A few years ago, I wrote a blog post discussing Carl Lentz, the former pastor of Hillsong, NY and famously the pastor of celebrities like Justin Bieber. While I found a lot of the hipster pastor look pretty silly and didn’t like a lot of his teaching, I also tried to be gracious and not just dismiss his ministry out of hand, as I hoped he was still reaching people for Jesus. Unfortunately, it recently came out that Lentz had been having an adulterous affair, so he was fired. It’s another reminder that nobody is above sinning badly and Christians need to be careful with their boundaries with the opposite sex.
It’s also a reminder that we can only go so far in making Christianity “hip” to the world. Lentz was the quintessential hipster pastor, and his approach was clearly to be as relatable as possible to the culture. That was reflected in not only his behavior but also his teaching. There is real value in being culturally aware and being willing to engage with the world, but there will always be a limit to how much Christianity can be made “relevant” because our faith by its very nature requires us to be set apart. When we try too hard to be accepted by the culture, we risk slipping into compromise in both doctrine and practice.
The ironic part is that many people in the world view Christians and pastors like Carl Lentz with skepticism and contempt anyway. Popular podcaster Joe Rogan ridiculed Lentz when he talked about how Lentz dressed in provocative ways or gobbled up the fame that came with associating with celebrities. What Rogan illustrates is that the quest to be liked and accepted by the culture may very well be a fruitless one. While many people (including Christians) are able to push through a good deal of cognitive dissonance that comes with trying to marry the ways of the world with Christianity, there’s also a lot of people who see the conflict clearly and just don’t buy it.
A pastor once said that you can never make the Gospel cool enough for the world. At the end of the day, the message will be about how men are mired in sin, how the only hope is God’s grace in Christ and not our own merit, and how God calls us to holiness. None of those things are popular to the world, and they never will be. Though the Gospel is indeed good news, people who are in darkness hate the light (John 3:19-20). If we’re going to be hated and derided by the world, it might as well be because we are obvious, passionate, and biblically centered followers of Jesus, not because we send conflicting messages in a vain attempt to gain acceptance and popularity. -Isak Lee
One Light Church 