Posted on 05/14/2018 1:24:16 PM PDT by jeannineinsd
North Point Community Church Senior Pastor Andy Stanley has stated that Christians need to "unhitch" the Old Testament from their faith.
In the final part of a recent sermon series, Stanley explained that while he believes that the Old Testament is "divinely inspired," it should not be "the go-to source regarding any behavior in the church."
To justify this, Stanley preached last month about Acts 15, which described how the early church decided that Gentile converts did not need to strictly observe Jewish law to become Christians.
"[First century] Church leaders unhitched the church from the worldview, value system, and regulations of the Jewish scriptures," said Stanley.
"Peter, James, Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish scriptures, and my friends, we must as well."
Stanley argued that it had to be done for the same reason the church in Acts 15 did so, which was so that "we must not make it difficult for those Gentiles who are turning to God." For Stanley, the difficulty lay with the Old Testament and his concern that many Christians are turning away from the faith because of certain passages in the Hebrew Bible.
Stanley argued that the early church showed that there was a need to move past the Old Testament for the sake of gentile believers and that the resurrection of Jesus was enough.
"Jesus' new covenant, His covenant with the nations, His covenant with you, His covenant with us, can stand on its own two nail-scarred resurrection feet. It does not need propping up by the Jewish scriptures," noted Stanley.
"The Bible did not create Christianity. The resurrection of Jesus created and launched Christianity. Your whole house of Old Testament cards can come tumbling down. The question is did Jesus rise from the dead? And the eyewitnesses said he did."
Stanley acknowledged that his comments may be considered "a little disturbing" to some, but then added that for many it is "liberating."
"It's liberating for men and women who are drawn to the simple message that God loves you so much He sent His Son to pave the way to a relationship with you," Stanley said. "It's liberating for people who need and understand grace, who need and understand forgiveness. And it's liberating for people who find it virtually impossible to embrace the dynamic, the worldview, and the values system depicted in the story of Ancient Israel."
While noting that he believed the church needed to unhitch itself from the Old Testament, Stanley still regarded the Jewish scriptures as having importance, saying they were "a means to an extraordinary end."
"The Jewish scriptures are the backstory for the main story," Stanley explained. "They're an important backstory. They're divinely inspired. They are God on the move through ancient, ancient times."
"It's the fabulous story of God the Founder playing by the rules of the kingdoms of this world, to establish a kingdom not of this world. To send a king who would be like no other king. A king who lay down His life for His subjects. A king who would introduce the entire world to God the Father."
Stanley's sermon was the third part of a series titled "Aftermath," in which the pastor was trying to appeal to individuals who left Christianity over what they were taught the Bible said about certain things.
"If you were raised on a version of Christianity that relied on the Bible as the foundation of faith, a version that was eventually dismantled by academia or the realities of life, maybe it's time for you to change your mind about Jesus," stated North Point Community Church.
"Maybe it's time for you to consider the version of Christianity that relies on the event of the resurrection of Jesus as its foundation. If you gave up your faith because of something about or in the Bible, maybe you gave up unnecessarily."
Days before giving the third Aftermath sermon, Stanley preached at the Orange Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia, using Acts 15, as well as John 17, to argue that church unity was more important than "theological correctness."
"[Jesus] prayed for our oneness, that we'd be on the same page," said Stanley at the conference last month. "This is mission critical. If they are not one, we will not win ... unity is mission critical and disunity disrupts the mission."
"Will we prioritize our oneness over our politics? Will we continue to allow the kingdom of the world to divide the Kingdom of God that is in this world because of politics?"
Andy Stanley appears to be ‘unhitched’ from the Scriptures.
The Old Testament and the New Testament scriptures are everlastingly intertwined.
“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” ~Isaiah 40:8
Jesus made reference to the Old Testament and the Prophets often. Part of the whole counsel of God.
Luke 24:
25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
Hebrews 4:12
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
I don’t believe the OT ever told anyone to hate their enemy. Do you have a passage in mind? Jesus doesn’t say it did in the passage you quote. He’s merely quoting a misunderstanding of the OT law before correcting it.
In fact, in Ex. 23.4-5, Moses said: If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.
In Lev. 19.18, Moses said: You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.
Jesus teaching what we call the golden rule was a quotation from Lev. 19.18, not superceding the OT.
11Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:
12And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.
What do you think Biblical Christianity is, since the word Christianity is nowhere found in the Bible? There’s a much better, and scriptural, that can be used.
