but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. - 1Peter 3: 15-17 (ESV)
Imagine with me for a moment. Imagine that you are a doctor. Someone comes to you for treatment and you discover through testing that they have cancer. But you don't tell them they have cancer. Out of "respect" for them as a person, you just say that everything is going to be OK. Your plan is to maybe tell them slowly over a period of weeks or months. Your hope is if you speak enough about related issues, such as smoking, that they can discover for themselves what they need to do because after all, it's their journey. Then as you are waiting for that person to come back for next week's appointment they die.
Now imagine that you have discovered the cure for cancer and it is far easier than anyone expected. Just a simple change in how they approach their diet maybe. You are interviewed as a medical expert but when the subject of cancer comes up - you take a pass on the question. You do not share what you know and believe as fact that could save everyone listening to your voice. You do not view that as your role. To you that's a personal conservation.
Welcome to the twisted logic of Carl Lentz, pastor at NYC Hillsong. We can get into all of the usual criticisms of Lentz. His word faith teachings have been chronicled already. His celebrity pastorship has already been explored in light of the illegalities of Justin Bieber, a Lentz adherent. We can get into the fact that he holds church in a night club and that a lot of traditional Christianity is out the window. Which would be more acceptable if the whole Gospel was being presented. Instead of all of this we have to again turn to the Lentz public persona, when confronted by media. It is the same problem false teacher Joel Osteen has always had; someone Lentz admires. When you get to be big news and the lights and cameras are on you it becomes too easy to cast the Gospel aside for fear of offending someone. The topic that drives Lentz to abandon God fastest is homosexuality. As he has done previously on the Katie Couric show, Lentz again displayed recently that he either does not care that people have cancer or he is unwilling to be the one to tell them.
Mind you, the cancer all humanity suffers from is called sin. It is what separates us from God. That sin ranges through anything imaginable that goes against God, including homosexuality. There is a cure for sin and He is called Jesus. It takes repentance on the part of the sinner but it is possible to be reunited with our Creator and be assured of everlasting life but without repentance it is impossible. You cannot get to a conversation about repentance without an acknowledgment of sin. Lentz recently was interviewed by CNN and Huffington Post Live; separately. As to be expected from the world media, the subject of homosexuality was brought up both times. Within the answers from Lentz we see a disturbing and growing problem.
"Jesus was in the thick of an era where homosexuality, just like it is today, was widely prevalent. And I'm still waiting for someone to show me the quote where Jesus addressed it on the record in front of people. You won't find it because he never did," - Carl Lentz
At best a ridiculous cop-out, this defense is simply indefensible. Jesus talked about sin and repentance all the time. In fact it was His first message. Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand! Jesus never specifically addressed a host of topics, for example drunkenness. Is Carl Lentz suggesting that because He didn't that the obvious admonitions in the Bible against drunkenness no longer apply? Lentz also misleads by claiming the era was just like it is today. Rome may have had its fair share of debauchery but it still does not compare to today. Even if it did - Jesus ministry had little to do with Rome.
"It's not our place to tell anyone how they should live, it's - that's their journey." - Laura Lentz
With husband Carl nodding agreement we hear this nugget from the Hillsong NYC pastor's wife. I agree it is not necessarily the job of a minister to tell someone how to live. It is however their job to tell people how God said they should live.
if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. - Titus 1: 6-9 (ESV)
Think of this quote in light of the doctor example we opened with. The Bible says that only the Gospel has the power of God unto the salvation of man. Only the Gospel can save someone from the fires of eternal hell. Pastor Lentz knows this and I assume believes it yet he will not proclaim it for fear of offending someone in their sin? That's their journey? Are you serious? What if you had one chance to meet with someone and you chose to not share with them how they could be saved unto eternal life. Then before they could get back to your next service, their life is required of them? These verses from Titus explain what our job is as ministers of the Gospel. It is not to try and attract thousands of people to our church. It is not to try and be cool and relevant to as many people as possible. It is to say thus sayeth the Lord so that some might be saved. While being interviewed by Huffington Post however, Lentz may have have revealed where the problem actually lies.
"Some in the media have wanted us to use our pulpit to have a soapbox for social issues. That is not what Jesus did. There is to much hate and bigotry today." - Carl Lentz
First of, to claim Jesus never used His ministry to preach against social issues is to ignore the majority of the gospels. The larger point here however is the fact that to Carl Lentz, homosexuality is a social issue. He even uses the terminology of the world in claiming that there is too much "hate and bigotry." Let's make something abundantly clear. You either believe the Bible or you do not. There is no third choice. If I believe that your sin will ensure that you spend all of eternity in hell it is love that compels me to tell you about the Savior, not hate. Homosexuality is not a social issue - it is a sin issue. Just like adultery is a sin issue. Just like fornication outside of marriage is a sin issue. Lentz closes his Huff Post interview by citing the love thy neighbor teaching from Jesus. He obviously has missed the point of that verse because he seems to think that loving his neighbor is not telling him he has cancer. Love is not ignoring someone who is dying. It is not telling them everything is going to be OK - it's just part of your journey. That is having utter contempt for your neighbor.
For the record, I do not want Carl Lentz or any other pastor to use their pulpit to rail against homosexuality. He is right that there are too many hate merchants in modern Christianity. Franklin Graham said just last month that all pastors should rail against homosexuality and abortion from the pulpit and he is wrong. What you do is you preach the Gospel - even the parts that make people uncomfortable. You preach about sin and repentance and the need for a Savior. That can be done completely in love. Some will not want to hear it but Jesus said that He did not come to bring peace but rather division. I am tired of hearing the false choice offered that you either preach lightning bolts to the homosexual community or you compromise the Gospel. That is nonsense. You can take a hard line on sin and still love people. Jesus did it all the time.
The problem for Pastor Lentz is he keeps seeking out the limelight from the worldly media. He chooses to go on Katie Couric, CNN and Huff Post Live. Such is the life of a celebrity pastor I guess but if you make those choices, be ready to defend the Gospel you claim to believe in. Be prepared to give an answer to the questions you know are coming. Be ready to take stand against sin and for sound doctrine as you are commanded to in Titus. If you feel you cannot do so, then stop going on television. Stop going on these interviews where you get to look cool and chuck Jesus under the bus. The key verses today make it abundantly clear. Be prepared to make a defense for anyone who asks. I know it is a difficult subject for many. Sin always is. Better to suffer for doing good then to try and look cool by not.
Rev. Anthony.
