Whatever You Do... Don't "Unhitch!"

Andy Stanley has greatly influenced my life. Several of his books (Next Generation Leader, Visioneering, Communicating for a Change) have made a huge impact on how I think, lead, and even how I preach and communicate. But over the last couple of years, Andy has taught some things that I have a very hard time reconciling. Very recently this has happened again. As a pastor and preacher myself, but also as someone who knows the level of influence that Andy has and the magnitude of his platform, I feel I need to address this issue.

In a recent sermon over Acts 15, Andy made the statement that Christians need to “unhitch the Old Testament from their faith.” To be clear, Andy did not say we need to throw out the OT or that it is completely irrelevant or anything of the sort. In fact, he acknowledged that the OT is the divinely inspired Word of God. That said, in (what I believe to be) stark contrast to those assertions and beliefs, he then proposed some other ideas & thoughts that seem to be in direct conflict. Here are a few of them:

"Peter, James, and Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish scriptures, and my friends, we must as well.”

“First Century church leaders unhitched the church from the worldview, value system, and regulations of the Jewish scriptures.”

This is only a small sample.

What I believe Andy is attempting to do and to communicate is that many of the First Century Jewish Christians were making it incredibly hard for the Gentiles to come to faith because they were continuing to impose many of the regulations of the Old Covenant on these Christians. Whether it be circumcision, celebration or observance of certain festivals and offerings, or even some of the Pharisaical laws that were added to the Old Covenant by the Pharisees, there were unnecessary stumbling blocks being placed in many of the Gentiles way of coming to Christ.

Paul constantly refuted this. He rebuked Peter for it. It diminished the power and necessity for the atoning work of Christ. This is why the Jerusalem Council was held in Acts 15. Which brings me back to Andy’s sermon. A sermon on Acts 15.

Leading into the sermon, there was an appeal made to anyone who has “lost faith, is leaving the faith, or who has already left their faith” and almost an apology along with it for the possibility that the Old Testament - or the preaching of it - was the catalyst behind their departure from their faith or the church. So to be clear, the starting ground and launch point for this sermon was that there are those out there for whom the Old Testament - the divinely inspired Word of God - has become a stumbling block for them to follow Jesus. The meat and message of this “sermon” is that it is solely the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead that brings us salvation and that we should care to share with those who don’t know Christ. For full disclosure, here is the sermon in it’s entirety if you’d like to watch it:

Not Difficult

Allow me, if you will, the opportunity to share why the message this sermon is sending is off target and point out some of the dangerous ideas - even ignorance and hypocrisy - that I believe it communicates.

First off, the fact that many First Century Jewish Christians were legalistically still clinging to much of the Law rather than embracing the atoning work of Christ, does not in any way justify that we - 21st Century Christians - need to negate the message, power, effectiveness and fulfillment of the Old Testament (or Old Covenant) in and through Christ. To be quite honest, I know countless more Christians today that lean toward antinomianism (recklessly abusing the grace of God) than toward legalism. I have a feeling the makeup of the people in Andy’s church is quite similar. I’m not saying that there are countless heathens in our churches, but that if the majority leans one way or the other, it’s toward the abuse of grace and not the practice of a legalistic, black and white adherence to the law.

If Andy had actually preached an expository sermon on Acts 15, everyone there that morning would know that Paul actually used the Old Testament (Amos 9) to communicate the prophesied call of God to save the Gentiles, and as a result, the necessity of the Jews not to impress unnecessary demands on them. This was a perfect opportunity not to “unhitch” from the Old Testament, but to actually preach it and make the point. But this is one more example of coming up with what you (we) think needs to be preached and going into the scriptures to make our point rather than allowing the scriptures to make their own point and us (as preachers) calling attention to it. This is expository preaching.

The irony that this sermon was actually preached from Acts 15 is (in my opinion) quite deep.

Let’s go a bit further.

Andy constantly makes the point that, during the First Century, the people didn’t have the scriptures. Of course they didn’t have the New Testament yet; they were living it out. Paul hadn’t written or sent his letters yet. The Gospels were penned during these days. But they most certainly had the Old Testament. They had the Prophets. They knew the Psalms. They chanted and sang the Songs of Ascent (Psalm 121-150) on their way to the Temple. They recited the Proverbs. They told their children and their children’s children the story of the Exodus. When you have a right understanding of the Old Testament - that from creation to the Garden, to the Flood, to the Exodus, and to the Kings and through the Prophets it was all pointing to Jesus - you understand how powerfully the Old Testament came to life for the First Century church.

The entire book of Romans is catalyzed by Habakkuk 2:4, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

The entire book of Hebrews is a celebration of the fulfillment of the Old Covenant in Christ.

Let’s go back to the resurrection.

After Jesus rose from the dead, 2 of his followers left Jerusalem and went back to Emmaus. Jesus appeared to them on the road, but they were kept from recognizing him. They began (in deep despair) explaining to Jesus what had happened: that Jesus (yes, himself) had been crucified. And (my paraphrase) "we thought he was the Messiah, but obviously not. And some of his really crazy followers are claiming he rose from the dead. But we haven’t seen him. We won’t believe that until we see.” At that point, what does Jesus do? I’ll let Luke tell you:

“Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Luke 24:27

When Peter stood up at Pentecost, under the power and outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and began to preach the gospel, what did he do? He begins quoting Joel (the prophet) and David (the king) - the Old Testament. And Peter points out that David “foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of Christ…” Part of the power of the resurrection of Christ is that God - through the OT prophets - had continually for years and years and generation after generation revealed, prophesied, and foretold that that was exactly what He was going to do.

