Thread: Andy Stanley apologizes for small church, 'selfish' parents comments

I am not an Andy Stanley fan but all of us preachers are guilty of saying dumb things. He was humble enough to apologize so small church pastors (doubt if any mega-church pastors were offended) should be forgiving and remember that we are all guilty of making the dumb pulpit gaffs.

In some sense I THINK I know where he is coming from. If you are attending a small church that does not offer the type of ministry that could help your child to grow in Christ and you are focused more on your personal "church needs" than those of your children then that can be self-centered. However, the mistake is to believe that the kids' needs of this type can only be met in a mega-church. Furthermore, I am sure that some kids grow up in mega churches and still hate the church when they are older. I highly doubt that church size is the largest factor in why kids leave the church when they become adults, though I am sure that it is one of the contributors.

While some mega churches are that way because of the moving of God's Spirit, others do reach people through compromise and a watered down message. Therefore, one should be careful about exalting the mega church in general.

On the same note, some churches remain small because they are DEAD while others are small because they refuse to compromise the truth and people would rather be in a larger setting where they get their ears tickled. Furthermore, some pastors prefer to remain small and refuse to do outreach. That indeed is selfish.

Originally Posted by victoryword

I am not an Andy Stanley fan but all of us preachers are guilty of saying dumb things. He was humble enough to apologize so small church pastors (doubt if any mega-church pastors were offended) should be forgiving and remember that we are all guilty of making the dumb pulpit gaffs.

In some sense I THINK I know where he is coming from. If you are attending a small church that does not offer the type of ministry that could help your child to grow in Christ and you are focused more on your personal "church needs" than those of your children then that can be self-centered. However, the mistake is to believe that the kids' needs of this type can only be met in a mega-church. Furthermore, I am sure that some kids grow up in mega churches and still hate the church when they are older. I highly doubt that church size is the largest factor in why kids leave the church when they become adults, though I am sure that it is one of the contributors.

While some mega churches are that way because of the moving of God's Spirit, others do reach people through compromise and a watered down message. Therefore, one should be careful about exalting the mega church in general.

On the same note, some churches remain small because they are DEAD while others are small because they refuse to compromise the truth and people would rather be in a larger setting where they get their ears tickled. Furthermore, some pastors prefer to remain small and refuse to do outreach. That indeed is selfish.

Well put Troy. I get irritated when Church leaders put other Christian church leaders on public blast. Whatever happened to "going to your brother and tell him his fault between you and him alone?" We are so hard & critical on pastors and public ministers. It's no wonder why folk are skeptical about hooking up with a church. We don't even show compassion for our own when they make a mistake. smh 😣

The ones who complained publicly, could have went to the pastor privately or messaged him, told him their grievance, and encourage him to apologize publicly.

Instead, they blast it on social media. I have little respect for those that take pleasure in shaming church leaders in public. ��

Arelia, if you look at some of those tweets the pastors were definitely offended. Should mail each of them a copy of "The Bait of Satan" by John Bevere and after they read it they won't keep getting upset when they feel insulted by a mega church pastor

apologies are good but they don't mean a change of heart...it appears Andy believes that children need such high end ministries to become faithful disciples of Christ...since I believe that is the work of the Holy Spirit I can't say vehemently enough how wrong this man was on this..

Originally Posted by Quest

pologies are good but they don't mean a change of heart...it appears Andy believes that children need such high end ministries to become faithful disciples of Christ...since I believe that is the work of the Holy Spirit I can't say vehemently enough how wrong this man was on this..

Just a reminder that I am not an Andy Stanley fan. However, he di say:

"I’m not looking for sympathy here," Stanley said. "It was devastating because my words undermined the importance, significance, and sacrifice of thousands of church planters and ministry leaders."

It sounds like a sincere apology and change of heart to me. I suppose that time will tell.