Carl Lentz has reportedly tried therapy, accountability and, for a brief period, voluntarily making everyone at the gym blurry.
The former Hillsong celebrity pastor, who was fired in 2020 after admitting he had been unfaithful to his wife, Laura Lentz, is opening up about the extraordinary measures the couple used to rebuild their marriage. Nearly six years after the scandal, Carl and Laura are still together and have now written Overcoming Infidelity, a book offering guidance to couples navigating betrayal.
Some of their methods involved extensive individual and couples therapy. Others were less conventional. Carl reportedly spent a year refusing to travel without Laura, later kept FaceTime running overnight during some solo work trips so she could see he was alone, and briefly stopped wearing his contacts or glasses at the gym to reduce the risk of temptation. Does fidelity occasionally come at a cost of lower resolution?
Carl Lentz Took 'Avoiding Temptation' Literally
Carl rose to prominence as the tattooed pastor of Hillsong's New York City church, where his congregation included celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. That career unravelled in November 2020 when Hillsong announced his firing over leadership issues and 'moral failures.'
Carl subsequently admitted publicly that he had been unfaithful, writing at the time that the failure was his alone. Laura ultimately stayed. As told in their new book, rebuilding trust was a years-long process. She did not tell her husband she had forgiven him until 2023.
Reddit Saw the Funny Side Clearly
Unsurprisingly, the no-glasses gym strategy proved harder for Reddit to look past. 'I'm sorry but when I got to the part where he wouldn't wear glasses or contacts to the gym to not be tempted, I audibly laughed,' one Reddit user wrote.
Another distilled the strategy into five unforgettable words: 'A blurry booty means no cheating.'
Others found the premise less amusing, because why should fidelity come with a leash and constant monitoring? 'If my husband needs to be blind to avoid temptation, we might as well end it,' one commenter wrote.
Redirecting to a more practical angle, another Redditor had a more immediate concern: 'Hope he didn't drive himself there.'
Carl and Laura Lentz Are Now Offering Marriage Advice
The Lentzes' book is structured around 10 difficult conversations they believe couples should have following infidelity, including whether the relationship should continue at all and whether physical intimacy can recover.
The couple insists Overcoming Infidelity isn't a blueprint for creating the perfect marriage. Laura said the idea developed after women experiencing betrayal began contacting her for advice.
'I realized there is a lane here,' she told the Wall Street Journal.
That particular remark also drew scepticism online, with one Reddit user responding, 'There's a lane here, must install toll booth.'
Whatever readers make of the Lentzes turning their experience into marriage advice, their own recovery appears to have required years of therapy, restrictions and rebuilding trust one brick at a time.
As for the lack of eyeglasses as an infidelity deterrent? That may be acceptable for some couples, but others might prefer fidelity whether it's in 144p or 4K HD.
