“Well, let me rephrase that. So that’s fair, because I’m not saying thriving as in everyone’s always hunky dory and everything’s always perfect,” said Ruslan. “By thriving I mean you have a functional, stable marriage. There isn’t adultery. There isn’t, you know, a dysfunctional household. And you’re married, you’re loving each other, you’re doing well.”
After hearing Ruslan’s definitions, Lentz said, “I’m not splitting hairs there. I just think that gets murky quick, and I agree with you pretty much here.”
“I just think there’s a moment there when people talk about the qualifications of an elder,” said Lentz. “And I say, ‘Yeah, I agree with it.’ And do you understand if we start breaking that down, what that could look like?”
Lentz continued:
So, this guy’s disqualified because the Bible says this, this, and that. So let’s go to the household. Let’s get real clear here—running a godly household. What’s the limit here? Well, right then because of your relationship, you’re going to make conditions for, everybody does this, we just don’t admit it. So it’s like, “My pastor’s legit.” Really? Well, he’s got a son that’s an alcoholic and he professes to be a different sexuality. “Yeah, but that’s just them going through a trial.” Oh, okay, cool, because according to your definition about this other pastor, he’s disqualified. So how are we doing this, right? So I always challenge people to really, really sit in that. As far as it pertains to me, the Bible’s really clear about what qualifies somebody to be a minister. I think it’s appropriate when you’ve gone through what I’ve gone through to take a lot of time, and it was a big deal. It is a big deal. I didn’t have a small church with a small impact.
“I think one of the ways that I can make amends is to continue to live my life,” Lentz said. “I have no ministry aspirations right now. I don’t have any plans to do that.”
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As for the what the future holds, Lentz told Ruslan, “Who knows…But to me, I think God anoints who he anoints. If you have in your life the ability to redeem some things and get healthy again, yeah, I think who decides who’s qualified is who listens to the preacher. That’s who’s going to decide.”
Lentz explained that the congregation has to “live with” or determine that decision. “When someone says, ‘Carl, are you disqualified or qualified?’” said Lentz. “I say, ‘Can you just let me know what the impact on your life is when you hear the result? What’s the impact?’”
“One of my favorite quick triggers is to ask somebody, ‘What impact is this answer going to have on you?’” said Lentz. “‘Carl, are you qualified?’ So to answer your question, the Bible’s very clear about qualification.”
“How someone gets put back into ministry—I think that’s a conversation for each church to have individually, and it’s a decision for each congregant to decide whether they want to be a part of that,” he added.
