Andy Stanley, False Teaching, and Cultural Relevance
Currently, there is a lot of buzz about the teachings coming out of Northpoint Community Church. In the past, Andy Stanley has infamously encouraged believers to unhitch from the Old Testament, he’s been incredibly unclear about his views on homosexuality, and he recently hosted a conference with 2 different gay men (both are married to other men) as keynote speakers. While I’m opposed to Andy Stanley’s ideology and would warn all to mark and avoid him, I’m convinced the teaching coming out of Northpoint is a symptom of a much deeper issue. The false teaching coming out of Northpoint is the logical result of a church mirroring culture. And when it comes down to the codependent nature of cultural relevancy and false teaching, what’s going on with Andy Stanley is the rule, not the exception.
Attempts at cultural relevancy resulting in false teaching are nothing new. It’s a disease that has plagued the church since the beginning, and it has been the first step for millions down the path of destruction. If we stop and think about it for a moment, all false teachings are drawn from the dying world around us. No error has come from a void. False teaching is nothing more than a broken mirror reflecting a dying culture.
Consider the heresies and falsehoods that have arisen in church history. When Middle Platonism (spirit was good, flesh not so much) was in vogue (90 BC - mid 200 AD) the culture at large considered the physical world (including human flesh) to be bad. It’s no surprise then that the major heresies of that age dealt with a denial of the humanity of Christ or the evil of the god of the created world (Gnosticism). Fast-forward to the Enlightenment and the rise of Materialism (everything that is, is physical). Well, now secular culture saw flesh as not only good. but the only thing there was. Thus arose classical theological liberalism and the denial of the spiritual, miracles, the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth, the resurrection, etc. And today, in the West you’d be hard-pressed to find someone today who truly believes Jesus wasn’t a real, flesh-and-blood person (except the wilfully delusional!) But you will find countless people who deny his divinity. Heresy and all manner of errors will always follow worldly culture. This is why all attempts at cultural relevancy will result in false teaching.
So how does Andy Stanley fit the bill of cultural relevance resulting in false teaching? Well, “North Point Ministries, Inc., was founded in 1995 with the vision of creating churches that unchurched people love.” The entire ministry he has established is built on attracting the world. And now, it’s become like the world. In a response to Al Mohler’s criticism, Stanley said this, “He [Christ] drew circles so large and included so many people in His circle that it consistently made religious leaders nervous.” He then followed up with “We draw circles, we don’t draw lines. We draw big circles.”
The problem with the circles being drawn by Stanley is that they are drawn around the culturally acceptable spirit of the age, not the truth. He has allowed men engaged in sexual sin to speak and teach professing believers with the church’s blessing. Christ indeed welcomed in gentiles and “drew circles” that opposed the accepted ones of the day. But he also drew a line and was Himself the line “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9). And He will draw the final line at the end of the age “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left” (Matthew 25:31-33). Christ is the circle, He is the line, and anything that falls outside of Him or His Word is wrong.
The worst failure of the seeker-sensitive movement has been its success. It has succeeded in drawing in people from outside the church. The only downside is that churches like Northpoint have become nothing more than a Christianized reflection of the world. Andy Stanley has drawn circles all up and down the lines Christ has laid out for His people. Northpoint may very well be culturally relevant, but it has simply resulted in becoming a culturally relevant platform for false teaching.
We have a higher and more profound call than just contextualizing the church to culture. As believers we must "…not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom 12:2). If we conform to this age and neglect the Gospel of truth for a gospel of pragmatism, we will find ourselves across the line from Christ. Sure, we might be culturally relevant, but we will be irrelevant to the Kingdom of God.