People in Glass Houses

An Insider's Story of a Life In and Out of Hillsong

Tanya Levin

• Publisher: Black Inc.
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781863957427
• eBook ISBN: 9781921825583
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christianity

The eighties were my formative years, and while other teenagers were gyrating to rock 'n' roll, we were praying for revival. We were taking communion, not cocaine. We treated virginity like a wedding present, not a cold sore.And why wouldn't we? We were told we could be, we already were, anything we wanted to be … We were armed and dangerous. Armed with the power of God and dangerous in the eyes of Satan. Tanya Levin grew up in the church that became Hillsong—the country's most ambitious, entrepreneurial and influential religious corporation. People in Glass Houses tells how a small Assemblies of God church in a suburban school hall became a multi-million dollar tax-free enterprise and a powerful force in Australia today.Opening up the world of Christian fundamentalism, this is a powerful, personal and at times very funny exploration of an all-singing, all- swaying mega church. Shortlisted, 2007 Walkley Non-Fiction Book Award Tanya Levin is the author of Crimwife: An Insider's Account of Love Behind Bars and People in Glass Houses: An Insider's Story Of A Life In & Out Of Hillsong.

ALL ALONG THE
WATCHTOWER

Chapter 15

HOLL ABACK GIRL

In the case of the girls, one watched them turning into matrons before they had become women. They began to manifest a curious and really rather terrifying single-mindedness. For the girls also saw the evidence on the Avenue, knew what the price would be, for them, of one misstep, knew that they had to be protected and that we were the only protection there was. They understood that they must act as God’s decoys, saving the souls of the boys for Jesus and binding the bodies of the boys in marriage. For this was the beginning of our burning time.

And I began to feel in the boys a curious, wary, bewildered despair, as though they were now settling in for the long, hard winter of life.

—James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time (1963)

Wanting to be a good Christian, Elaine always forgave him.

She told herself: this time it’s different. This time he’s really sorry. He even prayed with me! I know he’s really changed and that he’s seeking God this time.

—Dr Margaret Josephson Rinck,
Christian Men who Hate Women (1990)

It started as a conversation with my next-door neighbour. He told me his work colleague went to Hillsong to pick up girls.

‘Is he a Christian?’ I asked, yet another layer of my green skin starting to peel.

‘No,’ he laughed at me, shaking his head.

‘So he goes to Hillsong for the sole purpose of picking up girls?’ I was in shock.

‘Yes,’ he tried to explain, ‘all that music, lights, it’s like a dance party.’

Then Sam de Brito from the Sunday Telegraph wrote about his friend Benny, who had recently converted to Christianity and was attending Hillsong.

‘You could do a lot worse than hook up with a Christian girl,’ Benny said. ‘At least you know she’d be honest, she’s living a good life and, if things get tough, she’s not just gonna bail out but work on it with you in front of her community.’

But it was when Miranda Devine, also in the Sunday Telegraph, wrote three months later that I realised this approach was a common one. Due to the male terror that is arising from this century’s female coldness towards them, the Stronger Sex are choosing weaker women and overtly trying to break the spirit of those who would survive. ‘My friends are seriously considering quitting the bar and nightclub scene and dating girls from Hillsong,’ a young bachelor is quoted. ‘The women out there are mystifying.’

Once again, the winner is Sydney. We have a brand of cheerleaders all of our own. The Hillsong Girls. Don’t Christian girls wear denim skirts and white blouses? Not these ones. They know that if you don’t look great you won’t get (as good) a husband, and that if you already have one, to quote Bobbie, he’ll leave you ‘should the world come knocking on your door’.

Hillsong girls don’t take drugs and go out all night. They are generally financially confident, if not well endowed, because they understand prosperity principles. And they know that boys will be boys, so women must submit and obey. That’s what they’ve been taught. All they need is a handsome prince to place a largecarated diamond on their French-manicured finger.

We all know about Catholic girls and their unique gift to the world of dating. Well, so far Protestant girls have made absolutely no contribution. With none of the raciness of those who leap from convent to coven, these girls have generally stayed unsexy, unappealing and, if you did get to fulfil the fantasy of sleeping with one, you usually had to marry them, and then the sex was bitterly, painfully disappointing. But not any more. Now we’ve got Hillsong girls. Fundamentalist Christian girls with sex appeal.

