Actress Bethany Joy Lenz Reveals How Childhood Faith Impacted Her Life

Published: January 12, 2024

Actress Bethany Joy Lenz Reveals How Childhood Faith Impacted Her Life

By Movieguide® Contributor

Actress and musician Bethany Joy Lenz explained how her parents gave her a strong relationship with Christ and how her faith carried her through hard times.

Growing up, Lenz’s family was constantly moving. Despite an inconsistent community, church was the one constant in her life. No matter where they ended up, Lenz’s parents made sure the family attended church, something Lenz is incredibly grateful for.

“It’s one of the things [my parents] really did right was instilling in me the confidence to have my own relationship with God…” Lenz told the “Biscuits and Jam” podcast. “In spite of the fact that we bounced around church to church and we were living in different places and it was hard to really dig into a community because we never knew when we were gonna get up and go, I did really feel like Jesus was my best friend growing up – aside from my cocker spaniel. And I did really have this sense of not being alone even though I was an only child and didn’t have a ton of friends, and it made a huge difference in my life.”

Despite the strong, foundational relationship with Christ, Lenz still felt like something was missing from her faith. While her belief in Christ was unshakable, it lacked an intellectual aspect, something she craved. This was remedied in her early adult life when Lenz joined Tim Keller’s Redeemer Presbyterian church.

“I was just really enthralled with the idea that my faith didn’t have to just be a thing that’s all feelings and coffee in the lobby and everyone smiling and feeling good – or pretending to feel good – which is what I experienced a lot of in the evangelical church,” she recalled.

“Going and being a part of that Redeemer Presbyterian community, even though I was 19, 20…I was enthralled with the idea that faith could be intellectually satisfying,” she continued. “That there was actually a space where I could really use my brain to the fullest capacity and that God wasn’t afraid of me asking questions; deep, smart, intelligent, thoughtful, pressing questions about science and faith. And I learned a lot from listening to Tim Keller. And so, his ministry stuck with me for a long time.”

“This man changed my life,” she said of Keller following his death in 2023. “The only reason I’m still a Christian today is because, 10 years ago, after many years of faith being used against me as a tool of manipulation, Tim Keller taught me how to re-build my faith using reason and logic.”

Lenz previously shared that she was in a cult, but her childhood faith eventually led her out.

“I think, at the end of the day, I had faith [in God] before I met the people in this group, and that’s the thing that eventually led me back out,” she shared.

Lenz’s story is a powerful reminder of what the Bible teaches – that a strong foundation in faith in childhood will lead to a lifelong relationship with Christ.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Lenz recently appeared in A BILTMORE CHRISTMAS alongside Kristoffer Polaha. Movieguide® reported:

His favorite? A BILTMORE CHRISTMAS, which premiered on Nov. 26.

“I think is my favorite one so far,” he explained. “It’s like trying to choose a favorite kid. I love the work and I love the characters.”

The movie follows Lucy Hardgrove (Bethany Joy Lenz), a screenwriter tasked to remake a classic holiday movie called HIS MERRY WIFE!

“When the head of the studio isn’t satisfied with the ending Lucy wrote because it deviates from the original’s feel-good conclusion, he sends Lucy to Biltmore Estate for research and inspiration. While there, she unwittingly discovers the ability to travel to the 1947 set of HIS MERRY WIFE! through the help of an hourglass,” Hallmark summarizes.

“After shaking off the initial shock of this turn of events, Lucy embraces this as her chance to uncover the truth about the movie’s original ending. While on set, she and Jack Huston (Kristoffer Polaha), one of the film’s stars, spend time together and become close. But her sudden appearance has set off a chain of events that put the production in jeopardy. Before she can return to the present, Lucy must make things right or threaten to alter the future forever,” the summary concludes.