The answer is not condemnation
Andy Stanley, the son of Charles Stanley, is the senior pastor of the North Point Ministries, a nondenominational evangelical Christian Church located in the northern Atlanta, Ga., area. Andy Stanley started the North Point Community Church in 1995 as a ministry for his father’s church in a warehouse where his vision focused upon providing a church for unchurched people. Today, that church has six churches in the Atlanta area with an average attendance in excess of 8,000 each Sunday, and more than 50 churches around the globe that collectively reach around 90,000 people weekly. Andy is the author of numerous books and one of the most influential pastors in the United States. His latest book is “Deep and Wide, Creating Churches Unchurched People Love to Attend.”
North Point’s Mission, Strategy, and Beliefs reflects one of the most conservative positions among any of those I have read, including beliefs about God, Jesus, the Bible, salvation and the church. However, in fairness, when the church attempts to put these basic teachings into practice, its strategy for reaching people encompasses a wide range of interesting positions. Instead of imposing restrictions, the church allows all sincere Christians to be utilized in its ministry — e.g. allowing women to serve anywhere in the church and allowing untrained laity to assume leadership positions while learning on the job.
At the risk of oversimplification, North Point’s vision might be reduced down to three basic things: (1) The recognition that the church is not a static institution, but an evolving ministry of Jesus that continues to change to meet contemporary needs. As such, it is for everyone, not just church members. (2) While the preaching ministry of the church focuses squarely upon the teachings of the Bible, the careful interpretation of the scriptures reveals many teachings that have been obscured during the past. (3) Everyone connected with North Point is involved in a small group of no more than 12 members where they are encouraged to openly share with one another and to do ministry together.
Pastor Stanley carefully points out that Christians slipped when they allowed the church to become organized as an institution with rules and regulations, and a building. Somehow ignored in this development was the loss of “ekklesia,” which is the Greek word for church in the Bible. Most of our Bibles follow a careful translation from the original languages, but this is not so with the term “church,” which is not a direct translation and is more of a substitution instead of a translation. As such, it is fixed upon an institution, not a movement, which began when Christians were commanded by Jesus to take the gospel from Jerusalem to all of Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).
There is a misunderstanding in churches today that suggests the only way to be a good Christian and to find salvation is to be a church member. Ironically, this idea has its roots in the book of Acts when Jews converted to Jesus declared that unless you are circumcised and follow the law of Moses you cannot be saved (Acts 15:1). However, when the apostles heard the testimony of Paul and Peter, that notion of the church was refuted. As a result, the gospel spread to the Gentiles and flourished.
Andy Stanley correctly points out that the grace offered by Jesus was not just for people who were religious. He confronted the woman caught in adultery, forgave her, and told her not to sin any more. The disciples were angry when some villages refused to receive Jesus and suggested that they call down fire from heaven and burn them up, but Jesus forgave them and moved on by peacefully. And, on the cross, suffering all of the pain and condemnation of those killing him in the name of righteousness, Jesus’ words echo throughout time: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.”
The church has always had its lists of sins, but time and the refusal to confront them have eroded them away. It is easy to remember when smoking, drinking alcohol, divorce, going to the movies and so on were considered mortal sins capable of keeping a person from salvation, this despite the conviction that a person who is “once saved is always saved.” It is unfortunate that people in the church tend to overlook their sins and focus instead upon the sins of those outside the church. As the apostle Paul declared, the problem is simple: “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:22-23).” The answer is not condemnation; the answer is found in Jesus who offered his forgiveness and grace for everyone, those in the church and those outside the church. Andy Stanley’s church preaches that even the unchurched may find forgiveness and salvation. What about your church?
••• Robert Box has been a law enforcement chaplain for 29 years. He is a master-level chaplain with the International Conference of Police Chaplains and is an endorsed chaplain with the American Baptist Churches USA. He also currently serves as a deputy sheriff chaplain for the Benton County Sheriff ’s Office. Opinions expressed in the article are the opinions of the author and not the agencies he serves.