Friends, the last thing on earth we ought to do is “unhitch from the Old Testament”! It is the glorious revelation of the rebellion of man, the insufficiency of our own efforts to ever be able to make it right, the simultaneous mercy of God to constantly pursue, restore, and save His people, and the ultimate plan (from the very beginning) to redeem them (us) and reconcile them (us) back to Himself through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son.

 The Old Testament is all about Jesus! 

You don't want to unhitch from Jesus!

If the Old Testament is a stumbling block for someone to come to Jesus, it's because it's not be rightly preached or understood or both. It all points to Jesus.

Andy Stanley is possibly one of the best communicators out there. I believe he loves the Lord with all his heart and soul. I am praying that he will begin to see that the Old Testament is not a stumbling block, but a building block, to reveal the eternal truth of the redemption of mankind through Jesus Christ. His life, death, and resurrection.

Stop Underestimating Your Kids!

Recently, I’ve had multiple conversations with different parents who’ve expressed a similar & troubling sentiment or idea. To put it as plainly as possible, when talking about their family’s lack of engagement or participation (in something that the parents themselves claim to be important and priority for their family), the very short, but simple reason given for not attending or participating is something to this effect:

My kid(s) doesn’t want to come.

My kids don’t really enjoy that.

My son has a hard time sitting still.

These conversations have ranged from everything from going to see a math tutor, attending an extracurricular or sporting event their sibling was participating in, or even participating in corporate worship together as a family. The circumstances and situations have been all over the board. The reasons have not. And I think we need to give serious consideration to the implications of these ideas and reasons.

I have ADD. I struggled with this as a kid, first expressed in hyperactivity and then later on during middle school days more with a lack of being able to pay attention and to focus. That said, I would say the effects of it in my life have never been any more than what I will classify as mild. I use that word because I have had the opportunity to see people who have truly wrestled with ADD and ADHD who have been all but paralyzed by it without medication. That wasn’t me. But it was definitely a struggle, especially because no one knew what it even was at the time. If you ask my friends from that part of my life if they could look back and see that in me they would probably all laugh, but at the time no one knew what to name it other than “Brian can’t control himself.” I’m pretty sure I could have had my own cubicle in the Vice Principal’s office at Bailey Junior High School. Maybe I did. I don’t remember.

That same kid (me), from probably age 3 on, also sat through church worship services every single Sunday of my life. Sometimes on Sunday morning, and then again on Sunday night. I’m quite positive that in my lifetime I probably drew 1,000 pictures, played 100 connect-the-dots games, and wrote countless notes during sermons. Not about the sermon. I’m quite certain I daydreamed in church just like I did in class at school. My mind went all kinds of places. But here’s what I’m also certain of: while there were many times I was not actively listening, and there were even times that I was listening, but possibly not understanding, I was constantly absorbing the Word of God. It was echoing in my thoughts. It would reverberate in my heart and mind. For years. And at some point, through the power of the Holy Spirit, it came to life!

As a pastor, but more importantly as a Christ-follower trying to disciple my own children, here’s why I think this is relevant and so important.

Remember what Paul told the Romans in his letter (10:17): “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.”

We’re giving our kids too many free passes. We’re giving them too many outs.

We’re making up excuses for them that they don’t even know to make.

To be honest, we’re selling them out because we underestimate them.

We’re validating what the culture is teaching them rather than reinforcing what the Lord wants to teach them.

Along with that, we are underestimating the power of the very Word of God.

I know. 35 minutes is a long time to sit still. 

Unless you’re watching TV or a movie. Unless you’re reading a great book. 

Unless you’re in a hammock enjoying the breeze or on a beach listening to the waves.

Parents: Part of Proverbs 22:6 (“Train up a child in the way he should go and in the end he will not depart from it”) is understanding that your children need to hear the Word proclaimed. They need to see you worship. They need to know the reason(s) we gather together as the body of Christ each week to worship, seek, and honor the Lord. They need you to get in the car afterward and generate gospel discussions with them about what Jesus has done for them and how he’s changed your life.

How he’s changed your life.

He is changing your life, right? Jesus? The good news of the gospel? The hope of Christ?

Can I shoot straight with you? I think most of the time we’re not just selling our kids out; we’re giving ourselves a way out. What I’m seeing is that most of the time a parent gives their child a free pass or a way out, it’s because they really don’t hold that thing to be a priority either. Your child's issue may be self-control or hyperactivity - like mine was for so long. But my concern for you as a parent is that for you...it could just be apathy. 

Parents: There are 2 things that bring kids to the place of engaging: Desire & Discipline

Your child may not have the desire. That’s OK. That’s when we still have to show them what’s important, what’s priority, and that what’s good for us - what we need - may not always be what we think we want. That's what discipline looks like.

Lord, give us courage and vision to lead our children. Give us strength to stand for what’s right and good and to lead them in the way everlasting. May they see the light of the hope of the gospel shining through us and through our church families. May they not only hear the life-changing news of the gospel; may it come to life through faith within their hearts!