Andy is back at it again, no claiming you do not need to believe the bible is completely true to follow Jesus...

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Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. - Matthew 4:4

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The spiraling downward into the abyss for Andy Stanley has been frightening to behold and it just keeps getting worse. This spiral has been well documented as we have seen a consistent campaign by Andy to completely undermine scripture and confidence in the bible. It is a perfect storm of not caring what God says mixed with an unbridled arrogance brought on from learning under the rise of purpose driven church theology and seeker friendly theories of church growth. The result is one of the biggest heretics we have seen in this generation leading untold numbers down the broad path that only leads to destruction. This is not about his likability or sincerity as I could care less about them and God cares even less than that. This is about what he teaches, and it is damnable. Beloved listen. God's word is inerrant and infallible. Once we compromise one iota, then the world can dismiss the entire thing as being subjective. If you are in the business of splitting hairs to excuse this then you are part of the problem and blood will be on your hands, plain and simple.

Many years ago, we saw the warning signs when Stanley said that we should no longer use the term shepherds when referring to pastors because it was no longer culturally significant. I said at the time that only the world and the devil use cultural arguments to undermine scripture. God uses the shepherd analogy for a reason and Andy Stanley does not like it because he is not a shepherd. He is a hireling of the highest order. Shepherds tend to their flock not their book deals. Soon after this Andy was very distraught that the kids, he was sending off to college from his church were returning as atheists. His conclusion was that the world makes better arguments than the church and we need to abandon this "bible is inerrant" theology. Of course, this was moronic and revealed that he could not look in the mirror to realize that the kids he was sending off to college were probably never saved to begin with because they never heard the actual gospel at his church. Secularism stepped into that void and without the indwelt Holy Spirit there was nothing to refute what they were now being taught.

Instead, Stanley launched into horrific teaching after horrific teaching. He claimed that believers needed to "unhitch" themselves from the Old Testament despite Jesus confirming the Old Testament. He then taught that we needed to abandon the insistence that the bible was infallible in favor of secular based arguments defending the gospels. He said that it was impossible to defend the entire bible and dismissed the Genesis account of creation as wrong, asserting the earth was 14.5 million years old. He compared sharing the gospel with an Imam sharing the infallibility of Islam's scripture and suggested the result was the same for listeners. This of course completely removes the Holy Spirit from the equation, something Islam does not have. This is of course because under Warrenism, the preacher causes salvation instead of it being a supernatural act of God. Andy thinks HE is responsible for salvation. At its core, this is always the sin of Lucifer trying to claim the throne. The above link includes a short snippet from a recent sermon in which Stanley continues to eviscerate the word of God and marginalize it for the lost, so that he could foolishly count them as saved when they are not. Maybe this helps him sleep easier at night, but he will have so much to answer for when he stands before Christ and is held to account. Just from this snippet let's deal with four horrendous teachings:

"The bottom line in terms of what a person must believe about the bible in order to be a follower of Jesus is really this simple. You just have to believe that Matthew, Mark, Luke, OR John are reliable accounts of actual events, that's it." - Andy Stanley

Really. So, the theological position Andy is staking claim to is that we do not need the bible at all, just one gospel account. Note he did not say "and" but rather, "or." The key verse clearly states that we live by every word the has proceeded out of the mouth of God, not just one of 66 books. I guess the word is not really a lamp unto my feet, only a sliver of it. Job said he treasured the words of God's mouth and that they were more than his daily bread but not ole Andy Stanley! Luke says blessed are those who obey the word, not merely part of it. John declares the word, again the entire word, is truth! Why would we marginalize it like this! Note also that he never interjects faith into this equation! The decision to believe is based upon carnal logic and reasoning. Now, I have always been a fan of good apologetics but not as a replacement for scripture! I believe that the bible is the word of God based on faith! History only confirms my faith - not the other way around! Let me be very clear. If you believe you are a follower of Jesus because you believe that historians did a good job of recording the gospel accounts, or at least one of them, you are not following Jesus at all. You are following history. Based on that nonsense, if someone comes along with better historical theories, you may quickly abandon what you thought you "believed."

