Andy Stanley preaches to an estimated 33,000 people every Sunday at North Point Ministries' five metro-Atlanta campuses. | Photo courtesy of North Point Ministries
Posted on 01/10/2019 8:11:47 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Andy Stanley preaches to an estimated 33,000 people every Sunday at North Point Ministries' five metro-Atlanta campuses. | Photo courtesy of North Point Ministries
Christians should quit erecting Ten Commandments displays and should instead consider making monuments dedicated to the Sermon on the Mount, popular pastor Andy Stanley said.
In a column published by Relevant Magazine, the North Point Community Church pastor argued that the Ten Commandments are “the old covenant” and no longer apply to believers.
"[I]f we’re going to create a monument to stand as a testament to our faith, shouldn’t it at least be a monument of something that actually applies to us?" he posed.
“Participants in the new covenant (that’s Christians) are not required to obey any of the commandments found in the first part of their Bibles,” wrote Stanley. “Participants in the new covenant are expected to obey the single command Jesus issued as part of his new covenant: as I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
This new commandment is "a replacement for everything in the existing list. Including the big ten," he maintained. "Just as his new covenant replaced the old covenant, Jesus’ new commandment replaced all the old commandments."
Stanley went on to say that he believed so much of the evils committed by churches over history were connected to them trying to mix aspects of the old covenant with Christianity and that although “Jesus was foreshadowed in the old covenant, he did not come to extend it.”
“Dear Christian reader: Why? Why? Why would we even be tempted to reach back beyond the cross to borrow from a covenant that was temporary and inferior to the covenant established for us at Calvary?” Stanley continued.
“The author of Hebrews says it best. Jesus was the ‘guarantor of a better covenant’ (Hebrews 7:22). Later he writes, ‘the new covenant is established on better promises.’ Besides, you weren’t included in the old covenant to begin with! So why are we fighting to build monuments to it?”
Stanley's comments echo the arguments he made in his recent book, Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World, which was released last September.
In the book, Stanley spoke about "old covenant leftovers," stating that he believed Christians had "an uncomfortable history and habit of selectively rebranding aspects of God's covenant with Israel and smuggling them into the ekklesia of Jesus."
Stanley wrote that while the covenant God made with ancient Israel was "divinely ordained," it was also "temporary," adding, "Careless mixing and matching of old and new covenant values and imperatives make the current version of our faith unnecessarily resistible."
Last year, Stanley garnered controversy when he argued in an April sermon that Christians should “unhitch” themselves from the Old Testament.
To justify this, Stanley cited Acts 15, which described how early church leaders decided that Gentile converts did not need to strictly observe Jewish law to become Christians.
"[First century] Church leaders unhitched the church from the worldview, value system, and regulations of the Jewish scriptures," preached Stanley. "Peter, James, Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish scriptures, and my friends, we must as well.”
He argued that what launched Christianity was the resurrection of Jesus, not the Jewish scriptures.
Many, including Messianic Jewish author and radio personality Michael Brown, have denounced Stanley's “unhitch” comments.
"A pastor as influential as Andy Stanley needs to distance himself from such heresies, making a public, clear, and unequivocal correction that undoes the confusion he has caused. (He knows that I write this [as] a friend, out to help, not to hurt.)," wrote Brown in a column last year.
"He can preach against legalism and against Judaizing, exalting the grace of God and celebrating the newness of the New Covenant, without undermining the very foundations on which that New Covenant is established."
Ray Ortlund, senior pastor of Immanuel Church in Nashville, Tennessee, and the president of Renewal Ministries, also denounced Stanley’s views in a speech at the Gospel Coalition's West Coast Conference last October.
Preaching from 2 Timothy 1:3-8, Ortlund noted that when the Apostle Paul was writing to Timothy, he stressed his religious heritage through Judaism.
"Paul looks back into his own deepest roots. He goes back to David, to Moses, to Abraham. He reveres the faith that came down to him even filtered through Jewish tradition," said Ortlund.
