In the early and mid 90's Geoff Bullock was
the Worship Leader in Australia. He was the lead Worship Pastor at the thriving mega-church Hillsong, and the author of classic worship songs like
By The Power Of Your Love and
Refresh My Heart. Everything seemed perfect. He was glorifying God with his music and in return God was blessing his career beyond his wildest dreams. But in the midst of overwhelming success and apparent bliss, Geoff did the unthinkable . . . he walked away.
"Unbeknownst to me, my marriage was breaking up at the same time and obviously there were relationship problems but I was too busy and too self-possessed and too church possessed to notice. And I think there were other political issues going on at the time. Hillsong had just exploded, the church had the Midas touch, and I don’t really think that we were counting the cost of what it really took. I had an inability to say no and in the end, I just disintegrated. I just totally lost my confidence and I honestly thought that when I left, I would slip out the back door and nobody would really notice I was gone...(I)t broke their hearts and to this day there is still real unresolved sadness and a sense of betrayal. And I’m really sad for them but that’s how it was. I feel tremendously responsible that I led them along the garden path of being so incredibly enthusiastic and incredibly faithful that eventually I sentenced them to disappointment because I was trying to fulfil something that I could never achieve...” Geoff Bullock
After Geoff left he was replaced by a little known Australian singer by the name
Darlene Zchech.
I like to call this whole scenario the
David Complex (no its not named after myself). Here's how it usually works: God touches someones life, they use their abilities to glorify him, people are drawn and inspired by their gift, they rise up out of obscurity into the limelight, they are overwhelmed with success and make poor decisions, they fall, they hit bottom, they repent, God redeems them and sends them back out to do his will (only this time wiser and more fully dependent on him). How many times has this happened across the world and throughout history? How many times has this happened to someone you know? Worship Leaders are especially susceptible to this trap and its no wonder considering the highly visible and valued nature of their position. Its always a struggle to keep your heart right before God, and sometimes it means doing the unthinkable like Geoff . . . walking away.
Read the entire Interview with
Geoff on Sitemagazine.comRead more about
Darlene Zchech
We lead off week 007 of Doxas Dialos with a sample of "I Need You More" by Grace Center Worship, an amazing unsigned worship band from Franklin, Tennessee that you've probably never heard, but we're pretty sure you'll love. Then our top agents investigate the issues surrounding the question: who is qualified to lead worship?
