The Curious Case of Carl Lentz Part 2: How Much Can We Mix Ministry and Culture?

A few years ago, I wrote a blog post discussing Carl Lentz, the former pastor of Hillsong, NY. I noted the shortcomings of his teachings and approach to ministry but also discussed the unique breadth of his ministry, as he had access to celebrities and media that most pastors did not (at the time, he had just finished being on an NBA podcast with Bill Simmons, a popular sports podcaster who has millions of listeners). There weren’t many pastors who had the ear of people like Justin Bieber and Kevin Durant, for starters. I ended my evaluation like this:

And so with Carl Lentz, there may be flaws.  There are also seem to be things he does well.  I might find the whole hipster pastor thing to be pretty silly and his theology to be light, but if he keeps reaching people for Jesus, I’ll just hope and pray for his continued maturity and keep my criticism measured.  No pastor or ministry is perfect, which is why it’s good news indeed that it all rests on the grace of Christ.

I try not to be too hard on other ministers I disagree with if I think they’re making honest attempts to reach people for Jesus, so I didn’t think it was in my place just to dismiss Lentz despite my reservations about him. Unfortunately, it recently came out that Lentz had been having an affair with another woman, so he was fired from Hillsong. I wouldn’t call him a bona fide celebrity by himself, but his association with celebrities gave him enough fame that this story was reported in major news outlets. It’s no doubt a sad story because it’s always a bummer when a minister of God falters like this, and it happens all too often. It’s another reminder that nobody is above screwing up and Christians need to be careful with their boundaries with the opposite sex.

In any case, what I want to focus on here is not simply boundaries, though that is important, but the approach to ministry that Lentz clearly had. Lentz was the quintessential hipster pastor: He had the look, swagger, and talk of a guy who was “cool” in the eyes of the world. The approach was clearly to be as relatable as possible to the culture, and that was reflected in not only his behavior but also his teaching, which was… fairly light on deep biblical content (check out some old interviews of him with news outlets like HuffPo). In a vacuum, there is of course nothing wrong with having a certain look; I’m the last person who really cares how people dress as long as it is a modest (though Lentz was not always), and I’d dress up at church with basketball shorts and a T-shirt if I could without getting griped at. There is also real value in being culturally aware and being willing to engage with the world. However, there will always be a limit to how much Christians can be “relevant” and “hip” in the eyes of the world because our faith by its very nature requires us to be set apart, and when we try too hard to be accepted by the culture, we risk slipping into compromise in both doctrine and practice.

On Political Activism and Claiming the Kingdom of God

In my post about how the Bible does not, in fact, teach socialism as many adherents of socialism want to say, I said this that applied to both sides of the aisle:

Trying to claim Jesus as part of one’s political team or the Bible as teaching one’s political philosophy is an easy (read: lazy) way to try to score political points as a Christian, but it is an enduring irritation for people who like to read the Bible in context. 

Now naturally, when Christian political activists are told to chill and put their focus more on the kingdom of God rather than secular ones, the usual response from them is that they ARE, in fact, building God’s kingdom. Their political tribalism is an extension or part of the Kingdom, and they insist that they’re doing God’s work by fighting to bring God’s kingdom down to earth. A host of generic biblical references tend to follow.

As I noted in my post on socialism, the primary errors here are typically that they are not appreciating the distinction between the teachings towards the Church and how governments ought to act in the NT as well as the distinction between the covenant nation of Israel and countries today. Such Christians do not seem to realize that to go from a biblical command to a law or from the Torah to US legislation, an additional case must be made from a well-thought out political philosophy that understands economics and practicality. What tends to happen instead is cherry-picking biblical texts that say something around the neighborhood of one’s preferred political issues while ignoring what the Bible says on other topics that could also easily be justified as a policy with such a simplistic methodology. Oftentimes, all such bloviating looks like is a grab at power, an expression of bitterness, and prideful self-affirmation, despite protestations to the contrary.

What the Bible commands does not automatically mean it should be public policy in a non-theocratic nation. Let’s look at a list of Christian ethical commands, gleaned from either the OT or NT, that are fairly non-controversial for those with a strong biblical foundation:

Premature Election Thoughts

The election is technically not over, but most of the signs are pointing to Biden winning a close victory. Some unlikely events would have to happen for Trump to win, though this might end up in the courts if it gets messier. Once again, I didn’t vote for either candidate, and even if I somehow brought myself to do so, I wouldn’t have had a huge emotional investment in the outcome because, you know, that’s normally silly. I have observed what has transpired with a bit of detachment and amusement, and I’ll jot down some thoughts as things stand now, though clearer analysis of the election will have to wait until weeks later when more and better information is available.

Repost

Change the names. Not much has changed since then. Christ is still Lord and always will be.