Andy Stanley Is NOT Preaching! | Pastor Reacts

We had to get Roger out of the house after hearing just the part of the story. I told you. Yeah. I mean, why why wouldn't you do all that story. Or maybe part of your story growing up? Or maybe it's part of the story of your first marriage.

We compensate another relationship.

We compensate somewhere or with somebody we are just about halfway through this sermon and Stanley has not opened a Bible. I don't know what passage Stanley intends to teach from. I don't know what biblical theme.

He's seeking to unpack. I Don't even see a Bible anywhere on that stage. What is going on with Andy Stanley, what is he really doing with his sermons, you know. A lot of us maybe have seen Stanley preach, you know.

Or someone like him and walked away thinking, you know. Something's not quite right here. You know, I mean has that ever happened to you? Well today let's identify what that thing is. Like what's really going on underneath Andy Stanley's sermons.

We're gonna take a look at his most popular sermon on YouTube and I'm gonna identify for you what he's really doing. Is he really preaching. Is something else going on here before we go any further? Welcome to wise disciple.

My name is Nate and I'm helping you become the effective Christian that you were meant to be which entails Identifying good solid preaching as well as avoiding its opposite. Amen, they make sure to like sub and share this one around but only if it blesses you.

All right.

That mean people and we don't think in these terms when we're in the relationship. But mean people without even meaning to they just keep us off balance. We're just always off balance. We don't know what we're walking into.

We don't know how to respond. They kind of lean left and we kind of lean right because when we're off balance what happens. We're forced to compensate. This is why in these relationships. You feel like you're not even yourself.

In fact, somebody may have said to you, you know when you're around him when you're around her when you're together I feel like I feel like you're not even yourself. Why. Because well when we're around these kinds of people we are forced to compensate.

So we're at the beginning of the sermon here. He's framing it for us. Okay, which is what pastors do. Pastors I've said this in the past. Pastors usually will tell a story. They'll provide an illustration.

Maybe they'll read some headline or they're pulling some statistic or whatever is the case to lead up to the biblical passage that they should be spending the majority of time on with God's people. So Stanley right now is talking about mean people.

So.

Let's let's see where this goes. Problem with a mean person is it is impossible. It is virtually impossible to maintain and keep your balance. I'll give you a quick illustration. That actually is a long illustration.

I'm gonna try to keep short when my mom who died when she was 82 and my mom was in her late 30s. She met a young woman in her late 20s that she helped out and they became lifelong friends. Her name is Alice and Alice actually used to stay with me with my sister and me when my parents would go out of town.

So I've known Alice basically my whole life. So then when my mom was in her 70s and basically couldn't drive anymore. And she really had needed some some help at home. Alice would actually drive 45 minutes from her home.

Now Alice is in her late 60s. She would drive from her home 45 minutes to my mom's home every single week to go through my mom's mail pay my mom's bills. Balance my mom's checkbook and just answer any questions and just spend time with my mom which I was so grateful for so my mom Invested in her now.

She's investing in my mom again. It took so much pressure off of me. So extraordinarily grateful. So as my mom in near the end of her life and as she was, you know. Less and less able to take care of herself Alice began to lose her sight.

So far so good. I mean, you know, I've done this before with sermons a lot of pastors do this. So so far, I don't see anything untoward or incorrect or whatever. I am noting that he's coming up on about the five minute mark of what appears to be about a 35 minute sermon so Hopefully this story won't take forever and before long she couldn't drive any longer and she was basically a shut-in in her own.

Home. And then Sandra my wife began doing for Alice what Alice had done for my mom. She would go over drive over every single week. Go through the mail pay the bills balance the checkbook and just answer any questions that she had.

And so she was kind of giving back based on what you know, Alice had so graciously done for my mom. So as time goes by it becomes clear to us that Alice can't stay in her house any longer.

Because technically she was living alone. We'll come back to that in just a minute. So Jesus does this, you know? Storytelling is in line with the style of Jesus and his teaching. If you pay attention to Jesus He tells a lot of stories and they all illustrate something to do with God.

