Cheers and cries

No doubt about it: The Australian worship band Hillsong United has rocked modern Christian culture. It has so far sold more than 17 million albums worldwide and has transformed the way many churches worship. Whether that’s for good or bad is not the focus of the documentary Hillsong: Let Hope Rise, which chronicles the birth and rise of the Hillsong brand. Rather, the film tries to create for viewers the same experience that continues to attract millions of people of various tongues and tribes. It’s not enough for audiences to learn about Hillsong—the film wants them to feel its heartbeat.

Shot in five continents over two years, Let Hope Rise is a compilation of interviews (including one with Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston), historical footage, behind-the-scenes shots, and live concert scenes from a packed 15,000-seat arena in Los Angeles. Producer Jonathan Bock, also president of the Christian PR firm Grace Hill Media, said the movie belongs to its own genre: the theatrical worship experience. The vision behind this film, he told me, was to design a screen-breaking experience in which people in theaters would find themselves jumping up and singing along with familiar hit songs such as “Mighty to Save,” “From the Inside Out,” and “Hosanna.”

In that goal, the filmmakers succeed: It’s almost impossible not to close your eyes and trill along as band member Taya Smith coos, “Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders” from the award-winning “Oceans,” with a scrunch-eyed, ardent expression. At that moment, despite the spotlight shining on her, Smith appears to be relishing an intimacy with God.

The songs of Hillsong United are powerful, magical, and penetrating enough that even the self-proclaimed nonreligious director Michael John Warren (whose work includes Fade to Black featuring Jay-Z) spent much of the shoot trying to understand the profound stirring he experienced while attending a Hillsong service in New York City. Band leader Joel Houston explains that experience in the beginning of the movie: “I really believe that God created music for the sole purpose to worship Him to connect people—the human heart, our soul—with heaven.”

Bock said he chose not to hire a Christian director because he didn’t want someone who “drank the Hillsong Kool-Aid,” instead picking a skeptic who would question even basic Christian speak. But the trade-off is that the movie doesn’t address some of the tougher questions about Hillsong’s theology and delivery that have concerned many Christians, such as: How has Hillsong influenced the philosophy of worship today? Has this church band come to represent a pop culture icon, a “cool” brand name, entertainment for spectators—and what does that mean for Christians today? What are the long-lasting fruits of Hillsong beyond the tears and emotional whooshing-ups in a jampacked concert?

Instead, Let Hope Rise uncritically presents two sides of the band. The first side is what most people see: A poised, hip band in skinny jeans and leather jackets proclaiming their love for Jesus in front of thousands of screamers and criers. Other than the Christian lyrics and neon “JESUS” signs, the performance is indistinguishable from secular rock ’n’ roll concerts. But take out the vapor and flashing lights, and the film presents a second side: A group of individuals with wives and children who are trying to stay faithful and humble in a position of such influence and responsibility that it both awes and scares them.

The weight of this burden is visible in the way the camera captures Houston agonizing over the lyrics to the then-new song “Empires”—and he sweated over the song right up to an hour before his team had to perform it before 15,000 people. “The last thing you want is something you wrote because you thought it was cool, or it rhymed, and it leads someone to think something that is not in line with this,” Houston says in the film, tapping his open Bible.

The band members also show discomfort in accepting praise for their work. When someone asked Taya Smith what people have said to her about her performance, she flinched and quickly said, “It’s not about me.” Then, after some persistence, Smith said fans have thanked her for giving them “the expression to unlock their words and emotions to God.” Her eyes filled as she recalled those moments, as though she’s still blown away by the reach of her vocal talents.

Let Hope Rise will probably not change opinions about Hillsong: Fans will love the group more for their (overused word alert!) authenticity, and skeptics will confirm some of their criticisms. But the movie is about more than the band. It’s about the power of music over the soul when expressed through worship, the connectedness of the global faith community through common worship, and the One who deserves all of this praise. And for that, we can rejoice and sing along.