A simple question from a young believer in China still won’t let Andy Stanley go.
“Why doesn’t everyone in America go to church?”
She wasn’t asking as an outsider taking a shot at Christianity. She was a newer Christian who had to travel two hours by bus just to gather with other believers. If there had been a church within walking distance, she said she would have been there every time the doors opened.
Stanley, founding pastor of North Point Ministries, says he didn’t know how to answer her in the moment. But the question pushed him to look hard at what American churches have been handing people as “faith” and why so many are walking away.
In a conversation with ChurchLeaders Podcast host Jason Day, Stanley explains why he intentionally changed the way he talks about Scripture in public teaching, why he’s not discouraged by church attendance declines, and what pastors can do to reach the next generation in a post-Christian world.
The Shift Andy Stanley Made (And Why It Matters)
Stanley says his change was not theological. It was strategic.
Years ago, after listening to a prominent atheist speaker “rail against the Bible” on a university campus, Stanley realized something unsettling. The speaker’s assumptions about Christianity were often the same assumptions Christians themselves were carrying.
The big assumption: Christianity rises or falls on the Bible.
Stanley argues that framing creates a problem in today’s information age. People do not need to own a Bible, read a Bible, or even respect the Bible to find objections inside it. They can pull up hard passages instantly and use them as proof that Christianity is dangerous, contradictory, or outdated.
So Stanley changed his language.
Instead of saying:
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“The Bible says…”
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“The Bible teaches…”
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“God says…”
He began saying:
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“Jesus said…”
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“John writes…”
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“Paul writes…”
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“James, the brother of Jesus, writes…”
It sounds small, but Stanley says it has made a “tremendous difference” in his ability to connect with skeptical people, de-churched people, and those already halfway out the door.
His goal is not to diminish Scripture. His goal is to remove unnecessary barriers so people can actually hear the message.
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“The Bible Did Not Create Christianity”
Stanley’s core point is historical.
