Carl & Laura Lentz: Overcoming Infidelity and the Betrayal That Ended a Megachurch

'If you're a pastor, you're choosing a pedestal.' Carl Lentz would know. But he still let it all come crashing down.

Carl Lentz built Hillsong NYC into one of the most famous churches on the planet and became the "rock star pastor" to the likes of Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Kevin Durant — until a months-long affair, admitted addiction, and a pattern he later called "not an isolated incident" got him fired, made international headlines, and inspired multiple documentaries picking apart the wreckage. When his wife Laura found out, their world fell apart in real time.

This week, Carl and Laura sit down with host David Sams for a conversation they didn't have to have. They talk about what actually happened behind the image — the double life, the lie of omission, the moment Laura saw a brokenness in Carl she'd never seen before and had to decide whether to stay. They get into the specific danger of putting pastors on a pedestal, why "celebrity pastor" culture made it easier to hide, and what accountability looks like when you can't control the narrative anymore.

Six years, hundreds of hours of therapy, and one brutal documentary cycle later, they're still married — and they've written the book they wish someone had handed them in the middle of the fire. "Overcoming Infidelity" lays out ten hard conversations couples need to survive betrayal: what to tell your kids, how to rebuild intimacy, how to handle triggers, and how the person who did the damage has to show up differently if there's any chance of healing.

This isn't a redemption tour. It's an unflinching look at what it costs to rebuild — and whether it's possible at all.

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