Many of you have heard of Andy Stanley. He is Dr. Charles Stanley's son and he pastors the second largest church in America. Some of my friends here in Georgia noticed that his sermons weren't sharing the gospel and were more like feel-good, self-help motivational speeches. They are not ok with a man of that influence claiming to speak Truth yet misleading people every Sunday. They went out of their way to find a way to speak with him about their concern, but being a man of his...whatever, they could not get in contact with him. So they decided to go to his service and talk to him there. During his sermon. Right before Andy was about to close with prayer, my friend got Andy's attention and began rebuking him for not sharing the gospel. Immediately, security came to escort him away and Andy waited patiently for him to finish. After he was gone, Andy had something to say. Here is what Andy said and you can insert your own tone of condescending sarcasm, because it was very apparent.
"There's a theological thread that's super hyper extreme reformed theology. Some of you have heard of this; some of you might be reformed. The idea is every single story in the Bible is about Jesus somehow. I don't believe that. I think that today's story was about Nehemiah because Jesus was like a long time later. So, unfortunately, the radical, reformed people don't like me very much. Sometimes they do wonderful things like that."
Wow let's unpack that for a second. He says that Nehemiah is not about Jesus because He was not on the earth until way later. So that obviously includes the rest of the Old Testament, right? Here are some Scriptures (in the New Testament) that Andy opposed by his statement:
Romans 3:21 "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it."
Colossians 1:16 "For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through Him and for Him.
Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."
John 5:46 "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me."
Revelation 22:13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
1 Peter 1:10-11 "Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in then was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories."
And let's not forget all the Messianic prophecies that permeate all throughout the Old Testament i.e. Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel." FYI, there are over 100 more verses like that in the Old Testament.
Here is a web site that lists all the Old Testament Scripture that references Jesus and the New Testament Scripture that corresponds with them. :)
So Andy has discredited the purpose and main theme of the meta-narrative that is our Bible. I'm glad my friend rebuked him.
Many good things have happened as a result of this event. Today, Andy preached about discipleship. A few things were off and opposed Scripture, but it was great when it lined up with Scripture. I encourage you to go check it out. And pray for him lots.
I don't want to criticize him to bring myself glory or to make him look bad. I want to highlight the dangers of false teachers and warn of their crippling deceit.
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