Sounding like a postmodern, subjectivist—which he is—Andy Stanley preached in a recent sermon that “good” is a moving target and that there is no universal standard of good and that God has not clearly revealed a standard of good to all of us.
Stanley says this in Contradiction to the clear teaching of Romans 1:18-20, which says:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Notice that not only does it say that God’s revelation is “plain” to them because God has “showed it to them,” it also says that those who refuse to see it are under the wrath of God for suppressing that clear revelation. For this, they are without excuse.
Stanley’s hostility to the Scriptures is nothing new. He’s asserted that the Scriptures are indefensible and that expository preaching is “easy” and “cheating,” even going as far as saying that it doesn’t matter if the Scriptures are true regarding the virgin birth of Christ. It is unsurprising that Stanley has stooped to such utter nonsense as he has clearly rejected the Scriptures as the authoritative Word of God, and has called for a de-coupling of Christianity from the Old Testament, which clearly reveals God’s moral character in his law. In a sermon in 2019, Stanley said that the Ten Commandments didn’t apply to Christians today.
Of course, God has revealed a universal standard of “good” to all of us. Further, Jesus told us that it was God alone who is the standard of good in Luke 18:19:
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
The notion that there is no standard of good is completely absurd and this foolishness should be outright rejected by Christians.
