in your church.

So the point is this, where the music is, the bad doctrine follows.

The bad doctrine isn't far away. One follows the other. Besides, the Bible is very clear when it comes to false teachers.

What are we to do with people like this? False teachers, Romans 16, verses 17 and 18, tells us to mark and avoid false teachers, mark and avoid heretical cults.

You don't play their music, you don't pay them money, which churches, especially the big churches who play this music, they have to pay money to Bethel Hillsong and Elevation.

So when a church, let's say your church played a Bethel song six months ago, and maybe they didn't even know.

They didn't know what the problem. Fine, whatever. I'm not making a big deal about that. So again, listen to the whole video, don't misunderstand what

I'm saying. But churches, especially churches that play this music on a regular basis, you have to pay to play.

So you need to get permission to play this music, and you have to pay money, royalties, to Bethel Hillsong and Elevation.

So not only are you bringing in their music on a consistent basis, you are actually funding these groups.

So that's really my main objection, and that the doctrine usually is not too far off.

That's my objection, and the fact that Pastor Jack Hibbs, a pastor of his stature, is sort of just giving the green light to all of this.

Now, going up to your friend, let's say, because this is another thing he brings up.

Going up to someone you know, going up to your friend who listens to Hillsong or Bethel or Elevation.

Yeah, I wouldn't go up to somebody and tell them they can't listen to this. You are not allowed to listen to this.

Who does that, right? The question is though, should you listen to it? So this is where people need to hear what

I'm saying before you leave a negative comment. This isn't about telling anyone, whether it's your friend or a church, it's not about telling anyone that they're not allowed to listen to or play

Hillsong. The issue is, as a friend, is it okay to give someone a warning about who

Hillsong is? Or to let your pastor know? Because some pastors don't know. Yeah, I mean a pastor should know, but some don't.

But is it okay to give them information, to warn them? Yeah, don't get mad at your

Christian friend and tell them what to do. And I would argue that not only is it okay, but yes, you should let people know about the potential danger, especially if it's a pastor or church leadership that has just made the decision to get rid of the hymns or maybe the decision was made a while ago, but now almost every week they're playing

Bethel, Hillsong, Elevation, all this stuff. I'm not talking about a church, again, that unknowingly played one of these songs in the past and they haven't done it since.

And nor am I talking about, because I want to be very clear, because you can take this too far and this isn't about a got you or something like that, because I'm not talking about, let's say somebody plays a piano arrangement or I play on my video, in the background

I have a piano arrangement and someone says, well, that sounds like this song was written by this person who did this and this.

It's like, yeah, if you get too strict with this stuff, you won't be able to cough in the wrong direction without being accused of something.

So again, please don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I'm basically talking about, is it okay to warn your friend who's listening to Bethel, Hillsong, and Elevation?

Jack Hibbs is going to say pretty much, no, you shouldn't do that. You shouldn't even bring it up. And it's okay for churches to play this music.

That's what I'm objecting to, not, hey, I heard this piano in the background and that's this and that and this and like, no, don't get too crazy about this stuff.

But this is, at the very least, it's worth discussing, worth examining.

And Jack Hibbs just seems to say, no, it's okay, ignorance is bliss and don't worry about it.

He actually is going to say that in the next clip. Because I don't think a piano arrangement,

I want to be clear again. I don't think a piano arrangement can be sinful. I don't think a grouping of notes together, a grouping of chords can be sinful.

I don't think it's a sin to play a song, even if it was written by an apostate.

That's not what I'm saying. I think we should though, let our friends know when they're getting into this music written by hyper charismatics that could get them sucked into this whole movement.

I think we, as a friend, we're being a friend by letting them know, here's the situation.

I'd be careful of this, et cetera, et cetera, especially when churches are playing this stuff on a regular basis.

But Jack Hibbs, again, he seems to think that this is all fine and he's going to take it a step further and Jack Hibbs actually is going to claim that you are sinning.

