Carl Lentz has shared insights on whether he is permanently disqualified from the pastorate after driving Hillsong NY into the ground and having multiple affairs , saying he is qualified and open to the idea but has no plans to rejoin pastoral ministry for now.
Lentz made the remarks to Church Leaders, who interviewed Lentz as part of his book tour for his newly released “Overcoming Infidelity: 10 Conversations To Help Heal the Hurt.”
In 2021, Hillsong commissioned a 51-page barn-burner of a booklet titled “Internal Investigation Report Regarding Carl Lentz and Other Matters” that concluded Lentz exemplified predatory sexual behavior for years, including grooming behavior, resulting in several sexual encounters and acts of deviance that he instigated.
These include multiple affairs, a long-term sexual relationship with his Nanny that she claimed was sexual abuse (and which, properly understood, is clergy sexual abuse) along with accusations of hiring prostitutes:
Lentz … described receiving frequent massages, though he would not provide details. In particular, despite his obligations to cooperate pursuant to his severance agreement, Lentz refused to answer questions regarding whether the massages he received were sexual in nature.
Laura Lentz stated that she had ‘hunches’ and ‘vibes’ that the massages were ‘a bit strange’ and that in 2019 the routine of Lentz receiving massages became more of a night time occurrence. Review of Lentz’s text messages showed masseuses quoting Lentz for the cost of massages and also other sexual acts.”
The book doesn’t address any of these; instead, it reduces his misdeeds to a mere admission of an affair and offers vague advice on overcoming the loss of trust and restoring the marriage.
When asked whether he believes he will one day return to the pastorate, or whether he feels permanently disqualified, Lentz, who is working as a ‘Church Strategist; at Transformation Church in Tulsa, Ok, rejects the latter. Insisting that permanent disqualification is not biblical for anybody, he says he has no current plans to rejoin the ministry. Still, he’s open to it if he feels God is calling him to do so.
Question: Do you ever feel as though that you will get to serve or feel the call to serve as a pastor again? Or do you think that because of what you went through, as some people would say, and maybe you even believe that you’ve been permanently disqualified?
Lentz: I don’t believe anybody’s permanently disqualified, so I’ll just say that off the top. Now for my own life, and I don’t even have righteous indignation for myself because I’m good. I’m more thinking of other people that are getting hit with that.
So here’s where I stand on that, man. I feel like the Bible is really clear on what qualifies a man. Very clear. And when we don’t meet that mark, you are rightfully removed. You can’t bring me back the Bible and show me where it says ‘disqualify permanently.’
Like this is stuff men are making up. As long as people own that, I got no issue with that. Like you don’t want someone to be re-qualified. Just say that, but don’t try to make this a God thing.And so for me, it’s more of a question of appropriateness. Like, it’s not like if I come back to ministry, am I qualified or disqualified? I’m completely qualified to do whatever God calls me to do. Completely.
He continues:
Is it wise? And that’s my tension forever. And I’ll hold that. And I don’t know what the future holds, but I know that the damage done by my choices before, I hold those, they’re significant. And to me, it’s an appropriate way to hold it in that, like, if I were to ever step back into a role like that, it would come through a whole lot of prayer, a whole lot of counsel.
I have no plans to do that. It would be at a time where I feel like there’s enough equity now to be able to stand, you know, 10 toes down and let people make their own choice.
I don’t believe that time is now. I can’t foresee when that time would be, but to me, that’s the way I honor it. And I’m not getting back into ministry because I think I’m disqualified. I’m not getting back into that kind of ministry right now, because I don’t want to. I want to continue to build the life I’m building. And I want to give that space and time for people to heal. And that’s my stance on it.
But I don’t, any of the disqualification thing, just show me the money, brother. Show me, show me. Let’s sit down, let’s hash it out. Show me where.
And what does that mean for anybody? Like, there’s some hardcore legalism-type dudes who are disqualified permanently. Okay. That’s your opinion. Great. Hold it. But just make sure you say that, you know, and sometimes guys will run from that and try to make it a God thing.
Lentz concludes:
And yeah, I just, don’t personally, I just believe it. It’s kind of like to me, a doctor. What I did is the equivalent to severe malpractice. So if I ever go to a doctor and he’s about to operate on me, I’d appreciate him letting me know. ‘Now there was a time 15 years ago where I operated on somebody and they died. I’m not that doctor anymore, but you should know.’
In the ministry sometimes we don’t hold it like that and we should, we should. And I’m not judging other people who hop back into ministry, but for me, for my money, no way.
I think it demands a reckoning and you gotta have peace with that. So I got no, I gotta rush on that. I got no plans. Like, I never planned on doing it in the first place, bro. I never planned on being a minister in first place. So for me to sit here and say, ‘never,’ I would never say never to anything, I mean that’s not my life.
You know, I’ve given my life over to what God wants. And if that door were to open, I just don’t see it in my future right now. But I’m open to whatever.
