... on Homosexuality (pt.1).

But first, a response to Andy Stanley’s “I Love my Church” message (North Point Community Church | October 1st, 2023)

Full thoughts to come…

This past Sunday (October 1st, 2023) Andy Stanley addressed his church body at North Point Community Church regarding the recent controversies and so called “criticisms” of his hosting the Unconditional Conference. During his address, Andy made the statement that many gay people who attend his church have told him personally that they “prayed God would take it away.” Andy added his own commentary in saying, “’prayed’ is not powerful enough of a word. They begged God… and God did not answer their prayers.”[1]

Perhaps this shows insight to, what I believe to be, a fatal error in Andy’s understanding of prayer.

I think there’s a difference in praying for God to take away something from me (i.e. my personal desire to lose a temptation) and praying for God’s will to be done in, through, and regardless of my desires. This very well may be a connection to the misplacement of one’s identity. If my identity is founded in Christ, then God will supernaturally align my prayers with His will. However, if my identity is rooted in my desires (corrupted by my sin nature), then my prayers will always be intrinsically self-satisfying, and not aligned with God’s will for me, but rather my will for God (these are the kind of prayers that God does not answer) … I think it’s sad that Andy did not make this distinction, but rather but simply saying “God did not answer their prayers” he implies a failure on God’s part. Failure in being faithful to those who love him, which in turn means God is not faithful to His word, making God less than God. This is such a major problem implied in such a simple lack of clarification…

_____________________________ [1] The original leaked audio of Andy’s message includes this quote. The posted video message on the Northpoint Community Church website does not include this line.