The kingdom of God the people of God the coming of God, you know, are you noticing a pattern here, you know? In other words The Lord and his activity is the underlying component of the stories that Jesus told and like I said as a pastor I would tell stories at the pulpit.

But what I would not do is Just get up and tell any story right. I wouldn't ramble. The stories I told were specifically designed to point back to the Lord and to his word. Why. Well and I've said this okay, but the pastor the preacher at the pulpit needs to answer three questions.

What does the Bible say? What does the Bible mean? And how can we all live by it? Right, and there's all kinds of stylistic choices to make as unique pastors with you know. You know, you can you can go in different directions.

Whatever as long as you're answering those three questions in my opinion, it has to come back to those three questions the reason why I'm saying this is we are five and a half minutes again into it's like a 34 and a half minute or 35 minute sermon.

I Don't know what passage I have my Bible open. I don't know where to go. I don't know what passage Stanley intends to teach from. I don't know what biblical theme He's seeking to unpack. I don't even see a Bible anywhere on that stage.

You know, I mean don't be mean right or the the TV the TV says mean people keep us off balance. That's not something Jesus ever taught. I Mean, sorry, I hate to break it to everybody. Jesus didn't teach that.

The Bible is not concerned with whether or not someone's being mean. Hopefully this is this is going somewhere to scripture.

So about nine months before the process began to get her into assisted. Look at the goal was get her insisted living. In fact Sandra found a place to my house could almost afford it based on with her pension and with her social security.

But there was gonna be a gap. So the goal is get her out clean out her house sell her stuff sell the house a little bit of equity. She was actually he actually even bought some of her stuff put in his storage unit that he said he had which was great now.

He wasn't paying any rent wasn't paid any bills wasn't buying any groceries. Now the house is completely empty. I mean she sold everything and then threw everything else away and just a mammoth, you know task if you've ever done that for someone.

And so Sandra's, you know riding point on this whole process and then we got to show the house.

But the problem is there's you know, we're past eight minutes and This is still the story.

That leaves.

Do the math. 26 minutes to spend time in God's Word. Unpack it appropriately. You know, I mean is there any connection to the scripture here? Let's find out it is so difficult.

It is so difficult to be good to people who just aren't good, right? It's no matter what kind of faith you have in the moment. It is so difficult to be kind to people who just seems like in their heart.

They're just unkind or sensitive to people who are insensitive the golden rule. It just doesn't seem to apply. You know the golden rule do unto others as you would have others. What is it? Do yeah do unto you and this is great.

Until somebody mistreats you. So we're at the sermon on the mountain, right? Is that is that what the sermon's about? We're at the sermon on the mount, you know, Matthew 7. So let's pull that up so I can hear a great sermon about Jesus, you know.

So if we're camping out right here, I mean praise the lord. I'm ready to go. I got my scripture ready.

And it's great until somebody mistreats me or mistreats somebody that I love and for me in this particular story. It's a it's a you know Double-edged sword because I loved alice and I wanted us to help alice but I was watching my wife be mistreated at the same time and i'm supposed to do under roger as I would have roger do Unto me and suddenly the golden rule is out the window.

Now. It's the iron rule. I just made this up, but you understand the iron rule. It's doing others as they have done unto you, right? And this doesn't only feel natural. It doesn't only just feel natural to treat people the way they've treated us in the moment.

It just seems right. It just seems fair. And in fact if I were to go into detail.

Isn't what he just said. Isn't isn't that just an eye for an eye? Isn't that the iron rule? Isn't that just? Lex talionis. Isn't that what he's? Never mind, we're never going to get through this sermon about some of these crazy ideas.

We had to get roger out of the house after hearing just the part of the story. I've told you you'd be like well. Yeah, I mean why why wouldn't you do all that? It just seems right. It seems fair. It seems just it seems.

Seems seems even and then there's this and maybe this is a little close to home because maybe this is. Maybe part of your story or maybe part of your story growing up or maybe it's part of the story of your first marriage.

