USA – Pastor Andy Stanley, founder of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, believes his fellow pastors need to stop uttering “the Bible says” when addressing congregations.
Stanley, who detailed his views on the matter in an interview with Christianity Today, said that it’s more effective for faith leaders to use phrases like “Paul says” or “Jesus says” when speaking about the Bible — and that avoiding “the Bible says” can help keep skeptics engaged in sermons.
“The goal is to lead [people] to the place where they acknowledge Jesus to be who he claimed to be. They don’t have to believe Noah built an ark and put animals on it to get there,” Stanley said. “To get a person to the point where they believe the Bible is authoritative, they first have to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. The reason Christians take the Old Testament seriously is because Jesus did.”
Stanley, who made this same argument in his 2012 book “Deep & Wide,” also told Christianity Today that the tactic helps Christians better focus on biblical themes and stories.
“It has nothing to do with my view of Scripture but is an attempt to keep people who are skeptical of the Bible’s authority engaged in the sermon,” he added.
Stanley said that using the phrase sometimes leads pastors to miss opportunities and that relying Bible characters’ quotes can help certain themes more deeply resonate.
Church planter Darryl Dash recently summarized this argument in a blog post, noting that Stanley’s wording would include examples like “James, the brother of Jesus, writes…” and “Paul, who hated Christians and yet became one, writes…” instead of simply saying “the Bible says.”
CT asked experts if pastors should stop using phrases like “The Bible says” in their sermons. Read the entire article here.
(H/T: Christianity Today)
