Pastor Carl Lentz
Carl Lentz, a pastor serving at Hillsong New York City has said that he prefers to use the term “relationship with God” over “religion” when describing Christianity, particularly with nonbelievers.
In an interview with the New York Daily News, Pastor Lentz expressed the belief that the age of religion is now over, and as time passes it will become harder and harder to get new believers to become excited about the idea of it. However, the shared the belief that idea of a relationship with God has a supernatural power that could bring new believers to Christ.
With this motto, Carl Lentz has often tried to adopt more modern approaches when it comes to his church ministry in New York. For instance, Hillsong NYC often held rock performances and wide-screen televisions in its major gatherings. The pastor added, “In church, people treat you like you have to change or else. Our approach is ‘We love you, nothing else’.”
Another approach that Hillsong NYC has adopted was to appear to the congregation as possible. What this means, according to Pastor Lentz is that they tried to talk about very regular things, normal everyday things with the church members, “what it means to be a Christian in New York”. Although the scene at this evangelical megachurch could be rather unorthodox, the pastor expressed that “you don’t have to believe to belong here”.
Pastor Lentz even made a statement in the past that he tries not to bring up sensitive topics such as same-sex-marriage in his ministry because he argues that this is not the example Jesus set for the generations to come. However, he is not the first and only leader to take this new approach to evangelism.
In 2012, spoken word artist Jefferson Bethke had released a video where he talked about why he hates religion but loves Jesus. The speaker talked about how Christianity itself is not a religion but God’s search for his children. Religion on the other hand was the cause of wars and put a shackle on humanity.
