Why Andy Stanley Is Dangerous

These days there is no shortage of popular evangelical teachers to choose from. While on one hand that may look good, in reality it makes for slim picking. With anti-intellectualism rampant in the church, the thought of practicing healthy biblical discernment is the last thing on many people's minds. Often what is sought after is the latest popular mega-pastor sermon series to try to make the church relevant and cutting edge. The political correctness atmosphere has it's icy grip on many in the local church community and this causes intense backlash for anyone willing to speak up against error.

This brings me to Andy Stanley.

Andy Stanley has made waves more than once in evangelicalism with controversial statements during his mega-popular teaching courses. Mr. Stanley is pastor of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, a megachurch which is very high in the ranks of the seeker-centered movement.

The reason I say that North Point is a seeker-centered church is due to the clear statements that Mr. Stanley has made in the past. In the sermon series Brand:New, Mr. Stanley stated that he is "all about creating churches that unchurched people love to attend.” In the same message he also added that his "church is way more accessible to people who aren’t really into the whole church thing." He is all about creating "different kinds of churches where it’s more about creating environments… worship services are more like concert venues." Stanley goes out of his way to attract unbelievers into his "church." So what is wrong with this? I'll let GotQuestions.org answer:

God has not been vague on what His church is to be like. He didn’t leave us guessing. He has given us direction on how men are to lead His church (Acts 6:1-6, 14:23; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Ephesians 4:11), the ordinances of the church (1 Corinthians 11; Matthew 28:19), and the worship in the church—it is to be on the “Lord’s Day” (Acts 20:7), and is to consist of preaching and teaching, prayer, fellowship (Acts 2:42) and the taking of an offering (Colossians 3:16). Here, the seeker movement has missed the mark completely with its man-centered focus. When an unsaved person enters church, should our goal be to make him feel as comfortable as possible? When it comes to issues like our kindness, speaking respectfully, or even physical comfort, all who enter the church should be treated well. But the unsaved person should never feel “at home” in church, which is the body of Christ. The preaching and teaching of truth should make him feel very uncomfortable as he, hopefully, realizes the state of his soul, comes to know the existence of hell, and recognizes his need for the Savior. This discomfort is what brings people to Christ, and those who attempt to circumvent discomfort are not being loving. In fact, just the opposite is true. If we love someone, we want him to know the truth about sin, death, and salvation so we can help him avoid an eternity in hell.

Church services are to be centered on God, not man. They are to be filled with God's people, not those resisting God (Romans 1:28-32, Colossians 1:21).Church is to build up the Believer so that they will go out to where the nonbeliever is and evangelize. Clearly Andy Stanley's vision for church is not a loving one, seeing how he starts out with a misguided approach. But this is the least of the issues that I have found with him. This simply shows that his starting point is flawed. 

Andy Stanley has made headlines for years now with his controversial statements and teachings. He rarely apologizes for what he says and almost never brings clarity to the statements he confidently puts forward. This, though, tells me more than enough about him. 

In his most recent debacle he claims that Christianity is not about the Bible, but instead is about an event: the resurrection. He undercuts the authority, integrity and reliability of the Bible to make his point. Regardless, anyone who thinks through what he said should find the fault immediately: the event he goes on about is recorded in the Bible, and if he takes that away there is no other source which to reference. In other words, he makes a self-defeating point. If I can throw out the Bible, I then throw out the only authority which the resurrection is recorded in, and hence I must throw out the event as well!

If by some happenstance that's not the case, I would like to ask Andy Stanley:

Is there another place the resurrection event is recorded that I don't know about?
Did you receive special revelation from God?
Do you think the event of the resurrection is somehow separate from scripture? 
As silly as it might sound, do you think that perhaps it was handed down to the early church on a cloud straight from heaven?

But alas, he doesn't answer these kinds of questions. He does not clarify what he means. 

Therefore, when someone like Andy Stanley says “for the first 300 years the debate was not about a book, it was about an event” along with “Christianity does not hang on the thread of the-bible-tells-me-so," and does not care enough to clarify what he means by those statements, he is intentionally being vague. When he says “the word Christian can be defined any way you want it to be" and argues that the Bible doesn't give a meaning to the word Christian, he is intentionally creating confusion (from Christian: It's Not What You Think).

This brings me to my main point. I serve a God who is not a God of confusion, but a God of clarity. God is not a God of disorder, but of order (1 Corinthians 14:33). Scripture consistently talks about God as a God of peace: peacefulness includes order, clarity, transparency, faithfulness and truth. Andy Stanley intentionally causes people to doubt the use of the Bible. He causes his listeners to distrust the scriptures. Creating doubt is causing people to sin (James 1:6). Not only that, when Andy Stanley teaches a god who is confusing, a god who is okay with doubt, he is not teaching the God of the Bible.

If that's not bad enough, Andy Stanley also has a different reason for unbelievers to come to Christ.. ironic how he is clear about his goals, but not his theology (recall his statements about church earlier), but I digress. He says "even if you never come to the conclusion that he is the Son of God, even if you never see him as the savior of the world, anybody who takes the teachings of Jesus seriously, anyone who embraces the teachings of Jesus, your life will be better and you will be better at life." (from Brand:New) This is clearly divided from the mission Jesus gave us to make disciples of all nations, calling people to repent and trust in the shed blood of Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. Life enhancement is not what we preach because being a Christian does not make such promises for this life. Instead it promises persecution, hardship and suffering for our time here. Clearly this is a different gospel altogether. God's Word has plenty to say about those who teach a different gospel, see Galatians 1:8.

So Andy Stanley is not a teacher any Christian should be following. If you are not convinced by now, I'm not sure what will convince you. If the Word of God is being attacked, Jesus Himself is being attacked. Jesus is the Word who became flesh (1 John 1:14). In a sense Jesus is the Bible, because you cannot know about Jesus apart from the Bible. Jesus uses His people to communicate Himself, but often will use only the words written on a page to bring someone to Himself. Why? Because words of scripture are not merely words on a page. They are living and active (Hebrews 4:12).

It's issues like this when a person's true loyalty is revealed. Are you going to stand firm on the words of your favorite man while abandoning the clear Word of God? Will you defend your favorite teacher for the sake of being relevant and hip while he continues to defame Jesus? If so it's time for you to question where your loyalty lies. It may even be a time to examine yourself to see if you are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). The problem is not with what I have to say here, it is with your motives and the desires of your heart (Jeremiah 17:9, Matthew 15:19). Trust in the Word of God, not on the word of man, and you will not be tossed about by every wave of doctrine that comes along.