Carl Lentz
speaker
537 appearances
7 recordings
3 series
first heard Dec 2024
last heard May 2025
Carl Lentz’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
So I always challenge somebody's definition of even that word. But again, it comes back to the same thing. What can you accept? So being nice is producing someone's continual dysfunctional behavior towards you. You're accepting that. I don't know if you've chosen that, but you're accepting. For me, there are some things I cannot accept. So I'm going to have to not be nice.
I can't accept the way you're talking to me. So I'm going to have to lay this down. And your feelings are not my problem. You're a grown adult. You got to manage those. I need to be honest. And it's a simple life.
I think trust. surprises me about trust. To me, trust is always coupled with being vulnerable. So I think I didn't realize that when I'm not walking in truth and trust and vulnerability, there is an area of me that's hindered. And I think if you need like a word, I don't know if you've ever been in a hospital and those gowns they put you in, they're not very stable. Okay.
So you take one wrong turn and And you could have someone get a view that you're not comfortable with. So you might be having a conversation, but inside you feel a little bit tentative. That to me is what it's like to live a life that doesn't have trust, doesn't have honesty.
You could be present to a degree and you're there, but you'll never know what it feels like to have a sweater on and some pants and stand there in full confidence. Whenever I talk to people who have trust issues, I'm like, you don't really have a trust issue. You have a freedom issue. That's what's really going on here.
So once you frame it like that, oh, my gosh, I better work on my trust stuff because I don't want to live imprisoned by my own lack of anything.
They don't. When people say stuff like that, I'm like, man, you're really clear and confident in your issues. I'd rather be really clear and confident in my gifting and my strength. So some people are experts in what they don't have. And that's a choice.
My honest answer is I haven't thought of that because I can't control it. So what gives me hope is the power to be honest. I can control that. So your capacity to forgive and to trust is actually your business. So what gives me joy and a little bit of peace is rather than, I spent a lot of my life way too concerned about other people's feelings and emotions.
It was one of the things that robbed me the most as a pastor. So on this side of my life, I am not wasting a day on trying to control or wonder or assume your capacity of anything. I want to look over there and be like, how much forgiveness can you give me? How much? And I stop and I go. How much evidence can I give people? You'll show me your capacity through our relationship.
But my job is to provide you with such a freaking buffet of options that if you don't trust me, that's on you. So I do think to answer the question really simply, I think people's capacity for hope and forgiveness are really big because that's how God created us to be. It's inherent in the life of a human created by a very loving God that we have capacity. We desire forgiveness. We desire peace.
We desire that. That's why when you have to reconcile with somebody, there's always like this weird hitch in your step. It's because we weren't created to be divided at all. Those are two really wordy answers for your brilliant question. So hopefully somebody can get something from one of those two versions.
Whatever you're avoiding, there's power behind it. whatever that is. So rather than run from it, especially when it comes to money, by the way, it's why it's funny, a lot of people avoid the budget and the deep thinking and the books because they fear it. So I have learned I can confidently say whatever you fear, there's freedom behind it. So it might be worth staring that thing down.
Whatever you're avoiding, there's power behind it. It's taken too much from me, so might as well go see what's behind there.
So excited to be here, bro. Let's go. You're awesome. It's so cool just to even be around people that are as genuine and faith-filled as you because, unfortunately, it feels like it's kind of rare. So just to be able to see you from far and meet you, man, it's already really encouraging. Can you cover up your tattoos before we finish?
Because I don't feel like God can move in an environment with visible tattoos.
No, I'm joking. Even the dog knew I was joking. He was barking. You looked at me so sincerely like, oh, my gosh. Amazing, amazing work. I love it.
Throw out some names. Um, TD Jake's.
Yeah, I feel like I've been a Christian as long as I can remember in that my family is amazing. So my mom and dad live in Virginia Beach where I was kind of born and raised. And Virginia Beach, Virginia, shout out to everybody on the East Coast. And my parents, they really love Jesus. So over the years, you know, my journey looked like trying to figure out my place in church.
We went to a church when I was in high school that I didn't connect with. And that kind of began my my journey of trying to figure it out for myself. And so high school wasn't really a time where I was, I think, following Jesus like I know is possible. And I always knew that, too. I always was conflicted.
And then I ended up going to college at North Carolina State in Raleigh, North Carolina, play basketball there and. I loved it. I had achieved and realized a dream that was way out of my depth. Like I was not good enough to be there, but I worked really hard and teams always can use that. So I was able to find myself in a position where my eyes opened. And in that moment in college,
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