Andy Stanley: Is Your Church Choosing Political Sides Without Realizing It?

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Photo courtesy of Andy Stanley

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Andy Stanley is a communicator, author, and pastor who founded Atlanta-based North Point Ministries in 1995. Today, North Point consists of eight churches in the Atlanta area and a network of 180 churches around the globe. Andy is the author of more than 20 books, and his latest is Not in It to Win It: Why Choosing Sides Sidelines the Church.”

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Key Questions for Andy Stanley

 -You’ve been consistent in saying that pastors shouldn’t politicize the church. Why is that your advice?

-Why is it hard for people to see that they have politicized their faith?

-What impact do you see our current culture wars having on the kids in the church right now?

-How can pastors facilitate unity in the midst of great political diversity in their churches?

Key Quotes From Andy Stanley

“COVID offered the church the opportunity of our lifetime in terms of coming together and doing something extraordinary in the community. I feel like we to some degree missed that.”

“In the old days, people got mad because of music style of worship, the student program, the preaching style. When I drilled down to it, [some of the people who left my church] were angry because I wouldn’t take a stand, but meaning I wouldn’t take their stand.”

“I heard from so many pastors around the country who were just getting the crap beat out of them by elders, deacons, core families. And they’re like, ‘Wait a minute, we’ve never politicized our church. Why? Why now?’”

“The cheap shots pastors take about Biden or Trump or any other local official, to preach in such a way or use illustrations in such a way that it’s very, very clear that if I’m a Democrat, I’m probably not going to love it here. If I’m a Republican, [I won’t feel welcome].…that’s politicizing. It’s elevating a political party or a political platform with political terminology over the purpose of the local church. And it’s so anti-missional…and it is so anti-Great Commission.”

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Jessica Lea
Jessica is a content editor for ChurchLeaders.com and the producer of The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast. She has always had a passion for the written word and has been writing professionally for the past five years. When Jessica isn't writing, she enjoys West Coast Swing dancing, reading, and spending time with her friends and family.

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