Andy Stanley

June 30, 2022: Eternity News: SAD DECLINE OF CHRISTIANITY IN CENSUS: A CALL TO UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
For comfort, I immediately picked up megachurch Pastor Andy Stanley’s new book Not in it to Win it: Why choosing sides sidelines the church.
Andy poses the question to the US church – is it possible to disagree politically and love unconditionally? He is especially critical of using Bible and faith claims in a relentless drive to win. Think of the US Supreme Court appointments and political power under Trump.
I found his assertion that we are not in it to win it personally calming and a reminder of my own motivations. A reminder that even if Australians are checking out of my faith – which deeply disappoints me – they must be respected and loved unconditionally.

it's just disappointing to me that so many Christians in their bios, their little Twitter, I mean their avatar say, Jesus-loving, coffee-loving, Reformed Baptist. I love my wife and my kids and my church. And then they, you know, they say all these un-Christ-like things. It's, it's remarkable. And the best one ones that I, the best ones, I have a little folder on my phone that says, Andy haters, and I save the best ones. And I read them to my kids. So maybe somebody out there is part of the Greatest Hits, because it's crazy what people who have never met me say about me. And not just me, everybody. So yeah, that's, that's just disappointing that there's that many people that are part of the body of Christ that feel there's nothing in their conscience that kind of rings and, you know, warns them that, hey, maybe you shouldn't do this, so anyway. -Andy Stanley; World; 5.14.22

“Let’s love, live, and lead in such a way that we, the ekklesia of Jesus, regain the moral high ground and can serve as the conscience of our nation.....The moment we step into a ring that requires someone to lose in order for us to win, we are no longer followers of Jesus.” --Andy Stanley

In Part 1 of Not In It To Win It, "One Nation Under God," Andy Stanley discusses that when it comes to potentially polarizing topics, our posture, tone, and approach will tell others all they need to know about what’s most important to us.

In Part 2 of Not In It To Win It, "Shine," Andy Stanley discusses why disagreement is unavoidable, but division is a choice. We can disagree politically and love unconditionally.

I'm very conservative, politically, very conservative, conservative person. But to watch Republicans in particular, demonize, demonize Democrats, not just Democrat political leaders, just everybody's a Democrat to say, you know, we want to do evangelism and discipleship, but we're going to demonize half the country. And at the same time, so many Republicans pitch the Democrats as godless, they're against church against family. In other words, they need Jesus. So let's talk about them in such a way that they will never listen to us again, and never step foot inside our church. I'm like, wait, if the Democrats are as bad as you say they are, which I disagree with that bifurcation and with, you know, that kind of stereotyping. But let's, assuming for a minute that that message was true, well, then, shouldn't you be building bridges? Shouldn't we be thinking like missionaries? But instead, we ran to our political corners, and we discovered in this season what's been true for a long time, that what's most important to many of the evangelicals, many conservative Christians is what's important to everybody else, and that is winning. We got to win, win win. And then you open the New Testament and realize, Jesus decided to lose, lose, lose, on purpose with a purpose, with us in mind. And we are, we are commanded to follow him. And I just, oh. And when I want to say one other thing to be clear. It sounds like I'm, you know, wagging my finger, you know, pointing fingers. Early on in the book, I say, no, this is not a you versus me problem, this is a we problem because we're of the same body. And if you slap me with your hand, I'm not mad at your hand, I'm mad at your entire body. And so we have a problem. And I think 2020, you know, everything that happened in 2020, culturally, politically, you know, in terms of the health crisis, it revealed something dark and ugly about the current state of evangelicalism, and we need to look at it, be embarrassed by it and fix it. So this is my, you know, my attempt to add to other things that have been said to, to basically say, let's not do this again. -Andy Stanley

In case the legislators think a pastor couldn’t possibly understand the political realities of the day, (Pastor Andy) Stanley reminded them that one location of his congregation meets in heavily conservative Forsyth County and another meets in the more liberal Atlanta suburb of Decatur.“I understand this,” he said. “It’s like two different countries.”
Yet success — making Georgia “amazing” — will only happen in the middle, Stanley emphasized.
“Do you love the state of Georgia more than you love your party? If not, maybe you should do something else.”
“I understand, but not as well as you do, it is hard to raise money in the middle. It’s hard to get people angry enough to vote in the middle. It’s hard to get people to turn out and vote if you’ve not made them afraid of their enemy. … It’s hard to do what you do if you don’t play this silly game, and I just wish we would stop with, ‘Oh no, we’re losing, we’re losing, we’re losing.’”
In politics, Stanley said, “the goal is to always appear as if you’re losing but not to actually lose. What a terrible way to lead. What if we just stop with all that and when we catch each other doing that, we call each other out.

