“And we know; we’ve been a part of that church our whole lives, so I can tell you for sure that never once has anybody ever been held with an inability to leave whenever they want,” Lentz said.
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Acknowledging Leadership Issues and Misperceptions
“I think that some of the leadership is heavy-handed,” Lentz admitted. “I think that’s something that everybody has learned. And it can be perceived in a way that can feel culty.”
Lentz did concede that “there are definitely culty things that develop in churches that we have to be aware of.”
“Sometimes it’s unintentional. Sometimes it’s funny,” he added, going on to cite instances when members of a congregation all dress similarly or listen to the same music.
“But the heart of that question is probably more serious. And the answer’s no,” Lentz said. “The heartbeat of Hillsong Church is always to point people to who Jesus is, and I stand by that. There’s absolutely no equivocation needed.”
Lentz went on to express that when people make the case that Hillsong Church is a cult, “it devalues the real pain and the real scared elements of what real cults do.”
“Hillsong Church is just a messy church,” Lentz added. “And it just went through a really, really, really rough season of upheaval.”
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