Deep & Wide: Andy Stanley

Deep & Wide - Andy Stanley

On the actual responsibility of leadership as opposed to our perceived responsibility. Give of yourself:

As leaders we are never responsible for filling anyone else's cup. Our responsibility is to empty ours.

On the importance of integrity and the primary importance of being a dad and husband before a church leader:

What goes on at home is the litmus test of a man or woman's walk with God, not how well he or she does once a microphone is strapped on.

On the need of the church:

The church needs leaders who are willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure that we hand it off to the next generation in better shape than we found it.

On the real nature of church as people not building:

An ekklesia was simply a gathering or an assembly of people called out of specific purpose. Ekklesia never referred to a specific place, only a specific people.

...While it's amazing that the church survived the persecution of the first century, it may be more amazing that it survived the institutionalisation and corruption of the centuries that followed. But it did survive. Jesus promised it would. As it turned out, the kirche of man could not contain the ekklesia of Jesus.

On the gospel message:

The New Testament is clear. We are not mistakers in need of correction. We are sinners in need of a Saviour.

 Grace or truth?

Jesus did not come to strike a balance between grace and truth. He brought the full measure of both.

It's easy to create an all-truth church model. It may be even easier to create an all-grace model. But Jesus didn't leave either option on the table. 

It's pointless to tell me I'm forgiven if I'm not sure why I need forgiveness in the first palce. That's the beauty of grace and truth. They compliment. They are both necessary. They are not part of a continuum. They are not opposite ends of a pole. They are the two essential ingredients. Without massive doses of both, you won't have a healthy gathering.

On pastoral approach:

We walk toward to messes. In other words, we don't feel compelled to sort everything or everyone out ahead of time. We are not going to spend countless hours creating policies for every eventuality. Instead we've chosen to wade in hip-deep and sort things out one relationship, one conversation, at a time.

Great quote on integrity:

If you want to know what people mean by what they say, watch what they do. Actions don't only speak louder than words; actions should be used to interpret words. 

Communication section:

People are far more interested in what works than what's true. I hate to burst your bubble, but virtually nobody in your church is on a truth quest. Including your spouse. They are on happiness quests.

On finding connection points with an audience and being students of people:

Culture is like the wind. You can't stop it. You shouldn't spit in it. But, if like a good sailor you will adjust your sails, you can harness the winds of culture to take your audience where they need to go.

On getting people to read their Bibles: 'I'm not above saying things like "You should read the Bible so you will have more moral authority when you tell people you don't believe it. Don't be like the kid who says he doesn't like string beans but never tasted them. Come on, what are you afraid of!"

On challenging unchurched people as well as Christians, he says:

When people are convinced you want something FOR them rather than something FROM them, they are less likely to be offended when you challenge them.

Approach to preaching:

My approach is to entice the audience to follow me into one passage of scripture with the promise that the text is either going to answer a question they've been asking, solve a mystery they've puzzled over, or resolve a tension they've been carrying. Once we are in the text, I do my best to let it pseak for itself. I go slowly, I highlight words. I leverage the drama. I roll them around in the text until it gets all over them. I bring my energy to a text and I do my best to uncover the energy in the text. Once they are thoroughly embroiled with the passage, I take on carefully crafted statement that emerges from the point of the text and do everything in my power to make it stick.