This is really why I did the video, because Jack Hibbs goes 10 steps further and now he claims you are sinning if you warn your friend about this stuff.

This is where it gets beyond the pale. Listen to what he has to say. Guess what you just did?

You just perpetuated a sin, you gossiped, you slandered, and then you just abused the conscience of your friend.

That's at least four sins that you just committed to make yourself feel better. Zip your lip, don't sing the song, and if your friend is blessed by that song and they don't know anything about it, then you keep that silent.

This is a personal conviction, personally, your conscience has got to be free when you worship, okay?

That's why you might say, well, look at you endorsing ignorance as bliss.

Hey, you know what? There's a lot of truth to that. Okay, so I totally disagree with what he said.

Yeah, sure. If someone doesn't know, then they don't know. But he seems to be talking about willful ignorance, right?

He also mentions gossip and slander. You hear this a lot.

If you're into discernment ministry or you listen to discernment channels, you hear this a lot.

Gossip and slander. Well, in order for something to be slander, it has to be false.

If it's true, it's not slander. And when it comes to gossip, people throw this term around.

Sometimes, yeah, you could be guilty of gossiping, depending on the details, but if sin and corruption is discovered, then churches need to deal with that.

You don't say, oh, that's just gossip, so sweep it under the rug. Don't talk about it. That's just gossip.

It's sort of like with the Daystar scandal, and of course, we've talked about Jack Hibbs before because he is on Daystar.

He has fellowshiped with Joni Lam, promoted Joni Lam, or defended, or said he was honored that Joni Lam had him on his program.

I haven't heard Jack Hibbs speaking against what's going on at Daystar. That's a whole other issue. But when sin and corruption has been done openly, which is the case with Daystar, or when it has been brought into the light, when sin has been brought into the light, and those who try and defend

Daystar, just for example, and they say, well, it's just all gossip. You're not allowed to talk.

Anyone who's talking about Daystar, it's all gossip. Or you're talking about these music artists who are involved in heresy or LGBT support or adultery.

That's just gossip. That's sometimes a tactic of spiritual abuse, where people, they don't want something to be uncovered, or they want to cover up immorality, and they do it by accusing people, trying to expose it.

They accuse them of just being interested in gossip and slander. Sometimes this stuff is brought out, and you have to deal with it.

But just saying, well, it's gossip and slander, ignore it all, yeah, I just don't agree with that point.

Anyways, I think you're getting the idea here. I disagree with Jack Hibbs on this subject.

Bethel, Hillsong, and Elevation are dangerous movements, and the fact that people get sucked into these cults and the false doctrine, they get sucked in through the music.

So if your church, again, if your church has played a song or two in the past,

I'm not saying that's a big deal. But if your church does play, especially if your pastor knows about it, but I would say, yeah, go and tell him.

He should know. So have a respectful conversation. But if your church, definitely if your church plays

Bethel, Hillsong, or Elevation going forward, absolutely have that conversation with the leadership.

Maybe they don't know. Maybe the worship team doesn't know. And honestly, I think, I'll just say it, and this is my opinion,

I think we should mainly, not exclusively, but mainly stick to the hymns anyway.

I accept modern music, of course, but we need to be discerning. We need to be discerning about the modern music that we're playing.

So if a church is playing this, or a friend is playing this, maybe share this video with them, or share a video about Bethel, Hillsong, or Elevation.

And remember, the Bible tells us we are to test the spirits. This will be my last point.

Just as we are to test sermons over and against the Bible, we are to look at those who are preaching the sermons, right?

So we not only make sure the sermon is biblical, we make sure the guy preaching the sermon is also sound.

Why is music any different? Why do they get a pass? Why do musicians get a pass?

Lyrics teach just as much as the sermon. Sometimes you remember the lyrics more than the words of the sermon.

Therefore, if the song or the songwriter is heretical, why are they not held to the same standard as the preacher?

Something to think about. Okay, thanks for watching, and until next time, may the Lord be with you. Have a great day.