Virgil Walker, Executive Director of Operations at G3 Ministries, said, “This false narrative and pragmatic approach to teaching from @AndyStanley isn’t surprising. All of his actions reveal his acceptance of Scripture’s insufficiency.”
Scott Aniol, Executive Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of G3 Ministries, retweeted the clip with the words, “No liberal drift, they said,” connecting the controversy to the so-called “liberal drift” in the Southern Baptist Convention. However, Andy Stanley’s church is not a part of the Southern Baptist Convention. Pastor Wayne Bray of First Baptist Simpsonville Upstate Church in Simpsonville, South Carolina, called Aniol’s tweet “beyond irresponsible,” adding, “At least speak truth when attempting to defame the brethren.”
Some responded to the clip by exhorting believers to pray that Stanley would repent of the error of his ways. One user suggested that straight people who are Black have had plenty of experience repeatedly going into situations where they feel uncomfortable. Others suggested that Christians in general have this experience because they are under attack from secular culture.
Nevertheless, many other people responded by expressing their support for Stanley. “Surprised (in a good way) by this,” said one person.
I don’t dive into this conversation much, because there’s no way of expressing all you can about such a huge topic through tweets, but, I believe he is talking about people who are attracted to the same sex, but does not live that life, dying to their flesh to please God. https://t.co/OJWFuTR8kT
— GDO3tv (@gdo3tv) January 24, 2023
“If you feel angry at the suggestion that gay people (or anyone else you consider ‘sinful’) being welcomed to God’s table, then you will absolutely HATE reading the Gospels,” said author and commentator Jonathan Merritt. “Lots of anger from the fundies on this one.”
“I pray that my gay Christian friends and family listen more to a year-old out-of-context clip from Andy Stanley…than to the hate and ignorance of ‘Christians’ on Twitter,” said Dave Adamson, whose profile identifies him as a former social media pastor at Stanley’s church.
“The fact that this person is sharing this video in disgust is 100% what’s wrong with the evangelical church,” said Dusty Tackle, a pastor at Eagles Way Church in Griffin, Georgia. “I wish I had not read the comments (I know better). It makes me so sad and literally sick to my stomach. Thank you @AndyStanley for always showing what love requires of us.”
“Andy Stanley suggests to a straight crowd that they be a little more sympathetic or even empathetic to those gay/lesbian (albeit still in the style of love the sinner, not the ‘sin’),” said another user, “and conservative christian twitter people cannot handle it.”
Some of those who approved of Stanley’s words saw him as moving toward an affirming position, although atheist Hemant Mehta did not agree.
ChurchLeaders has reached out to Andy Stanley for comment and will update this article in the event of a reply.
