Cowboy Controversy
Charles Spurgeon once said, “A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats.” That statement has been quoted when Christian critics see something going on in church they deem “worldly.” Recently a women’s conference at Hillsong NYC featured people on stage dressed as various characters including “The Naked Cowboy”, a popular Times Square street performer who wears only boots, a cowboy hat and briefs strategically covered by his guitar. The cowboy at Hillsong was portrayed by its youth pastor Diego Simila. Over the years Hillsong Church has been a frequent target of heresy hunters. Therefore, I wasn’t quick to pass judgment on them but hoped to see an official statement explaining what happened. That eventually came from Hillsong founder Brian Houston. As I suspected, it was a lapse of judgment by the conference organizer. Houston pointed out, “He [Diego] was wearing proper shorts, not underwear, and he had a f...