"Christianity does not rise or fall based upon our ability to prove that the bible is without error." - Andy Stanley

Strawmen arguments - one of the favorite ploys of the false teacher. No one of sound doctrine is making this argument. It is not our job, nor Andy Stanley's, to PROVE anything! Get over yourself! Pastor, if you approach your work as trying to convince someone, you will fail every time! Your job is to present the gospel and let the Holy Spirit draw the lost, period, full stop. I did not believe in the inerrancy of scripture and then was saved. That is asinine. The things of God were foolishness to me UNTIL I was saved. THEN, I realized by faith that God cannot be wrong and therefore, the bible is inerrant. The absolute truth of scripture is a godsend for us! It clears up all of the murkiness of the world. It removes all of the carnal shades of grey we like to coat our lives in. Christianity rises and falls by the insidious teachings of wolves like Andy Stanley because here is where faith gets shipwrecked. The lost do not need a history lesson. They do not need to understand how the records of the period when Jesus walked the earth were much closer to the actual events then other widely accepted historical facts. This is what was always wrong with people like Ray Comfort trying to debate atheists without "using the bible." Our entire faith is based upon Christ and John 1:1 declares He is His word! People like Andy Stanley and Bill Johnson have spent their ministries trying to dismantle the authority and inerrancy of scripture because deep down they hate the word of God because it exposes them for the frauds they truly are.

"People were following Jesus 300 plus years before the bible was ever assembled." - Andy Stanley"

Another staple of the false teaching style of Andy Stanley is to make folksy, right sounding arguments that if you just dig a little deeper you see are silly. The first point is that we do not follow Jesus because of the bible. We follow Jesus based upon the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit to make us born again. It is the belief in the work of Christ and the cross that saves us. It is from that point on that we learn hopefully about the scriptures to further develop us and grow us into the likeness of Christ. Before we were saved, we sought our answers from the world and after, we ought to be pursuing them within the word of God. The entirety of what is today called the bible was written within one generation of the life Christ lived on earth, so the preaching of the gospel was first or secondhand information, not hundreds of years removed. Even Peter referred to the writings of Paul as scripture just 30 years after the crucifixion:

"Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." - 2Peter 3:14-18 (ESV)

As they do the other scriptures. Beloved, the notion that the early church was freewheeling it without the grounding of the word of God is simply inaccurate. Be very very wary of folksy arguments in sermons designed to get you to disbelieve. Realize how dangerous these teachings are. They will lead to untold amounts of people basing their belief that they are saved upon carnal wisdom and the logic of man. Dear Lord, forgive us. The final quote is probably the worst however:

"Is there a case to be made for the inerrancy of scripture? Absolutely and if you give me three weeks of your undivided attention, I can make that case. But is this view of the bible essential in order to be a follower of Jesus, no." - Andy Stanley

The final trait of Stanley false teachings is to try and parse what he just said so he can claim cover from criticism. Those that are in the business of defending heretics will declare, see, he said that there is a case for the inerrancy of scripture! In context of course, this declaration means nothing. Once again, we see Andy insisting that he must convince you of something that can only be gleaned supernaturally through God. The apex of this horrible teaching is his declaration that we do not need to believe in the inerrancy of scripture to be a follower of Jesus and that is blasphemous heresy. Jesus Himself declared quite matter of factly - why do you bother to call me Lord if you do not do as I say. We can only assume Andy's response would be that he believes one of the gospels is a true statement of events that actually happened. Realize that his statement here essentially says that one can be a follower of Christ but not believe anything He actually said! He will be producing a congregation filled with people who do not actually believe that all scripture is God-breathed and useful for training in righteousness. A church filled with people who claim they follow Christ; they just do not have any faith in what He has said. Wow.

Beloved, I would hope by now you have realized that Andy Stanley needs to marked and avoided. He is not harmless. His teachings are straight from the pit of hell and designed for a singular purpose - to lead people away from Christ and His word. Of course, it is not just Andy Stanley as he is only the product of a generation of preachers brought up on Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Church heresies and the mega-church mentality of seeker-friendly theories of church growth. Under these false teachings, preachers become cult of personality men who wield great power over the sheep they are supposed to tend to. I know the haters of discernment will insist that we need unity at the cost of doctrine, but I will not hold the hand of Andy Stanley while he leads people to hell. I will not sing Kumbaya with someone who thinks so little of God's word. I will mark them. I will avoid them. I will advise you to do the same.

Reverend Anthony Wade - July 12, 2023

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.