When when we're mistreated in a relationship and we feel powerless to do anything about it again, we're off balance we compensate. But sometimes we compensate not in the relationship with the person that threw us off balance.

You've seen this happen. We compensate in another relationship we compensate somewhere or with somebody else.

Okay, so this is a good place to start talking about structure, right? I mean, that's one of the you know points of the video here. Uh, because we are just about halfway through this sermon and stanley has not opened a bible.

He's not given any clear passage as an anchor text. I was guessing about you know, matthew 7 here, but I mean he's not. He mentioned the golden rule. Yeah, which maybe we're in matthew 7, I don't know.

Uh, as a matter of fact, let's read it real quick. So whatever you wish that others would do to you do also to them for this is the law and the prophets. Okay, so stanley clearly referenced this. And if you look at what jesus says here I mean this is connected to other things that he said in the past prior to that.

And if you know where you are in the gospels, this whole sermon is connected, right? And we've talked about this in other videos, but let me talk about what stanley is doing right now this whole thing.

We're almost 15 minutes in now. Is is essentially providing a frame for the entire talk. A lot of pastors do this by the way actually, it's interesting because um. You know his comments about you know compensating for the mistreatment of others.

It's actually true. And I I you know, it's an interesting subject to explore and I think you know, this is certainly something that could be done. But the frame or the lead-up or the story the illustration all the stuff that stanley is doing in this moment.

It's it's only the hors d 'oeuvre.

Right.

It's the hors d 'oeuvre that precedes the actual feast the actual meal. Uh, maybe to be more precise with the metaphor, uh, what the pastor can do Is take the time to describe the meal before we feast on the actual meal.

The meal Is god's word amen. But that's where i'm going with this right now. How long is stanley going to describe the meal before we actually eat? Because the longer that he goes on and on and on The more hungry I get for the actual word of god.

Like I said, i've had it laid open this whole time, but we're not going to the passage of scripture yet.

I'll i'll take it out on you because I can't take it out on him. I can't take it out on her. I can't get back at them. I can't go back into the office and take it out on the people that mistreated me at work.

But i've got all this energy i'm off balance and then it's due unto others. It's doing others as someone else has done. And to you so round and round and round it goes and you know what we've all been there at some level.

Maybe not a big level, but at some level we've all you know been a part of this dynamic. So here's the question. Here's what we're talking about. What do we do? I mean, what do you do about the mean people?

Maybe it was your ex. Maybe it's a neighbor maybe it's a boss a sister a sister-in-law and You you're just there's just no way to extricate yourself from the relationship because the nature of the relationship, but they're just mean.

And it's fun. I'll admit it. It's fun to daydream about Getting even but the problem of course is and you know, this is that getting even makes us even Make getting even makes us even with someone that we don't even like it makes us like someone that we dislike.

So what do we do? You can't ignore them, right? That's impossible. And if you ignore them, you know what they do, right? They just keep chipping away chipping away chipping away and eventually we break and we react.

And it's like we've given them even more power Over us so ignoring them isn't the way forward and getting even isn't the way forward. Unfortunately There's a third option. It's a third option that um, it's not intuitive.

It's a third option that actually decreases their power over us. And honestly, it's the third option that allows us to guard and protect Our hearts and it positions us when this is said and done to tell a much better story.

Of course, the way forward is taught and modeled by Jesus but it's also modeled in the old testament by a relatively unknown individual whose life intersects with the life of David now many of us if you grew up around church or in church, um.

Why does his church need such a long preamble? Before opening the bible. Let me back up we are now Uh way past the halfway mark and stanley still has not read from the scriptures at all. This is all one long setup, but.

But the setup must be for. Whatever the anchor text the preacher wants to feast on with his people, right? Again, so let me remind you. And this is kind of the guiding principle for us here, right? The preacher must answer three questions.

And the first question entails actually reading the bible guys. Actually engaging with the text of god's word. I'm starting to think he's not going to do it. I'm starting to think there's going to be no spiritual meal here.

