Carl Lentz and His Abs: The True Scandal

The Story That Has Legs Because It Has Abs

(Note: abs pictured are not Carl Lentz’s abs but come from stock imagery.)

When the news first broke a few years ago that Carl Lentz had been ousted from his position at Hillsong, it was one of many incidents that were taking place cocurrently in this pocket of evangelicalism.

Bill Hybels Sr., Ravi Zacharias, Jerry Falwell Jr., Art TerKeurst, and others had all been mentioned more or less in headlines revolving around indiscretions. What I noticed was two things: firstly, Lentz’s case catapulted into supernova beyond what the others did, and the second which is the thrust of this post.

His appearance.

Ahem.

The other stories were not mainstays of the morning tabloid news, and Lentz himself was noticely absent. Yet, the rags went on and on. I do have to specify, however, that I’m writing about Carl Lentz only and not the institution of Hillsong or their problems.

Notably, the issues going on in Hillsong church as a whole were yet relatively or even completely unknown. So, this reaction was based on Lentz and his abs entirely.

What I saw were people writing pieces in praise of pastors in khaki pants, ostensibly pleated in the front, because, you know, that is more holy. Others criticizing what they refer to as “celebrity culture” where being well-known is enough to draw ire when things go south.

A cacophony of voices asserted that less attractive people are best to position as leaders in the church. And since the crowd was so quick to point out that his physical build was the problem, it’s not hard to draw the conclusion that they felt this way prior to his misconduct simply used as a justification.

For what?

Jealousy.

And it rips to pieces other people based on what it wants but feels it cannot have.

No one discussed whether his qualifications to teach were insufficient. In fact, I’ve never heard anything on it. I don’t even know what his sermons consisted of, because so little mention has been made of them.

And his clothes. Big feelings there.

Okay, so let’s break this down. You feel he’s good-looking. And dresses stylish. I have news for everyone. Men in khakis mess up all the time. They do horrid things. Commit crimes. Things that no one should be doing. Just because it doesn’t make anyone feel a certain way does not make them safe.

I know someone. She was in the pro-life world when that was still a thing before Roe V. Wade was overturned and everyone lost their purpose (a good thing, I think, but still.) She was beauty and poetry and prose and fluidity of movement where only angry rhetoric and windbags previously presided.

And when she was thrown out and falsely accused, the accusers stood by and collectively tore her to shreds. They were like Edward Norton in Fight Club displaying abhorrent violence before walking away and saying, “I just wanted to destroy something beautiful”.

We use the sins the accused is charged with as exuse to unleash on them carte blanche the hatred of a thousand repressed Cinderella’s stepsisters. We point and say we caught the offender in the act of adultery, SO STONE HIM. SET HER ON FIRE. Well now, not so fast. What is it to you? “What say you, Jesus?” Let’s not ask him. Or maybe we should. If you are without sin, you can throw the first stone, and make it a good one. Make it really count.

Notice whose sin Jesus addresses first.

We think we’re immune to the particular hazards of destroying the beautiful if we are not ourselves so, but is the team sport of gathering into the Coliseum to watch one get fed to proverbial lions with human hair, skin, faces, and teeth really Christian?

Does it preserve holiness to expel frustration in this way, and does it leave others safe? We say we resent how purity culture pits us, one against the other, and relentlessly examines our bodies, putting them in categories of lustful, shameful, unattractive, and so forth — and we do. Rightfully.

But it’s been sanctioned — church sanctioned — by the collective while others munch popcorn as spectators to today’s entertainment. These are real lives and leaves those at any level of ministry subject to the horrors when others’ jealousy is leveled at us, using words as weapons, pink slips as rocks; total annihilation is the result. And yes, sometimes even death.

We already eat our pastors in a gruesome cycle that sees suicides on a rotation as a regular matter of course. Oh, you didn’t think it would get this heavy, did you? It was all in good fun, or was it? No. When your livelihood is gone and you are shamed and put on national TV or outsted from your small church community, as the result of exile or the pressure to appear perfect so that that does not happen is intense.

And it does kill.

Make no mistake that.

Let me tell you a story.

There once was a man with fantastic abs. A sculptor even made a beautiful image of him of marble that people venerate in large numbers. He was ruddy, excelling in pulchritude above that of his peers. And he fought off a giant using just a sling and smooth stones from the river, so great was his faith in God.

And one day, after becoming king, he messed up. As in bad. Really bad. There was no excuse for it. God would punish him. And he had committed a series of indisrections before taking another man’s life.

In confronting him, the prophet Nathan did not once mention his beauty or that he had once danced naked in the streets. No words about his silken skin or gorgeous eyelashes was mentioned. Why?

Because his behavior and restoration was what mattered before God. Still is. Nothing has changed. A fine set of abs may reveal the ugliness inside the human heart that no exercise regime can cure.

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xoxo,

Rosa

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About the Author

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Rosa A. Hopkins has hosted radio shows on 11 Christian stations, is a writer of gospel songs, has promoted Heartbeat legislation, and is a singer and songwriter. Her writings can also be found on her Facebook page. Join 28,000 other readers here.