Trending News|June 07, 2014 06:29 EDT
Hillsong NYC Pastor Carl Lentz Talks About Homosexuality in the Church
Carl Lentz, the world-renowned pastor from Hillsong NYC, recently discussed the issue of homosexuality in church in a new interview.
"We have a stance on love, and we have conversations on everything else," said Lentz to the Huffington Post in reference to how his church deals with the subject of homosexuality.
Lentz, who is also nicknamed the "Apostle of Cool," also talked about how some Christian people want the pastor to express his own views on major topics that affect the church.
"Some churches want us to give blanket answers on huge issues. Well, my Bible says, be attentive to individual needs. So I'm not gonna make polarizing political statements about certain things in our Christian community right now. No matter who says what, we won't be pressured into giving blanket statements to individual needs. Never," said Lentz preaching a sermon in a YouTube video.
In addition, the 35-year-old Pastor also went on the CNN network to address the rumors that some people accuse his church as being "cult-like" because it attracts multiple celebrities such as Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant and pop singer Justin Bieber.
"A cult is when I tell you what to think and if you think any different, you're gone. That's a cult. We preach the opposite," said Lentz to CNN. "The goal of our church is from the nameless to the famous. Our church should have celebrities, we believe, because we're trying to reach everybody."
However, Apprising Ministries' Pastor Ken Silva expressed his views regarding Lentz's popularity in a new interview.
"This is typical of the cult of celebrity megachurch pastor because to grow their little kingdoms they cannot risk offending anyone," said Pastor Silva, according to Charisma News. "As Christians we must love precious LGBT souls, for whom Christ died, enough to tell them the truth. Pastor Carl, it is not unloving to tell someone the truth; however, it is actually hateful to withhold it from them."