An unsettling trend in the church is that men who presume to speak on behalf of God want to dress and act like effeminate, homosexual men. The “hipster” pastor movement is a phenomenon unbeknownst to the early Church and to practically every historic expression of Christianity since Christ walked the Earth. The incessant need to be relevant in a culture that hates God — as opposed to being, as the Bible calls us to be, set apart — is mind-numbing.

While the world embraces such aberrant practices as homosexuality and feminism, pastors — especially those among the Hillsong and Elevation brands — desire so much to be like the world that one would never know that they even claimed to be a Christian if it weren’t for their fame and fortune.

The Bible speaks to this movement and rebukes it wholeheartedly. James writes of people desiring to be of the world,

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James 4:4

The argument is that making yourself relevant to the world will attract people to the gospel. Historically, church-hating people have always argued that church is boring and that they would probably go more often if Christians wouldn’t be so dull.

Of course, this presumes that the God who created us is, himself, boring and humdrum and needs to be, for a lack of a better way of putting it, “spiced up” to make Him more attractive. This is exactly what the hipster pastor movement does. These pastors blaspheme God by saying Christ alone isn’t good enough, we’re going to make Him more attractive by adding our own sugar-coating to the gospel.

To summarize, the movement,

1. Denies that the gospel alone has the power to save,
2. Denies the biblical calling for Christians to reject the things of the world, and
3. Denies that Christ alone is enough reward for believers.

The bottom line, the movement is idolatrous and makes a mockery of God and His gospel. It makes man the center of attention and caters to a world that hates God, the Bible, and the Church. And since the world has embraced sexual abnormality — especially homosexuality — these pastors want to capitalize on this trend by acting like them but still be able to say, “we’re not exactly the same.” It is a way to build a man-made bridge between a gay world and a pure Church. It is a way to blend the culture with the things of Christ, destroying every semblance of God’s glory in His commandment to remain pure and undefiled.

It is an expression of spiritual death that denies the God-given life and desire to stand apart from the world and live by the Spirit of God.

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Romans 8:6