Andy Stanley’s Associate Pastor Tells Mom Her Gay Daughter is ‘Saved’
It’s really no secret that Andy Stanley’s Northpoint Church is gay-friendly, as Stanley himself once preached a sermon condemning that adultery of a man who left his wife to be with another man, instead of condemning the homosexuality.
9Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (ESV)
In an email exchange posted on Facebook by Jennifer O’Rourke, Gavin Adams, one of Andy Stanley’s associate pastors, at one of his church plant campuses, Woodstock City Church in Woodstock, GA, told her that her daughter, who came out as gay, is “saved.”
The daughter had been an active member of the church — apparently as a small group leader and a stage leader (whatever that is) — and had been asked to step down because of a “major life change” and for “her own health.” Adams writes,
I am still working through some options, but I wanted to respond directly to your message. So you know, in most of our leadership volunteer positions (small group leaders, stage, etc.), when a person goes through a significant life change moment (as Kaitlyn is doing), we often ask them to step away for a season for their own health. This is especially true with our younger leaders.
Pressed by the grieving, affirming mother, Adams also tells her that they should “celebrate” her coming out as a lesbian,
Your daughter’s public pronouncement can be celebrated by family and friends. But if we ignore it or pretend it didn’t happen publicly, we potentially will cause others to stumble: other volunteers who are still exploring faith, other parents who don’t agree or understand, and other kids who aren’t ready for this conversation.
So the reason they asked her to step down has nothing to do with the fact that she’s in rebellion against God — they are simply concerned about their numbers. Asking her to step down while affirming her salvation simply allows them to continue to walk both sides of the aisle and not be bound to any strict biblical principles. But affirming a God-hating rebellious sexually immoral unregenerate person as “saved” is more than unprincipled — it’s blasphemous. He writes,
If I could say it this way: This is so much bigger than your daughter. Paul believed it was way bigger than him, too. This is as big as our mission and the Kingdom, and anything that could cause our mission to suffer is always considered. Sometimes that feels deeply personal. But I would ask you to consider if it’s worth taking this stand and continuing to volunteer in the exact same position if someone else’s faith would struggle or never begin. Paul seems to suggest that is working against the gospel. We don’t want to make points — we want to make differences. We are working towards salvation, not stands. Your daughter is saved, which positions her and us all alike in that others now are our priority.
You can read the entire exchange, here.