This is all preamble. It's all set up and framing and long stories. For what purpose? Why spend such a long time here? Like I I mean like has his church wandered in from another planet. And they've never heard of the bible before.

They've never heard the name jesus or david before. Yeah, I mean wouldn't that. That's the probably the only reason to even consider taking this long to open the bible on a sunday and. Even then that's too long, right?

Are familiar with who king david was but this event doesn't take place when he's king david or even shepherd boy david. This event takes place when he is fugitive David, um after david as a young as a teenager killed goliath.

You remember that story, um, he becomes a hero a national hero in israel in ancient israel. And so king saul the king at the time draws him in close because david's a leader. He's a national hero. You want to keep your friends close?

You want to keep your potential rivals even closer?

Um.

And then king saul gets word that some rogue prophet has gone to david's home as a little boy and anointed david to be the next.

King.

Of israel. Now this is a real problem. If you're already the king because not only do you want to finish out your years as king you want your son in his case Jonathan to become the next king. So this is now now this is messing with this dynasty.

So king saul tries to kill david. David escapes. Um, he becomes a fugitive. Um, he's living out in the wilderness. He's had to leave his family over time because he's a leader. He attracts other men like him other angry mistreated outlaws before long.

He has his own little miniature army of about 600 men plus their wives and all their stuff. And they're just they're outcasts from society. They have no place to call home and they're all angry because each of them have their own story of being mistreated and the injustice.

That had happened under king saul so and david's got all this anger and all this frustration and of course like any of us he's looking for a place to Sort of take it out somebody to take it out on because king saul is untouchable and in this story He finally finds a victim and that's where the story picks up.

So i'll read part of the story and then we're going to stop in the middle pick it up next time. So here's what happens a certain man. This is the first.

Finally.

After all this time. What is this. 18 almost 19 minutes in finally, we're getting into god's word you know what stanley reminds me of actually he. Um, what's the thing he's the human equivalent of blinkist you ever heard of uh blinkist.

It's it's this thing where somebody else reads a book. And then paraphrases it back to you so that you can catch the gist of it without ever having to read it yourself. That's what that's what stanley is.

He he's the bible blinkist. He's going to read it for you and then just paraphrase it so you don't have to read it for yourself. All right. So let's go to. Uh first samuel. Chapter 25. That's where we're at.

Uh, let's read the passage for reference. So it says, uh, david rose and went down to the wilderness of paran. There was a man in maun whose business was in carmel. The man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats.

He was shearing his sheep in carmel. Now the the name of the man was nabal. And the name of his wife abigail the woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved. He was a calabite.

David heard in the wilderness that nabal or probably nabal was shearing his sheep. So david sent 10 young men and david said to the young men go up to carmel go to nabal and greet him in my name. And thus you shall greet him peace be to you and peace be to your house and peace be to all that you have.

I hear that you have shearers now. Your shepherds have been with us and we did them no harm and they missed nothing all the time. They were in carmel. Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes for we come on a feast day.

Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David so we okay. We have to remember at this point david has been appointed the leader over saul's entire army. He has the favor of the people.

Uh and saul's son jonathan, but saul is seeking to kill david. So david asks nabal uh who by the way. His name literally means good for nothing unbeliever, you know.

Um.

Which I wonder I wonder how he's going to respond to david right knowing what his name means, right? David asks nabal for help. Now watch this. Verse 9 when david's young men came. They said all this to nabal in the name of david and then they waited and nabal answered david's servant.

Who is david? Who is the son of jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed from my shears and give it to men who come From.

I do not know where. So david's young men turned away and came back and told him all this and david said to his men. Every man strap on his sword and every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword and about 400 men went up after david while 200 remained with the baggage.

Nabal's in trouble. Nabal's in trouble. But one of the young men told abigail nabal's wife behold david sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master and he railed At them yet. The men were very good to us and we suffered no harm.

We didn't miss anything when we were in the fields as long as we went with them. They were a wall to us both by night and by day all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know this and consider what you should do for harm is determined against our master and against all his house.

