Andy Stanley tells Christians to "shut up" / Blames us for unbelief, apologizes to pagans

Andy Stanley’s Claim That Christians Drive Unbelievers Away

Here's a headline from the Dissenter website. Andy Stanley, in his Sunday sermon, apologizes to pagans and blames Christians for them leaving the church. So Andy Stanley actually tells Christians in a sermon on Sunday morning, he actually tells Christians to, quote, shut up.

He says, you're doing more harm than good. And then he apologizes to unbelievers, claiming that the reason they don't believe is it's because of you, it's because of Christian, it's your fault. So is that true?

Do people not believe in God because Christians are so terrible or whatever? So the premise is that unbelievers, and I'll read from the article in a moment, but the premise is that unbelievers, they would be faithful followers of Christ if it wasn't for Christians and the ugly things that they say.

Now, have there been people in churches who have said unkind things or even terrible things? Well, I think that's probably true, but I think that's true everywhere. There's people in the business world, there's people at your work, there are people in school, there are people everywhere who say unkind things.

Now, if it's such a big problem in the church, or is it such a big problem as Andy's making it out to be, I don't think so, but either way, he certainly should not be painting with such a broad brush to just blame all Christians in general.

And then just for a pastor to tell Christians in a sermon to shut up, that's, yeah, wow. What can you say? So Andy Stanley has been in the news a lot lately. His church is going in an open and affirming direction so I think they've been that way since 2012.

There's a video online that really proves that, but this statement that he's blaming Christians that unbelievers, they're not following Christ, they're not going to church because of Christians and the terrible things they say.

Jesus’ Harsh Words for Religious Unbelievers

So here's the irony. Let's see if you pick up on it. Andy Stanley says to believers, he says, if you're not building people up, he says, if you're not there to build them up, then just shut up because you're doing more harm than good.

I would just ask, Andy, that statement that you just made that believers should shut up, is that building them up?

If you're not there to build them up, then just shut up because you're doing more harm than good. If you're not a Christian, chances are it was the reckless, un-Christ-like words of Christians that either drove you away or keep you away.

Or the reckless, un-Christ-like words of Christians spoken to someone you love that drove you away or keep you away that were the reason you decided to leave faith. And if that's the case, I am so sorry.

And I hope that you will look past us and beyond us to Jesus, who, and you're gonna love this. If you're not a Christian, you're gonna love this. So look past us to Jesus, who reserved his harshest words for religious people who were careless with their words toward the people he loved.

Are you building people up?

Because it doesn't sound like it. All right, he continues. Andy Stanley said, if you're not a Christian, chances are it was the reckless, un-Christ-like words of Christians that either drove you away or keep you away.

Or the reckless, un-Christ-like words of Christians spoken to someone you love that drove you away or keep you away. I kinda wish he would just give an example. But he says, that's the reason you have decided to leave faith.

Or if that is, if that's the case, he says, I am so sorry. And I hope that you will look past us and beyond us to Jesus, who, and he says, you're gonna love this. If you're not a Christian, you're going to love this.

So just look past us to Jesus, who reserved his harshest words for religious people who are careless with their words towards the people he loved. Okay, so that's the claim. Andy Stanley is saying to unbelievers, you know, we're sorry, the reason you don't believe is because Christians are so terrible in the things they say.

Which, of course, there are examples of people saying, you know, bad things. I mean, there's always a little truth to every lie. But here's the claim. He said that Jesus, remember, he's speaking to pagans.

He's talking to unbelievers that you're gonna love this, that Jesus actually had his harshest statements, they were directed towards religious people. Of course, that's a half-truth, right? Because Jesus did reserve his harshest words for the scribes and the Pharisees, who, yes, they were religious.

But here's the thing Andy doesn't tell you. The Pharisees were unbelievers, too. It's not like Jesus, he's making it sound like that Jesus reserved his harshest criticism towards fellow believers, that's not true.

The Pharisees, the scribes, the Sadducees, yes, they were religious, but they were unbelievers. Jesus did not reserve his hardest words for the flock, for Christians. Jesus was actually kind towards believers.

He was kind towards people that you might say were seeking, or just were kind of on the fence, or just considering what he had to say. Jesus was actually very kind to just about everybody. The people that Jesus was harsh towards was the unbelieving Pharisees and the unbelieving Sadducees.

And part of that is because they were plotting to kill him, and they were opposing his ministry. So Andy is sort of twisting the truth, he makes it sound like that Jesus was just ripping on other Christians, that's not true.

But it kind of seems like an excuse for Andy to reserve his own harshest statements to be directed towards fellow Christians. So the article says, Andy Stanley's words demonstrate his profound ignorance of Christianity and faith.

Stanley believes that when speaking the truth drives someone away from the church, we shouldn't speak the truth. But when we understand properly, true Christianity will inevitably, or speaking the truth will inevitably drive people away.

Says everyone loves to quote John 3 .16, but nobody wants to quote the remaining part of Jesus's words, directly following it. In his discourse on God's love towards the world, in verse 20, Jesus explains, and this is a quote from the Bible, for everyone who does wicked things, hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

John 3:16–20 and the Real Reason People Reject Christ

So let's just read this passage. John 3 .16 through 20 says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

And people just love those two verses, but they don't necessarily love the next two verses. Verse 18 says, he who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already. Why?

Because Christians are so terrible and they say such horrible things that offend unbelievers. No, Jesus says it's because they have not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. Their unbelief is because of their sin.

They love their sin more than they love God. That's why they don't believe. Jesus says, and this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.

That's why. And then verse 20 says, for everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed. So that's the real reason why people don't believe in Jesus.

So for a pastor to blame just Christians in general, I mean, it's just not true, number one. And number two, if there is somebody in his church who is saying just really uncalled for things to unbelievers that he feels it's preventing them from coming to faith, then he needs to address that within his local church.

But I suspect he's not talking about his own church. He's talking about those other people, you know, like your church, not his church. But okay, let's say there's an example of a well-known pastor who just said these terrible things.

Then Andy Stanley, instead of painting with a broad brush and just blaming all Christians, he should say, it's this guy and here's an example of what he said, but he didn't do that. So back to the article, it says, it isn't the church that is driving lost people away from Christianity, it's the truth.

Lost people hate the truth and do not want to be accountable to God for their sin. What they want is a God like Andy Stanley's God who will accept them just how they are, allow them to continue to wallow in their sin with no accountability and no call to repentance and never confront them with the truth.

The reason these people leave the church is that they love their sin more than they love the God who sent his son to die for sin. And I think that's absolutely true. In John 3, 16 through 19, Jesus says this much.

Conclusion on North Point Church and the Gospel

So more troubling things from Andy Stanley and North Point Church.