Worship Leader Sean Feucht on Bringing Revival to America Despite the Pandemic
Sean Feucht and his wife Kate Feucht
If anything, the last two years for worship leader and Christian activist Sean Feucht has been a roller coaster ride of emotions. Like so many, the coronavirus pandemic impacted his life in so many ways that it is hard to grasp the blessings that eventually revealed themselves despite the controversial circumstances he faced.
Reeling from his run for U.S. Congress in 2020, little did Feucht realize but God had an even bigger plan for him. He was being called to share the unfiltered Gospel to a nation of hurting people during the global pandemic. Doing so, would mean ramming into obstacle after obstacle as the nation battened down the hatches for what became an international health crisis.
As rights and religious liberties were being stripped away in the name of public health, Feucht knew that he had to take a stand for the Gospel, no matter what the cost. This led to Let Us Worship, an open-air movement across America calling on Christians to worship and pray together boldly for revival.
Feucht’s battles against various municipalities across the land due to his alleged “open defiance to safety protocols” has led to a new book, Bold: Moving Forward in Faith Not Fear (available now) and subsequent documentary called Superspreader (releasing in theaters on September 29th). While the book delves into how all Christians can rise up and move forward from the pandemic, the film chronicles the wild ride of what became the #LetUsWorship movement.
Watch a Trailer for Superspreader in Theaters September 29th:
I recently sat down with Feucht to discuss what it means to live with bold faith in today’s culture, the genuine move of God that transpired during Let Us Worship, and why now is the right time for Bold and Superspreader to be released.
You have a very busy latter half of the summer coming up with the release of your book Bold and then a few weeks later, the release of your new documentary called Superspreader. It seems like this is a big one-two punch for you. Why the decision to string these two projects so closely together?
It wasn’t really my decision. Honestly, when I found out they were doing a documentary, of course, we wanted to be able to share our story but we’re not producing it. So, it doesn’t necessarily run according to our timeframe. However, I just feel like it’s probably (because of) the Lord that these wound up together, at least that’s what I’m telling myself. I think what’s cool is that the book, in writing form, embodies the heart of our story in this season. The documentary gives a lot of credibility to the book, because I feel like we’re not just talking about this as an abstract idea. It’s something that we’ve had to live and it’s something that we’ve wrestled through over the last season.
The book releases first so let’s start with that. What was the inspiration or the catalyst for writing Bold: Moving Forward in Faith, Not Fear?
The book was really kind of a part, (or an extension of) my first book that I released, which was called Brazen: Be a Voice, Not an Echo. That book kind of journeyed through my life from being a missionary, a son of a missionary family, into being a worship leader and traveling the nations and actually following the call of the Lord into politics. I think Bold is essentially the message that I’ve developed in my life through that journey. And it just seemed like, man, God has called us to follow his voice, the fear of the Lord over the fear of men and that voice. That message really crystallized inside of me. I realized how that it was for this season that we’re in, in America, in the world, as fear is running rampant. We’re coming out of a pandemic and lockdowns, tyrannical government overreach, and all kinds of things. Then you have campus culture, and these culture wars that are really raging against the things that we, as believers, really hold dear. It seems like that message was formed and it just came at a really great time where I felt like it could benefit a lot of people.
What does it look like to live with bold faith in today’s culture? I’m sure it is quite different than it was even 10-15 years ago.
There’s such an intensity against absolutes, against anything absolute, right? Anything that is clearly defined according to the Bible, the world is raging to redefine that, whether that is gender, whether that is marriage, whether that is sexuality, or whether that is when life begins. All of these issues that affect us, there’s a spirit that’s raging against them. If you stand up for truth, if you stand up for what’s right, if you stand up for what’s Biblical, you’re automatically going to be cast as a bigot, a racist, a homophobic, and a whatever. I think it does take a lot of courage in this season to just say, you know what, I need to stand on the Word of God, not on the opinions of man, not on what mob rule says, I need to say not what is “politically correct”. I’ve drawn a lot of encouragement from the book of Acts. People will see as they read through my book. That’s what I really draw a lot on, is the parallels to the book of Acts and the early church.
A centerpiece of both the book and the documentary is your “bold” decision to lead a movement of worship in cities across America during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020-21. Was this a classic rebellion on your part or a genuine move of God?