And he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him. Then abigail made haste and took 200 loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared. Five sayas of parched grain and 100 clusters of raisins and 200 cakes of figs and laid them on donkeys.

And she said to her young men go on before me behold. I come after you. But she did not tell her husband nabal.

All right.

Uh, and as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain behold david and his men came down toward her. And she met them. Now david had said surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness So that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him and he has returned me evil for good God do so to the enemies of david and more also if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.

When abigail saw david she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before david on her face. And bowed to the ground she fell at his feet and said on me alone my lord be the guilt.

Wow.

What a statement. Right knowing who her husband is, right? Everybody knows who nabal is, right? She goes and says that to david. What does this? This particular statement 2 in verse 24. What does this tell you about abigail?

What does this tell you about the move of god through this woman. Clearly she is exhibiting characteristics that please the lord. And because she has these particular characteristics Uh, she has given discernment, right?

I mean that's Right. We were told this right there. The woman was discerning. She knew how to discern things right. Uh, which I mean, this is a side study, right? But the ability to have discernment to understand the activity of god around you is Largely contingent upon whether or not you have certain qualities of character.

Qualities that look exactly like the beatitudes. Either that or you know god Especially moves upon you for a purpose. But the point is abigail is not her husband. And she has now put her husband's guilt Uh on her own shoulders.

Look at verse 17 again.

Um.

Therefore know this and consider what you should do. For harm is determined against our master because he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him. I mean Come on, man. Everybody knows who she married.

Everybody knows about nabal. You know what? I mean? Golly, imagine being stuck with a nabal, right? Actually, maybe some of you actually understand what it's like, you know boy. So, uh, she says this to david, uh,.

Please let your servant speak in your ears and hear the words of your servant. Verse 25. Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow nabal. For as his name is so is he.

Wow.

Nabal is his name and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. Now then my lord as the lord lives and as your soul lives because the lord has restrained you from blood guilt.

And from saving with your own hand. Now, then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as nabal. And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord.

Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the lord will certainly make my lord a sure house because my lord is fighting the battles of the lord. And evil shall not be found in you so long as you live.

If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life. The life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the lord your god. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling.

And when the lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you. And has appointed you prince over israel. My lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause.

Or my for my lord working salvation himself. And when the lord has dealt well with my lord then remember your servants, so she's saying Look, I know that you are a righteous man of god. And that the lord has given you much favor one day you will rule.

Please do not respond to nabal in such a manner that puts you under blood guilt. In other words, uh, don't kill innocent people just because my husband is worthless. Be merciful. Uh, forgive us, please and the lord will remember this moment.

Now.

Uh david goes on. So if you continue reading the story david goes on to give Thanks to abigail for her discretion for her wisdom. He doesn't kill anybody. And he receives the gift that she gives him and then he tells abigail, you know to go back home in peace essentially.

Okay, so now that's the story. And I don't know perhaps we can infer Uh some theological threads that run through the scripture and perhaps even the gospels, right? But anyway, let's see how uh, andy stanley handles this passage.

Who had property there in carmel was very wealthy.

He had a thousand goats, you know, you read this in ancient times. It's like for us. It's like What would you do with a thousand goats? Anyway, so he had a thousand goats. He had the car, you know garages full of cars.

Think of it that way. He had three thousand sheep. Um, which he was shearing in carmel and his name his name was nabal. Now sheep shearing season in ancient times. This is when wealthy people found out how much wealthier they had just become.

This was like. It's like a financial report an annual financial report. He's about to find out how much wealthier he just became based on how much um. How many sheep were actually alive to be sheared and the product they had as a result that they could then sell?

So he's again he's about this is a good day. This is a great day for him. He's about again the rich just get richer. Um, he's about to find out how much profit he turned. So the story continues. His name was nabal and his wife's name was abigail.

She was an intelligent and beautiful woman and her but her husband was harsh and mean in his dealings. In fact his his name his name actually means heavy and this hebrew word here actually means heavy.