So here’s the best part, if you’re a boy.

Fundamentalist Christians take the bible literally, so these girls are more than happy to believe that as women, they stay blamed for eating an apple and were created from a man’s side, a rib, an afterthought, a helper and companion. Like someone who’ll pass you the wrench when you’re working on your car.

Most of the New Testament is actually written by the apostle Paul who, in his lack of time for women, explicitly wanted them to shut up and be grateful they got forgiven at all. His letter to Timothy said:

A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Hillsong girls love this approach. They are A-OK with submitting to a husband’s authority. They just hope that when they find the one God intends, they will be acceptable to him.

Their leader in this operation is Bobbie Houston. How to explain the High Pastoress of Hillsong, the Hostess with the Mostest, the Jewel in Brian’s Crown? She has to be seen and heard to be believed.

Before I left Hills, Bobbie was the pastor’s wife, a sweet, ditzy girl. I remember when she was pregnant with Laura, vaguely. No one knows how she got a pastor’s licence. She qualified by nabbing Brian, anyway. That’s how it works in the AoG. That’s why you want to marry well.

Luckily, Hillsong’s female crew know all about it. One of my initial visits doing my early investigations was to a women’s morning meeting where one of Bobbie’s ‘best friends’, Wendy

Treat was speaking. One of the first things that came out in Wendy’s warm-up was: ‘I tell all my single girlfriends: don’t keep your head low and walk slow, keep your head high and walk by.’

My heart sank. I remembered then why I left.

Just this year, American pastor Holly Wagner, creator of God Chicks, recounted to the congregation a vision she had of going to heaven, after she had become intolerant of her husband of twenty-one years. ‘But, Lord,’ she reported saying, ‘I was such a great counsellor and I was a pastor, and I wrote all these books for you.’

‘Bummer,’ God said to Holly. ‘You were supposed to love and support Philip.’

That’s it. It’s your job, and your eternal responsibility. Your life dreams are cute, but at the end of the day it’s all about making his dreams come true.

Bobbie insists that all her ‘cheersquad’ girls concentrate on Proverbs 31, a highly elitist proverb about a wife of a noble character who is worth far more than rubies. The Proverb 31 woman gets up before dawn and serves her husband, a respected man of the city, by doing her chores appropriately. She has maidservants, which quickly narrows down the amount of women who can realistically fulfil the proverb. But not, from what we see, the number of women who are encouraged and determined to try.

Hillsong girls are well aware of how important being a good wife is. It determines what kind of rib you get to be.

Chapter 16

SAVING ALL MY LOVE FOR YOU

If the entire plot of the Old Testament were made into a movie, it could only be screened in Amsterdam. With storylines so violent and obscene, even to preach against them would require an Adults-Only timeslot. The children of Israel make twenty-first century pornographers look infantile and highly unimaginative.

Given the sordid behaviour of the kings and commoners that preceded them spiritually, fundamentalist Christian sexuality is a curious thing. To witness it in its natural environment is Atten-boroughesque: an environment where purity and pathos thrive and reproduce with the most startling of results.

Curiously, though, given this rich history, the sexuality of the fundamentalist is simple and totalitarian. There is no diversity or choice. Your mission, and you must accept it, is to refrain from any sex outside traditional marriage. One member only of the opposite sex, forever. Like the Baptist bumper-sticker about the bible: nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.

There are two exceptions. If your spouse dies, you’re allowed to marry again. If they don’t, you are with them until death, unless they ‘commit adultery’. These days, physical violence is also being considered as a possible third exception, even though Jesus only ever gave the two get-out-of-jail-free cards. No adultery, no divorce.

This is a high standard to maintain, considering recent Christian research shows that American born-again Christians are just as likely to get divorced as non-Christians. Evangelist forefather Oral Roberts appeared on his glamorous colleague Benny Hinn’s

TV show saying that since eighty-seven per cent of Americans were affected by divorce, he wasn’t going to hold this against them. Even considering that it’s near impossible to get eighty-seven per cent of Americans to agree on anything right now, I was still impressed by Oral’s generosity of spirit.