Sitting in political rallies where such divisive rhetoric is used, he challenged partisans to say, “Even though I’m in your party, even though I’ll probably vote for you, I’m not buying it and I’m not going to respect it by clapping for it.”
Taking such a stand “requires a lot of personal maturity and personal security. To lead from the middle, it will require you to love our state more than you love your party. Do you love the state of Georgia more than you love your party? If not, maybe you should do something else.” -Baptist News Global

“From a distance, an excuse looks like an actual reason,” he said. “Excuses get passed off as reasons, and excuses easily become, in the real world, ‘becauses,’ because all of us have some ‘becauses’ that we habitually hide behind when certain things come up. What if we just quit disguising our excuses as reasons?” he asked. “What if we acknowledge, ‘This isn’t real. I’ve just made this up.'Is it possible you have created a paper wall or an excuse for why you procrastinate about certain things, why you neglect certain things, why you avoid certain things? Is it possible you created a paper wall for why you avoid certain kinds of people, certain people, events, circumstances, opportunities?”
--Andy Stanley; North Point Ministries

Jan 10, 2022: Christian Post: Andy Stanley says shutting down 'the excuse factory' essential to living God-glorifying life
Andy Stanley, the pastor of North Point Ministries, urged Christians to stop making excuses, explaining that many professing believers construct a “paper wall”— often fueled by fear or insecurity — that holds them back from living a God-glorifying life.

Nov 15, 2020: The Atlantic: The Evangelical Reckoning Begins
Andy Stanley, the pastor of one of the largest megachurches in the country, ponders the future of an influential corner of American Christianity.

“Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say.” -Andy Stanley

Aug 23, 2020: Christian Post: Pastor Andy Stanley explains why North Point is suspending services until 2021
Responding to some members who accused him of “bowing to Caesar,” Pastor Andy Stanley of Atlanta’s North Point Community Church explained why his church decided to suspend services until 2021. The decision, he said, is not “left-wing, Marxist agenda,” but based on what’s central to the Christian faith.

April 15, 2020: Pirate Christian: "Unhitching" Jesus?: Did Andy Stanley's Easter 2020 Message "Unhitch" Jesus From Scripture?
Andy Stanley's Easter 2020 message said we don't know about the resurrection because of the Bible. What if he is creating unnecessary and unhelpful distinctions that weaken the foundation of our faith instead of strengthening it?

Aug 30, 2016: Pulpit & Pen: Superstar Mega-church Son of A (Hopefully Ashamed) Preacher Man Andy Stanley: Scripture Can’t Be Defended
Andy Stanley’s “sermon” – actually he called it a “conversation” – this past Sunday morning at his megachurch, Northpoint Community Church in Atlanta, comes on the heels of the outrageous commentary he offered merely a few days earlier at a Southern Baptist Conference hosted by Russell Moore and the Ethics And Religious Liberty Commission.

Mar 8, 2016: Christianity Today: Andy Stanley Explains His ‘Stinking Selfish’ Parents Comment
Atlanta-area megachurch pastor Andy Stanley has come under fire for remarks he made about small churches in a recent sermon.

May 8, 2015: Raw Story: Megachurch pastor rejects his father’s bigotry: Jesus would want you to bake a gay wedding cake
Andy Stanley, who has turned North Point Ministries into one the nation’s largest churches, said Christians must stop driving gay teens away from the church – saying that politics should not overrule biblical teachings, reported Project Q.

Nov 19, 2012: CNN: Two preaching giants and the 'betrayal' that tore them apart
Andy Stanley walked into his pastor's office, filled with dread.

Books by Andy Stanley:

Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets. Zondervan, 2020 (ISBN-13 : 978-0310537083)
Irresistible. Zondervan, 2018. ISBN 978-0-310-53699-4.
The New Rules For Love, Sex & Dating. Zondervan, 2014. ISBN 978-0-310-34219-9.
How To Be Rich. Zondervan, 2013. ISBN 1624909469.
Deep & Wide. Zondervan, 2012. ISBN 0310494842.
When Work & Family Collide. Multnomah, 2012. ISBN 1601423799.
Enemies of the Heart. Multnomah, 2011. ISBN 1-60142-145-1.
The Grace of God. Thomas Nelson, 2010. ISBN 0-8499-4814-2.
The Principle of the Path. Thomas Nelson, 2009. ISBN 0-8499-2060-4.
Communicating For a Change. Multnomah, 2006. ISBN 1-59052-514-0.
Next Generation Leader. Multnomah, 2006. ISBN 1-59052-539-6.
It Came From Within!. Multnomah, 2006. ISBN 1-59052-510-8.
Fields of Gold. Tyndale, 2006. ISBN 1414311966.
The Best Question Ever. Multnomah, 2004. ISBN 1-59052-390-3.
Seven Practices of Effective Ministry. Multnomah, 2004. ISBN 1-59052-373-3.
Creating Community. Multnomah, 2004. ISBN 1-59052-396-2.
Louder Than Words. Multnomah, 2004. ISBN 1-59052-346-6.
Can We Do That? Innovative Practices that will Change the Way You Do Church (With Ed Young Jr.). Howard Books, 2004. ISBN 1582294577.
How Good Is Good Enough?. Multnomah, 2003. ISBN 1-59052-401-2.
Choosing To Cheat. Multnomah, 2002. ISBN 1-59052-329-6.
The Seven Checkpoints: Student Journal. Howard Books 2001. ISBN 1-58229-178-0.
Visioneering. Multnomah, 1998. ISBN 1-57673-787-X.
Like a Rock. Thomas Nelson, 1997. ISBN 0-7852-7612-2.

Charles Andrew "Andy" Stanley (born May 16, 1958) is the senior pastor of North Point Community Church, Buckhead Church, Browns Bridge Community Church, Gwinnett Church, Watermarke Church, and Decatur City Church. He also founded North Point Ministries, which is a worldwide Christian organization.