Wife of Former Hillsong Pastor Carl Lentz Issues First Public Statement following Husband’s Firing
Laura Lentz, the wife of former Hillsong Pastor Carl Lentz, has broken her silence after her husband was fired for moral issues and infidelity last year.
In her first Instagram post since October, Lentz highlighted what she experienced in this tumultuous season in her life using a picture of several palm trees.
“They are strong, can weather the biggest storms, they always grow upwards,” she wrote, likening them to “freedom, righteousness, reward, resurrection just to name a few.”
She explained that she took time away from social media because “it was not good for my soul,” adding that she has “blocked & deleted more people & comments than I can count.”
“Trolls are cowards, SOME “Christians” are anything but kind, gracious, or loving … but that won’t stop me from growing upwards & getting stronger,” she contended.
Despite the difficulties Lentz faced, she shared that the past few months have taught her a lot about herself and God’s grace, forgiveness and strength.
“I have found true friendships – the ones who have been with me on the mountaintops are the same ones who are with me during my darkest valley!!” she asserted in her post. “I will not forget who abandoned us, but I choose to keep my heart free of bitterness & remain thankful for those that have stayed & loved us. I don’t want to judge others nor do I want to be judged.”
In closing, Lentz shared a powerful quote concerning treating people with grace and not with judgment.
“One thing a friend told me during this time is, ‘I would rather be accused of being too gracious toward someone, over being accused of judging someone too harshly. I want to be known as a woman who sees the good in people & truly loves people unconditionally,” she concluded with the hashtags “#youcanonlychangeyou, #lovewins, #growupwards.”
As Christian Headlines previously reported, last November, Carl Lentz was fired from Hillsong NYC due to moral failures as well as his admission to an affair. He was best known as being a celebrity pastor due to his association with A-list stars including pop singer Justin Bieber, whom Lentz baptized.
“I was unfaithful in my marriage, the most important relationship in my life and held accountable for that,” he wrote at the time. “This failure is on me, and me alone and I take full responsibility for my actions.”
Going forward, Lentz said that he was going to focus on healing and rebuilding his family.
“I now begin a journey of rebuilding trust with my wife, Laura, and my children and taking real time to work on and heal my own life and seek out the help that I need,” he said.
“I am deeply sorry for breaking the trust of many people who we have loved serving and understand that this news can be very hard and confusing for people to hear and process,” the former pastor continued. “I would have liked to say this with my voice, to you, in person because you are owed that. But that opportunity I will not have. So to those people, I pray you can forgive me and that over time I can live a life where trust is earned again.”
The Lentzs have been married since 2003 and they have three children together.
Related:
Carl Lentz Breaks Silence Following Firing from Hillsong: ‘I Was Unfaithful in My Marriage’
Photo courtesy: ©Carl Lentz Facebook
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer. He is also the co-hosts of the For Your Soul podcast, which seeks to equip the church with biblical truth and sound doctrine. Visit his blog Blessed Are The Forgiven.
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