It makes them die younger.
That was the justification of the Scapegoat. The Day of Atonement. The blood of the sacrifice.
Do you think I have come to destroy the law of Moses? I have come to follow fulfill the law”.
“...Stanley preached at the Orange Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia, using Acts 15, as well as John 17, to argue that church unity was more important than “theological correctness.”..”
Well, if you don’t believe in what is theologically correct, what can you be “unified” under? The Flesh? Man’s ideas and whims? That’s not the body of Christ. That’s some Oprah Winfrey-type new-agey feel good false belief system that leaves you dead in your sins.
_______________________________________________________
“Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:”
~Luke 12:51
No the correct translation from the Greek and hebrew is follow the law.
I’m afraid it wasn’t just one commandment, Appy. Notice the context in vv8-10:
“v8 And you shall again obey the LORD, and observe all His commandments which I command you today. 9 Then the LORD your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers; 10 if you obey the LORD your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and soul.
Then again, he says in v11: “For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.”
Please keep reading the next few verses as he makes it clear he’s not speaking of just one commandment, but all the Law of Moses.
Andy’s father is probably hoping Andy will “unhitch” from the family.
When Obama was running the first time, Andy invited Moochelle to speak at his church, IIRC. I think she did not go. Not sure why.
This is in contrast to the command to love our enemies:
Psalm 139:
19 O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
20 For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
Bull to the sh1t.
Andy is wrong.
Thanks for your response, Fantasy. Now, who was commanded to hate their enemies in this passage?
If you can’t see the contrast I can’t help you.
Fantasy, you can’t help me because the passage you gave doesn’t command anyone to hate their enemies, does it?
Originally, you said Jesus superseded OT morality, especially when it comes to enemies, and quoted Mt. 5.43, where Jesus said, “Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy” (a command)
I said, “I don’t believe the OT ever told anyone to hate their enemy. Do you have a passage in mind?”
You did have one in mind, Ps. 139, which I couldn’t see where anyone was told to hate their enemy. When I asked you who was told to hate their enemy, evidently realizing no one was, you said you couldn’t help me.
We are agreed that Ps. 139 doesn’t tell anyone to hate their enemy, don’t we?
David was a man after God’s own heart. Nowhere in Scripture are we told to beware of the Psalms because they contain sinful passages. The point being that under OT morality King David was perfectly within his rights to hate people.
Jesus did away with that option. We are now inescapably commanded to love our enemies. No exceptions, no wiggle room.
You might also look into the “new commandment,” Jesus gave us. It is a vast step up from the Golden Rule.
Y’know, I don’t agree with Andy Stanley. If nothing else, the OT is rife with history...the history of the Jewish nation. We shouldn’t cut it out.
However, I have to point out that the OT is a major stumbling block for a lot of people. I have heard many people ask about the whole “destroy everything” passages and ask how a loving God could command that.
As for the ‘elephant in the pew’ that many here are speaking of...homosexuality...I agree that it’s wrong. Now, there are those who will wonder why those who practice this particular sin don’t want to have anything to do with the church. First, of course, is that being told you’re wrong is very uncomfortable and upsetting. (and eternity in Hell isn’t?)
Another reason, one that not many think of, is what those in that lifestyle think we’re going to do to them. Go ahead and read Lev. 20:13. What does it say the penalty is?
There are those in the homosexual community who believe that if they attend a church, and their sin is found out, that they won’t leave the building alive. They believe we want them dead because it’s in the Bible.
Something to consider.
“Albert Mohler responded saying, “The woman then insisted that her former husband and his gay partner move to another congregation. They did move, but to another North Point location, where they volunteered together as part of a “host team.”
The woman later told Andy Stanley that her former husband and his partner were now involved as volunteers in the other congregational location.The story took a strange turn when Stanley then explained that he had learned that the former husband’s gay partner was still married.
Stanley then explained that the partner was actually committing adultery and that the adultery was incompatible with his service on a host team. Stanley told the two men that they could not serve on the host team so long as the one man was still married.
He later told of the former wife’s decision not to live in bitterness, and of her initiative to bring the whole new family structure to a Christmas service. This included the woman, her daughter, her former husband, his gay partner, and his daughter. Stanley celebrated this new “modern family” as an expression of forgiveness.
He concluded by telling of Christ’s death for sinners and told the congregation that Jesus does not condemn them, even if they cannot or do not leave their life of sin.”
http://pulpitandpen.org/2015/05/11/4752/
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