Andy Stanley: “You Only Have to Believe Two Miracles to Be a Christian”

He argues that those two miracles are all you need to believe to be a Christian but that believing them “opens the door to making the other miracles more acceptable.” Clearly, he’s trying to market Christianity to seekers and doubters by lowering the threshold for belief. He’s basically saying “Don’t worry about the Bible. You don’t need to believe it: just believe that God is the ‘uncaused Cause’ who made the universe and that Jesus rose from the dead, and bingo, you’re in! And maybe you’ll come to believe other parts of the Bible later.”

This is a seeker-sensitive, “palatable Christianity” strategy, but will it make robust disciples of Christ who will live radically different from the people around them, think biblically, passionately share Christ with others, endure persecution and hardship joyfully, suffer well, hate their sin and seek to put it to death, and daily recount the Word of God to their children? I think you know the answer! But this is nothing new for Andy Stanley.

The goal of Christianity is not to just tiptoe people past the threshold of belief—it’s to make disciples!

Jesus frequently saw his crowds dwindle because he preached hard messages to them. He didn’t present the bare minimum (if those two miracles are indeed even the minimum) and then hope people could accept that and then gradually learn to accept other teachings too.

We don’t observe anyone in Scripture using Stanley’s “bare bones” method for evangelism because it’s not biblical. We’re never told to water down the gospel and Christianity to try to make it an easier pill to swallow. In fact, we’re told that Christianity will be, by its very nature, a hard pill to swallow because it looks weak and foolish to the world! There will be few on the narrow road.

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
    and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18–24)

Also consider that Stanley’s message was presented not during an evangelistic event but in a church service, presumably filled with believers. They are being told by their pastor, who is supposed to be their spiritual shepherd who authoritatively preaches and exposits the Word of God to them and disciples them, that it’s okay not to believe the Bible—you can be a Christian and barely believe any of it! What a low view of Scripture he’s imparting to his flock and to the impressionable children and young people sitting in the pews.

When Paul exhorts the young pastor Timothy, he points him to the Word of God, saying it’s God’s Word, not some kind of bare minimum belief you must intellectually assent to, that “makes you wise for salvation”:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:14–17)

Christianity isn’t about agreeing that two miracles happened. It’s about a life completely surrendered to Christ!

When we come to Christ, we turn from our sin, recognize we cannot save ourselves, and throw ourselves upon the grace and mercy of the God-man, Jesus, who died in our place, took the punishment we deserve for our sins on his body on the cross, and then rose from the grave. It’s about the old man dying and a new man being born in his place. It’s a transition from death to life—not a transition from believing in atheistic evolution to some form of theistic creation and the resurrection.

There’s no doubt from things he’s said over the years that Andy Stanley has a very low view of Scripture. He seems almost apologetic for much of the Bible! And he certainly doesn’t stand on a literal Genesis like we do at Answers in Genesis. And it’s from that foundation that this kind of weak, wimpy teaching flows.

Yes, your view of Scripture matters, and that’s why we’re so passionate at Answers in Genesis about biblical authority and the truth of God’s Word. We have no reason to be ashamed of Scripture, hiding its truths behind a low entry bar. When we actually believe and love God’s Word—seeing it as good, wise, and true—we can authoritatively call people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and his perfect Word.

Get More Answers on Answers News

This item was discussed Monday on Answers News with cohosts Rob Webb, Roger Patterson, and Dr. Marisa Tillery. Answers News is our weekly news program filmed live before a studio audience here at the Creation Museum, Broadcast on our Answers in Genesis YouTube channel, and posted to Answers TV. We also covered the following topics:

• A stunning percent of churchgoers admit to viewing pornography.
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• Male athletes have stolen nearly 900 medals from women.
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Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.