Nobody would take me to the men’s conference. It only goes for two nights and one day, which makes all the Hillsong girls giggle. They know that men have short attention spans and don’t like girly stuff, so you’ve got to keep it short. The men’s conference costs thirty-five dollars as opposed to the women’s one hundred dollars, which is about the same difference as for a decent haircut, I guess.

No one would accompany me to the men’s meetings on Thursday mornings either, despite my longing for the bacon and eggs they advertised as opposed to the raisin toast and coffee the girls were served in the building next door.

The only insight I got into the secret men’s business of the Heterosexual Hillsong Hero was through a monthly email newsletter from the men’s group RealMen, at Phil Pringle’s Christian City Church. In one month, all my questions were answered.

There, among advice about getting sleep and being a good servant, was this:

Men & relationships Men regularly ask what is kosher for a Christian Man when it comes to sex. What is acceptable and what is not? I have read so many books that don’t answer that particular question. They either add to the confusion or create guilt. Let me answer this for you. Sex is about intimacy and men need to know what builds intimacy between a man and a woman.

From a biblical point of view, the bible is silent about this subject.

God created sex not only to procreate, but to be enjoyed (not endured).

So what is in and what is out (pardon the pun). Anal sex is out because of medical reasons. It can damage the anus and the bowel. Otherwise everything else is acceptable, if both parties are in agreement and enjoy the experience.

The subject is far too extensive for me to answer in a few paragraphs, so if you are wanting to build intimacy with your wife through practical and helpful advice, I recommend you purchase ‘A Celebration Of Sex’ by Dr Douglas E. Rosenau. The following link will get you to Nelson Ministry Services Creator site where this and other great books can be purchased.¹As for women, they have not been neglected. Bobbie Houston released a set of three CDs called Kingdom Women Love Sex, but because the public took everything the wrong way again, she has renamed it She Loves and Values Her Sexuality. Bobbie created this series because she knows the topic is important, which is why she reports one newlywed listened to it eleven times.

Being a Bride of Christ has a dizzying aspect for a Hillsong girl. Having a love affair with Jesus is an established expectation.

As Darlene said, you may not have a ‘he’ that brings out the best in you, but you have the Ultimate He in Jesus.

I don’t want to date Jesus. I don’t think that was the idea. All that ‘Jesus is my boyfriend’ music makes me nauseous. I’ve asked people about this continued urging to ‘C’mon, fall in love with Jesus,’ and they refer me to the Song of Solomon, a book in the bible depicting the dialogue of two lovers but mentioning nothing about romancing God. I continue to find the whole thing strange.

Sex is never far away from this brand of Christianity. With stunning boldness, Bobbie says in I’ll Have What She’s Having:

In that movie I made reference to at the beginning [When Harry Met Sally], Sally fakes an orgasm. I looked up orgasm in the dictionary. Now relax, I do know what an orgasm is. I just needed a dictionary definition. Interestingly, it means, height, zenith, summit. Now, forget the bedroom for the moment. Shouldn’t we who are ‘in God’ reach the summit, zenith, uttermost heights in life? I think so! Shouldn’t we who are ‘in God’ have the genuine experience? When it comes to life, let’s not settle for a fake experience, let’s go for the genuine article.²But what if being genuine and being yourself is an abomination to God? What do you do then? What if you’re an impossible princess?

Fundamentalists know that gay men are everywhere. They know what they look like now. They have earrings, a lisp and wear pink. Most of them either have ‘full-blown’ AIDS or will get it soon, so it’s best not to touch them.

The ‘church’ cannot accept the gay man. This is not because he should be stoned to death like the bible says. It’s because he’s the ultimate rule breaker. What about women, though? They don’t actually register as human beings, if the truth be known. It’s all about men in the Christian hierarchy, and a real man is defined by his income and his family. What...

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• DEDICATION
• CONTENTS
• SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME
• PROLOGUE: THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC
• WITH OR WITHOUT YOU
• HOLD ME, THRILL ME, KISS ME, KILL ME
• ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER
• AND THE BAND PLAYED ON
• NOTES
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS