So if I think a message is going to be somewhat controversial or could be taken the wrong way, I’ll bring people from our staff that I think are part of the demographic that could take it the wrong way and say, “Hey, here’s the outline. Tony: Does that make it harder or easier for you to accomplish your mission as a church?Īndy: I am more sensitized to what I don’t want to accidentally say, or I don’t want to accidentally say it in a way that’s accidentally offensive. And all my sermons are being filtered through multiple filters. Suddenly those filters, whether it’s the COVID filter, the vaccine filter, the political filter, the racial filter, all of these filters now are sitting right in front of people. How has that dynamic changed especially in recent years of your ministry?Īndy: With all the division within culture, and specifically in or any really Metro area, people come to church with their guard up, or with their new informed opinion and their politics on the front burner. That has to make it challenging to reach and minister to a diverse mission field. Tony: The communities where North Point is located have grown to be very diverse. There’s misinformation and everyone is a victim of cognitive bias and confirmation bias. And now with social media, everybody has a microphone and an opinion. Unfortunately it’s probably a tension that we manage rather than a problem to be solved. I’m hearing it from pastors all the time, and we’re all kind of looking for a solution. What’s your perspective? What’s distinctive about today that may be contributing to that division?Īndy: I’ve never seen anything like it, and obviously it’s the combination of several things: COVID, racial tension, and then of course all the political things that are going on. Tony: You’ve been in ministry a little longer than I have, but it feels like churches are dealing with more division than I’ve witnessed in my lifetime. Here are some of the highlights from that conversation: I hope it provides some encouragement for pastors leading in this difficult season. I interviewed Andy on topics like being a church for the unchurched, navigating political divides in our congregation, living and leading from the messy middle, and how churches can break through the noise of social media and the news. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with my pastor and friend Andy Stanley, Lead Pastor of North Point Community Church and host of the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast, for a candid conversation on leading a church in the midst of the political and cultural divisions that are impacting churches across the country.
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