The Gospel Coalition finally took to responding to the coverage of Andy Stanley in recent column written by JD Greear, the former three term president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Whereas, Richard Land of the Christian Post and Ed Stetzer’s Church Leaders lead the way in providing cover for Andy Stanley, The Gospel Coalition performs a complete gaslight, pretending to be orthodox on an issue where they aren’t, a fact made pressingly clear by JD Greear writing the article.
JD Greear wrote a lengthy article titled, Downplaying the Sin of Homosexuality Won’t Win the Next Generation. This is an obvious “Duh” moment as the only people who pretend not to know what the Bible says about homosexuality are liberals within the church, which arguably would include Greear’s past comments.
In June 2021, JD Greear walked back statements that he made in a sermon plagiarized by Ed Litton about the Bible whispering about homosexuality. This would include the quote attributed to Jen Wilken which was more likely derived from Tim Keller. But JD Greear has yet to repent of teaching that Christians should stand up for homosexual rights.
JD Greear says churches should be the safest place for teenagers with same-sex attraction to come out, should stand against discrimination in the LGBTQ community, and those who don't are "Satan dressed up in Jesus clothes." pic.twitter.com/lygezB1MnW
— thedissenter.substack.com (@disntr) February 6, 2023
Yet JD Greear plays the conservative when going to bat on Andy Stanley, a false teacher that Greear admits has influenced his view on reaching people.
Some have reported that Northpoint assures them neither they nor Stanley is “affirming.” No official statement exists, however, where Northpoint or Stanley endorse an exclusively traditional Christian marriage and sex ethic, though many have asked for one. Perhaps this isn’t surprising, given one of Stanley’s reported comments at Drive was that identifying yourself (or your church) as either “affirming” or “not affirming” will alienate someone. Thus we have to assume Northpoint’s assurances only mean they’re not “affirming,” not that they’re “not affirming.” Whether this is true only Stanley can clarify, and I hope he’ll do it soon. I do know that they require those seeking leadership to affirm that they are not engaging in or pursuing a same-sex relationship.
JD Greear begins by summarizing what recently went viral before stating that we really don’t know Andy Stanley’s position on this issue. Evangelical Dark Web reported that Andy Stanley’s position on homosexuality has remain affirming since at the latest 2012, in which Big Eva should have known he was severely compromised on this issue and have taken action accordingly.
For the sake of argument, let’s assume they are indeed “not affirming,” meaning they believe the Bible teaches God’s only plan for sex is between a man and a woman in the context of marriage, and anything else is sinful. Let’s assume the reason they’re hesitant to publicize this is that they don’t want to create obstacles for LGBT+ individuals who are searching for God.
Except, as previously reported, Andy Stanley has no problem with homosexual relationships so long as they divorce their wives first before serving in church ministries.
One of the biggest influences Stanley’s ministry has had on me is his focus on reaching people. I remember hearing a message nearly 15 years ago where he expounded on Acts 15:19, saying, “I wish I could write this over the door of every church in America: we should not make it hard for Gentiles who are turning to God.” His words moved me deeply, and I wept in my seat. I’ve repeated those words often at The Summit Church.
For Stanley, this isn’t about a cultural argument to be won; it’s about people to be reached. Relationships come before truth, he often says. Not at the expense of truth, he’d add—just before it. Hard conversations need to happen across coffee tables, not pontificated from stages or dogmatized in documents.
JD Greear puts the sheep’s clothing on Andy Stanley by arguing that he is motivated by reaching people, when the reality is that he is an obvious false teacher and this issue is only one of the manifestations of his apostacy. This is just another Big Eva attempt to gaslight the laity, as JD Greear claims the moral highground on an issue in which he too is severely compromised.
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