Jesus’ new covenant command is “transgenerational,” Stanley says, because it’s for “all people at all times.” It’s also inviting “because everyone wants to be treated that way.” The concept that “God is love” is uniquely Christian, Stanley says, and it’s tough to resist compassion, generosity, and grace. People want forgiveness, community, and validation, and they want to hear what’s beyond this life—from someone they can trust. “I’m convinced that when people understand the new that [Jesus] introduced to the world, they will want it to be true before they believe it’s true,” he says.
In the post-Christian era, Stanley says people will “come to faith through the message of Jesus and then get interested in the backstory.” That’s what has happened historically, he notes, with Gentiles not being interested in the Law and the Prophets until they became interested in Jesus. “First they discovered that his death paid for sin, and then that Jewish Scripture pointed to that.”
Megachurch Pastor Stanley Still Feels Like a “local pastor”
Stanley, who’s been called a heretic, believes fear is a factor. Anyone urging reforms faces accusations, he says, adding that he’s simply “trying to bring what I think every Christian should understand about their own faith to light.”
Stanley tries to respond to and learn from critics, and he says he’s okay with criticism from Christians because they’re already going to heaven. But “I don’t want to ever lose my influence with people outside the faith,” he says.
When asked about his path to ministry, Stanley says he never felt “called”; instead, he just loved the local church and volunteering. He also never felt pressured to fill his prominent dad’s shoes. He credits his father with modeling the importance of relationships and never giving up on them.
As the “firstborn of a firstborn pastor,” Andy Stanley admits he once had a very rules-oriented, vertical view of Christianity. His approach to faith was a bit old covenant, transactional, and Pharisaical, trying to figure out how to please God. Understanding the horizontal approach—that “you can’t be right with God if you are not right with people”—was key to his faith journey, he says.
The constant pressure of having to prepare fresh, inspirational sermons is a heavy burden but also a good thing, Stanley says. A mentor regularly encourages him, tells him to enjoy the journey, and reminds him to look back at what God has done.
Despite Stanley’s broad stage—including a multi-campus church, podcast, and books—he still feels like a local pastor and enjoys day-to-day ministry tasks. “At the end of the day, the local church is where it’s at,” he says, adding that investing in the local church has been “the best investment of my life.”