I would probably respond to your question with a question. Were Peter and Paul rebelling when the government told them, ‘Hey, you can’t preach in the name of Jesus?’ In Acts 4, they said, ‘Well, are we supposed to obey you or are we supposed to obey God?’ And so, I think that the church has a history of ‘we don’t worship’ the government. We don’t submit. When the government overrules something that we see in the Bible, we have a call to obey the Lord rather than men. I’ve been in so many unreached countries, persecuted countries, and closed nations around the world that I’ve learned a lot from the early church. I’ve learned a lot from their boldness and their courage. And I think I was taking notes and really putting those into practice when we were told that we couldn’t gather, and we couldn’t worship. To some, they may see that as rebellion. To me, I see that as obedience. It all depends on the context.
This book very much delves into the concept of living with faith over fear. In this case, the coronavirus pandemic. From your perspective, how should people (believers in Christ for that matter) respond to tough circumstances when they are presented? How can we live with faith over fear today?
I think it’s important for us to be grounded in the Word. I think it’s important for us to be connected to a community, a vibrant community of believers that actually believes the Bible. It’s really healthy for us to unplug from the narratives, the noise, the pessimism, the animosity of culture, and the media that really has an agenda. I think we have to plug into the presence of God. We need to remember who we are.
I think that in many ways the pandemic was a trial run in what’s probably going on. And so, it’s important for us to take an inventory on how we did with the test that came, did we succumb to fear, and are we willing to admit that we really missed it in the middle of it. We missed God. It’s not a shameful thing, but it’s to say, hey, listen, there’s going to be another test that comes. We learn from our mistakes and move forward. I know a lot of pastors that are saying, ‘I’m never going to shut down ever again. I’m never going to shut down our building to people that are hurting and sick and need God.’
Changing gears, I want to dig into the Superspreader documentary that is slated to come out in theaters across the country next month (September 29th). It’s a film about how you and your team fought for religious liberty and brought the hope of the Gospel message to a country in chaos due to the coronavirus pandemic. What drove you to step out on a limb like this?
When I looked around and saw that so many people were complying with these crazy orders but at the same time strip clubs were open, casinos were open, marijuana dispensaries were open, and they were deemed essential. However, the church was not. The church was not deemed essential in California. The Church was called to shut down. And we were told we couldn’t sing. And when I looked around and saw what the government was doing and so many believers were complying, I just thought, man, this is a season of hopelessness, depression, suicide, addiction and isolation. If there was any time for the church to be alive and vibrant, this is the hour. And so, my desire was not primarily born out of rebellion. It was born out of seeing the crisis that was happening across America and the need for us to be the Church in one of the darkest times.
You faced being arrested for trying to worship in public. Did you ever think you would see that day come to America? What was that experience like?
Yeah. I never imagined that. That was one of the biggest shockers for me, especially, considering the fact that we were doing it outside. There were some pastors that were refusing to close their church inside and I’m with them. But we were gathering outside. People could social distance. They could do all that. That to me was the biggest shocker. They’re fining us and threatening us. We got fined multiple times by the City of Los Angeles. We got threatened to be arrested and taken away. We were being compared to the BLM riots. The church was coming together to worship and yet that was considered to be a super spreader event.
From your perspective, why is right now the right time for this documentary to release?
It’s the right time because of what it reveals. Plus, now we are in the post-pandemic. So, we can kind of look back now and remember how crazy it was. And remember how, in the midst of that, remember the fear that was gripping the nations. Yet we can also look and see how God moved powerfully. And I feel like it is coming on this side of the pandemic, I feel like it gives us this perspective that maybe many people weren’t able to fully take in, in the midst of it. They were so overwhelmed by fear. Now that we’ve seen that, (we realize) a lot of the science was junk and a lot of the politicians were crazy. That’s like a wholesale agreement right now. So now, we can look back and say, hey, in the midst of all of that, look at what God was doing. It can give us enormous courage and faith. If He can do that in that season, what God can do in our day is something beyond what we can imagine.
What do you hope people remember about the #LetUsWorship years from now?
I hope they remember it as a wild abandoned praise that broke through the heaviness over cities. That it brought unity, that it gathered people in one of the most traumatic, desperate times in modern history and God showed up. I want people to remember that. It’s undeniable when you watch the film. Hearing the testimonies, God will need us if we have the boldness, the passion, and the courage to call on Him. And I think you’ll see that in city, after city, after city.
Watch a Trailer for Superspreader in Theaters September 29th:
