Downplaying the Sin of Homosexuality Won’t Win the Next Generation
by J D Greear, TGC:
Much has been made of Andy Stanley’s recently surfaced comments about church leaders and homosexuality—specifically his counsel on how the church must approach this issue if we’re to advance the gospel into the next generation.
The comments occurred at his Drive Conference at Northpoint Church in 2022, and they’ve since been taken offline by the church. However, enough YouTube snippets and published notes exist that we can gather the gist of what was said:
What does this have to do with the next generation? Everything. . . . As long as they think that we don’t understand that, they can’t hear us. . . . A gay person who still wants to attend church after the way the church has treated them . . . I’m telling you . . . they have more faith than I do. . . . They still love God.
You are not a prophet. You are a pastor—very different role. Prophets drop in and drop truth bombs, and then they get on their chariot and go to the next place and drop truth. . . . That’s not what we’re doing. We are leading people. We are not pace setters. Pastors set direction and they monitor the pace; they do not set the pace.
I know the “clobber passages,” alright? We’ve got to figure this out. And if you don’t . . . you can say goodbye to the next generation.
Pastors who declare they are affirming or not affirming are taking the church away from someone unnecessarily.
Some have reported that Northpoint assures them neither they nor Stanley is “affirming.” No official statement exists, however, where Northpoint or Stanley endorse an exclusively traditional Christian marriage and sex ethic, though many have asked for one. Perhaps this isn’t surprising, given one of Stanley’s reported comments at Drive was that identifying yourself (or your church) as either “affirming” or “not affirming” will alienate someone. Thus we have to assume Northpoint’s assurances only mean they’re not “affirming,” not that they’re “not affirming.” Whether this is true only Stanley can clarify, and I hope he’ll do it soon. I do know that they require those seeking leadership to affirm that they are not engaging in or pursuing a same-sex relationship.
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