"Unlike some preachers today, Paul did not 'unhitch' the Christian faith from the Old Testament … And for him personally, Christian conversion did not take his Jewishness away. It made Jesus the Lord over his Jewishness and over his conscience, both of which, he continues to honor."
For his part, Stanley explained that critics needed to understand the context, especially since his remarks were more for an audience that is turned off by biblical arguments.
"I told my kids growing up, if anyone ever asks you 'do you believe Adam and Eve are real people?' here is how you are to answer: do not say 'yes because the Bible says Adam and Eve were real people,'" commented Stanley in an interview with Michael Brown last July.
"You say this: 'I believe Adam and Eve were historical characters because Jesus did. And when somebody predicts their own death and resurrection and pulls it off, I go with whatever they say.'"
We are certainly condemned by breaking the commandments, which is why the need for repentance is continually stressed in the New Testament. As Paul said, we would not even know what sin is if not for the law, i.e. the commandments (Romans 7:7).
If God had wanted a child sacrifice, He would have had one. He didn’t.
“This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).
The Ten Commandments were essentially a summary of the entire Old Testament law. Nine of the Ten Commandments are clearly repeated in the New Testament (all except the command to observe the Sabbath day).
Obviously, if we are loving God, we will not be worshipping false gods or bowing down before idols. If we are loving our neighbors, we will not be murdering them, lying to them, committing adultery against them, or coveting what belongs to them.
If we obey those two commands to LOVE GOD WITH ALL OUR HEARS and TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR As OURSELVES faithfully, we will be upholding all that God requires of us — INCLUDING the 10 Commandments.
We are guilty but not condemned.
Jesus took the punishment on himself and pours out his grace to sanctify us even in our sin.
Of course we should repent and mean it when we do.
I’ll wager the only commandment he really has a problem with is ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’.
This post is right on. I believe that Jesus clarified the most important of the commandments, not that the others should be tossed aside.
Isn’t one of the commands to remember the Sabbath - which means go to synagogue on Saturday? Would that not apply to Jews only?
These mega-churches that draw in mega-bucks are looking for a way to condone gay marriage, in an effort to be socially relevant.
I would suggest a Bible study class if you want to understand how the OT and NT relate to each other and what Christianity is all about.
Do you also obey the “law” to celebrate the Passover? Do you obey all of the laws in the Old Testament?
Where did God want child sacrifices?
The problem with Any Stanley’s statement is this — he uses the word “Love” without going into detail.
How do you “Love” someone? There has to be some moral guidelines by which you exercise your love, otherwise you could also commit adultery with someone because you “love” that person.
Without the 10 commandments as guide, each person defines HOW he is going to exercise his love and that is a recipe for moral chaos.
No.
Before I comment, I want to say up front that I am Jewish and proud of that fact. What follows is, of course, my own opinion (except for the quote which follows), and is not intended to be insulting to anyone.
That said, I think that this guy is WAY, WAY off base - based on the Christian Bible. I found this quote from Matthew 5:17-20 (which quotes Jesus):
“17 Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
That’s from the ASV Bible, sourced at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5%3A17-20%2CLuke+16%3A16-17&version=ASV
Note that I, certainly no scholar of Christian theology, found that quote in about 1 minute on the internet. It seems pretty clear to me. It seems equally clear to me that “the law” being referred to in this passage is the 5 Books of Moses - which was the only “law” known to Jesus and those Jews following or listening to him.
Again, this guy is WAY off base. He needs to do what Major League managers force their players to do when they start screwing up: go back to basics. This guy is trying something that is (IMHO) so far from his OWN basics that it just doesn’t (and can’t) work. Also IMHO, this guy is just about self-aggrandizement...either that, or he has a severe problem like a brain tumor, because the fact that he is so incredibly wrong is evident to all.
Just my $0.02.
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