Andy Stanley (andystanley.com) is the pastor of the Southern Baptist Church, North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia (northpoint.org), which he founded in 1995. It has expanded into multiple campuses around the area. He is the son of the well-known pastor, Charles Stanley. Andy Stanley has written numerous books and is a frequent speaker at different conferences. He was born on May 16, 1958, is married to Sandra Stanley, and has three children Allison, Garrett, and Andrew.

Good

The website https://northpoint.org/church-overview correctly asserts the inspiration of Scripture, the Trinity, the deity of Christ, that all people are created in God’s image, that salvation is only found by faith in Jesus. It’s all good stuff. I wish it were more detailed, but it is basic and sufficient.

Perhaps the most important thing that is good is that he preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ. People are saved by hearing the message of the crucifixion of Christ, justification by faith alone in Christ, as well as Christ’s resurrection. In this, Andy Stanley preaches the true gospel. He says, “…the Bible is without error in everything it affirms.” (https://outreachmagazine.com/features/19900-the-bible-says-so.html)

Bad

1) No staff page at his website.

What I found problematic at the nortpoint.org site was there wasn’t a page that listed the staff. I find this to be very important because I want to know if there are women pastors and elders. Automatically if the church has women pastors and elders, then it is not biblical, and Christians should avoid it. So, I always check their staff pages, but I could not find anything on their website. I emailed them on 2/9/2022, inquiring about a list of their staff members. After ten days, at the time of releasing this article, I had received no response.

When I searched on the web about Andy Stanley, I found a lot of sites that were critical of him. I read through much of their material. I’m not looking to find every nook and cranny of heresy that might be implied by poorly written or insufficiently stated ideas from Andy Stanley. After all, no one is perfect, and we need to be gracious as Christians.

In fact, I am sure that people could find problems with many of the things I’ve said and written, especially if people take them out of context.

Nevertheless, after going through some of his material, here are a few troubling things worth mentioning.

2) Questionable teachings in his books

In his book, Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World, he said the following.

“I recently read a blog by a former worship leader who left the faith after she read a book ‘proving’ contradictions in the Bible. Apparently, she grew up believing the foundation of our faith is a non-contradicting book. It’s not.” (Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2018, p. 18, underline added)

This is a problem. He is saying the foundation of our faith is not a “contradicting Bible.” So, does he imply that the Bible does have contradictions? It seems so. Then on what basis does he justify the inspiration of Scripture? And if the Bible has contradictions, which I do not grant is true, then how can he justify believing what it says? In my opinion, this statement undermines the sufficiency of Scripture and this is dangerous.

“Jesus stepped into history to introduce something new. He didn’t come to Jerusalem offering a new version of an old thing or an update to an existing thing. He didn’t come to make something better. Jesus was sent by the Father to introduce something entirely new. People gathered by the thousands to listen. To see. To experience. Read the Gospel of Mark and circle the word crowd. There’s a crowd in practically every chapter.” (Irresistible, p. 20)

This is not correct. Jesus didn’t introduce something new. He introduced himself as the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures. He said in John 5:39, “you search the Scriptures because in them you think you have eternal life but it is these that bear witness of me.”  He was referring to the Old Testament. Therefore, the Old Testament is about Jesus. New Testament teachings might be a more full revelation but are not new.

3) Not Condemning Homosexuality

I always try and find primary resources to see if what is said by others about a person is true. Such is the case with a comment that Stanley made in a sermon on April 15, 2012, “When Gracie Met Truthy.” I searched for the original sermon, but could not find it. I suspect that Stanley took it down, but I don’t know. Regarding a sermon preached on 4/15/2012 called “When Gracie Met Truthy,” a particularly troubling omission occurred. This was pointed out by many at the time it was released. Here are three of the references.

• “concerns over a recent message preached by Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Ga. As he described the account of a gay couple, Stanley mentioned the sin of adultery (one partner was still married to his wife) but did not affirm the sinfulness of homosexuality.” (https://www.apprising.org/2012/05/05/homosexuality-megachurches-and-andy-stanley, underline added.)
• “Megachurch pastor Andy Stanley is being criticized for a recent sermon illustration involving a gay couple in which Stanley labeled adultery, but not homosexuality, a sin.” (https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/andy-stanleys-stance-on-homosexuality-questioned)
• “In his sermon, Andy made no mention about whether or not these men were sinning by engaging in a homosexual relationship.” (https://www.christianpost.com/news/andy-stanley-didnt-leave-any-wiggle-room.html)

Obviously, this is a great concern. We must preach God’s truth and loving address other peoples’ sins. Homosexuality is a sin, and all true preachers of God’s word should acknowledge it.

4) Eyes off the Bible?

We need to be careful how we word things. This is especially true of public figures when they speak theologically. I grant that different people can misspeak at different times. It happens. But, clarification is always an option. The following quote, as far as I know, was never corrected by Andy Stanley.

“On Aug. 25, 2016, in a conversation with Russell Moore at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission conference held in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention annual conference, Stanley said, “I would ask preachers and pastors and student pastors in their communications to get the spotlight off the Bible and back on the resurrection.”  (https://www.wayoflife.org/reports/beware_of_andy_stanley.php)

What do you think of that? Is this the concern? It should be because we don’t want to take their eyes off the Bible. It is in the Bible that we learn of the resurrection. It is from the Bible that we understand who Christ is and what God has done for us in history. So the spotlight needs to be God’s word because Jesus at the Scriptures bear witness of Him (John 5:39)

Conclusion

Though Andy Stanley preaches mostly good stuff, there are enough things he has said and written that are of serious concern. I get the impression he is moving towards a feel-good kind of theology that is aimed at pleasing unbelievers a bit more than seriously equipping the saints. That’s my opinion.

Take what he says with a grain of salt.