Pastor Brian Houston of the Hillsong Church has urged Christians to remain true to their beliefs despite recent public attacks on their faith. In an interview with "Fox & Friends," the pastor shared his sentiments on the most appropriate response to recent controversies that have received media mileage because they involve famous people.
"Fox & Friends" asked Houston on what he had to say about Joy Behar's mockery of Vice President Mike Pence's faith, for which she apologized, and Jim Carrey's portrait resembling White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders posted alongside comments bashing an unnamed "monstrous" Christian. Both incidents triggered public debate for weeks.
"I think Christians are an easy target sometimes," the Hillsong pastor said in the interview. "I think that Christianity's always been attacked."
Houston, however, said that he's not affected by people targeting Christians as he believes the attacks are not a reflection of Christianity but rather show what's really inside the person's heart.
"Jesus taught to turn the other cheek, which is a little different than others," Houston further said. "The message of Jesus is stronger, so I don't feel we have a lot to fear. The Church is strong, it's resilient and it's going forward."
In February, Behar suggested on "The View" that the Vice President might need to get checked for mental illness after he said that Jesus Christ talks to him daily. Thousands of viewers called ABC to complain about Behar's mockery of his Christian faith and as a result of the furor, Behar personally called Pence to apologize.
On the other hand, Carrey painted an unflattering photo of a "so-called Christian" that looked like the White House press secretary and posted the portrait to Twitter alongside disparaging comments. Sanders' father, Gov. Mike Huckabee, called out Carrey on Twitter and said that he was a "bigot" and "Christaphobe" for mocking his daughter's Christian faith. Carrey has not responded to the criticisms nor made an apology.
Hillsong Church as considerably grown around the world since its beginnings in a suburb in Sydney, Australia in 1983. Together with his wife, Houston established the ministry worldwide with its annual conferences and TV evangelism. The Hillsong Church choir also became a top-selling gospel music act with its album releases spanning 20 years.
