Thoughts on Hillsong United’s W.A.I.T.T.
W.A.I.T.T. stands for “We’re All in this Together”, and the film is really moving.
The movie revolves around the youth worship band United, a product of Hillsong, the Australian megachurch best known for it’s contributions to the Christian worship music scene.
As United traveled the world over the last 3 and a half years, leading crowds/congregations in worship, they developed (amongst other things) a profound sense of how much need there is in the world.
What I love about Hillsong/United is that they never seem to disappoint. They’re entertaining, they’re deep, they’ve got sound doctrine, and they hit the heart.
As the film progresses, they juxtapose the needs they have seen in different countries and regions with stories of those who have given their lives to make a difference in the lives of others.
The movie tugs at the heart because they remind you of the hurt in the world and also gently remind you that you have your role to play in easing the world’s suffering.
They don’t try to recreate anything or say anything new and I think that’s why what they say resonates so deeply. Their message: the world is hurting, broken, and destitute, and the world needs healing and love that can only come from Jesus.
We need to love those who are hurting, free the captive, care for the orphan and widow, and that starts by really loving Jesus. If we really love Him, our eyes will see what He sees and our hearts will break at what breaks His heart.
And we’ll realize that the hurt in the world, the pain that we see as impossibly large is really not for us to defeat. God sees it and feels it and knows it. He wants us to play our part in loving His people in His name in His way and in His timing.
The movie left me with such hope for what God wants to do in me and through me.
Brooke Fraser said in the film “People are not problems to be fixed. People are people.”
May we remember that, so that when we next see someone hurting and in need we would see them not as a problem or a need but as God does:
as his beloved child,
hurting,
scared,
broken,
searching,
and may we find a way to be His love for them.
<Tim>
PS Listen to this song. Think about it. God bless.
Amen! Wish I couldve seen the movie
I woke up this morning even more affected by what I saw last night. It seems like the longer you walk with the Lord the harder it can be sometimes to be affected deeply by something, you know? I don’t think God intends it that way. Just like Joel said in W.A.I.T.T, we see so much need we think, “What can I do?” and we build up walls to keep us from being devistated by the need.
I think one of the things that really resonated with me was the one guy who has been serving in ministry to single Moms in Africa with AIDS. He said, “You do everything you can to teach them to make wise choices and when they continue to make destructive ones, you love them anyway.” It’s so hard to love and care about someone and watch them destroy themselves at the same time, but that’s what Jesus does every day. I needed to hear that from someone else.
Those of us who got to see it were assaulted with the bare truth simplified. I hope we as the Body will allow the Holy Spirit to do the surgery on our hearts to remove all the unimportant things so that we can just get the one thing….the ONE THING…….
Yes! I’m so quick to find reasons not to love someone.
And yet Jesus has never made any excuse not to love me.
In fact, every time I do something to give Him reason not to love me, I realize that He died to pay for that reason.