He was basically a pain to deal with. He was a burden to deal with. He was back to text tells us. He was just a mean person. Text continues while.

So if you have logos, it will tell you you click on nabal's name. Um, and you'll see it means fool. It means senseless godless good for nothing. It doesn't mean heavy. I don't know where stanley got that from.

So we're gonna pause the story there.

But here's what we have so far. We got two characters. We have two responses. And we have no hero, right? I mean we have nabal. We have david. Evil for good. David did good. He responded with evil. David who's about to do evil for evil.

Nabal is somewhat maniacal. And david is about to be predictable. I mean who could blame him for what he's about. To do. And sometimes again. It just seems like evil for evil is the only option. Turns out as I said earlier, it's not.

There's a third option. We're going to talk about that in part two, but here's what I want you to do between now and part two.

I want to part two. Part two like hey Why don't you trim all the fat off part one and just do the whole thing in one sermon? Why do you have to split this apart? Because here's the problem now, you know.

What are what are your people getting out of today? So if you stop and then you say oh come back for part two.

But um.

What are your people like. If you have not answered any of the questions of the three that are the guide for us. What are your people going to be meditating on this week? What are they going to be prayerfully considering this week.

What are you doing to equip the saints for the work of ministry by giving an incomplete sermon?

I'm going to give you four questions to think about and again I would prefer you not to think about these through the filter of other people.

Um.

But just through what's going on right now in your life with the people that are difficult to deal with you may not consider Them mean people it may not be an extreme or it may be very extreme. But I want you to process these questions through the filter of what's going on right now in your life and parents.

I can't overstate the importance of this parents. I think you need to teach these four questions to your children. Because your children are have or will face some very mean people. And their natural reaction like our natural reaction will be evil for evil.

Or to allow that person to continue to control them. And as a parent. This is so difficult to watch and sometimes as a parent. It's tempting to coach our kids to power up to return evil for evil because we will feel better, right?

See these are four questions for us. These are four questions for our kids question. Number one is this. Do you want to be even with someone you don't even like? No, I already know the answer to this question.

No, we don't but our natural response to mean people oftentimes is an attempt to get even with people. We don't even like to be like someone that we would readily admit that we that we dislike. And again, we think somehow once we get even that ends it but that doesn't end it right.

That doesn't end the cycle. It actually perpetuates it. Um recently I heard Jamie Dickens say it's not evil for evil. It just becomes evil for evil for evil for evil for evil for evil. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so.

He's ending with four questions. Okay. I got it. I actually i've seen enough i've seen enough.

Look.

Um, I mean, there's only what there's only uh, a couple minutes left here. Here's what stanley did on that stage in a nutshell. He told stories for more than half the sermon. The majority of that time on stage was stories.

The stories were meant to set up the passage that he wanted to preach from which is 1 samuel 25. We only learned that like way later, but once the passage was identified instead of reading it. He started telling another story about it.

Then he finally started getting to the actual verses and read a few of them and then stopped and said come back next week guys. Did I miss anything like is that was that it? So he spent the whole time partially answering the first question of the preacher right remember what does the bible say?

Didn't even get through the full passage. Certainly didn't get to the second question or the third. And like I said, I mean now the congregation what are they going to do? They're going to get up and go back to their lives throughout the rest of the week.

How are they going to be equipped for the work of ministry? Based on what stanley has done. How are they going to live up to the description that paul gives in ephesians 4? Look at this. Uh, this is verse 11.

He gave the apostles the prophets the evangelists the shepherds and teachers. The shepherds and teachers. To equip the saints for the work of ministry. For building up the body of christ. That's the whole ball game ladies and gentlemen.

I mean what? Getting a little getting a little upset. What else are you going to do up there on that stage? What was the point? If not to equip the saints for the work of ministry.

See.

Here's what andy stanley could have done. All right. So instead of splitting this into two parts. He could have just opened the word and immediately zoomed in on. Um abigail actually, right? I mean wasn't that the whole point?