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A Critical Review of Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley

January 1, 2013 by Jared Sparks 4 Comments

After reading so many positive and so few critical reviews on this book I decided to throw down some thoughts. Just felt like this review (My first book review) may be helpful.

Deep and Wide: Creating Churches that UnChruched People love to Attend by Andy Stanley is a book that is about creating churches that unchurched people love to attend. Obvious I know.

What I Liked
Stanley does a phenomenal job telling the story of how North Point Community Church began. Over the years many have wanted to know what went on between father and son that prompted Andy’s departure. Chapter 1 and 2 chronicle the story well. These two chapters were by far the best of the book. God granted Andy much courage to do the right thing even with the uncertainty that comes with leaving a church like FBC Atlanta. Following those fist two chapters, there was little in the book that I found helpful. However, I did enjoy many of Stanley’s one-liners that He is so well known for.

What I did Not Like
In chapters 3 and 4 in the book Stanley asks and answers the questions “What is the Church?” and “Who is the church for”. To answer these questions he looked at the life and ministry of Jesus to see what kind of people Jesus hung around with. Stanley concludes that the church is the people that hang around Jesus at his (Jesus gatherings). As an example, those who listened in to the Sermon on the Mount were the church, because they were gathered around and with Jesus. Stanley then answers the second question by declaring over and over again that the church is for unchurched people. Here are a few quotes that make this clear.
• And since people who were nothing like Jesus liked Jesus, people who are nothing like Jesus should like us as well. Loc 58
• We were just the only church designed from the ground up to capture the imaginations of unchurched people. Let’s face it, if you have the only hot dog stand in town, your hot dogs don’t have to be that good. Loc 64
• We genuinely want to be a network of churches that unchurched people find irresistible. Loc 89
• We grade ourselves on how attractive we are to our target audience loc 90
• We are unapologetically attractional. In our search for common ground with unchurched people, we’ve discovered that, like us, they are consumers. So we leverage their consumer instincts. By the way, if your church has heating and air conditioning, you do too. When you read the Gospels, it’s hard to overlook the fact that Jesus attracted large crowds everywhere he went. He was constantly playing to the consumer instincts of his crowds. Let’s face it: It wasn’t the content of his messages that appealed to the masses. Most of the time they didn’t even understand what he was talking about. Heck, we’re not always sure what he was talking about. People flocked to Jesus because he fed them, healed them, comforted them, and promised them things. Loc 106

So what, if anything, is wrong with these conclusions? First, the people Andy defines as the church were primarily consumers. This becomes clear when Jesus stopped doing for people what the people wanted Him to do for them. What happened to all the “Jesus Gathering” when Jesus called himself God and called out their idolatry? The answer is simple. Those same people (In the Jesus Gathering) ended up crucifying Him and leaving Him. That is the main flaw of using the miracles and parables of Jesus as defense of any sort of “Seeker” model. The consumers abandoned and killed Him. Stanley’s definitions and understandings of the church are unique to him and the seeker movement. A simple survey of church history will show that know that no serious theologian/author/ or pastor agrees with his definition of Church. The church is not just a group gathering around people talking about Jesus. The church is people Christ died for and purchased (Acts 20:28, Eph 5:25). Christianity 101 tells us that to be the church one has to become a Christian. The bible is also clear on who the church is for. The church exists for God not for unbelievers (Is 43:7, 1 Pet 2:9-10). The church is never to be about the salvation of sinners before we are about the Glory of God. We are about the salvation of sinners because we are about the Glory of God. The end is the sinner worshiping God not us celebrating and catering to the person.
         I also found myself shaking my fist at the implications that follow Stanley’s bad definitions. This plays out particularly in Stanley’s view of preaching. Consider this “We are constantly asking our preachers and teachers: What do you want them to know? What do you want them to do? What can we do to create next steps?” loc 1254. Do you see the problem? It could be stated as follows: What law do you what them to know? What law do you want them to do? What are the laws to keep the laws? This view of preaching contains the faulty presupposition that humans can live out the law if we can just make it simple and practical enough. It is uncanny how similar this idea is to the teaching of the Pharisees. The Pharisees taught and believed that scripture is where to find life Jn 5:39. Jesus corrected them to let them know that the Scriptures are about him, and it is He that gives life. Any view of preaching that has, as its goal, law adherence instead of the Glory of God through the exhalation of Christ is seriously wrong.

Although there is much more that could be commented on I will wrap this up by pointing out Stanley’s apparent disdain for who he calls “Church People”. I can’t tell if he thinks “Church people” are unbelievers or believers. Either way, he clearly does not like them or the churches they are a part of. He so strongly reacts to traditional church he grew up in that he throws all of them under the bus. If Andy believes church people are Christians I would ask “Why do you not care for them?”. He seems to think they are purposeless hypocrites. If Stanley believes these “Church People” are unbelievers it would seems that he would want them to repent and trust in Jesus. That does not appear to be the case. Here are a few quotes to consider.
• I grew up around people who believed the church was for saved people who acted like saved people. I’m all too familiar with that church brand. The catch was that they were the ones who decided what act like a saved person meant. Loc 767
• Churches designed for saved people are full of hypocrites. Loc 774
• You pretty much have to be a hypocrite to participate. Transparency and honesty are dangerous in a church created for church people. Loc 775
An unhealthy reaction to his tradtional church background is apparent through the whole book.

Conclusion
As you can tell I am not one of the readers who loved this book. I found it frustrating, boarder-line unbiblical, and offensive. Although Stanley clearly believes God has done what He has done at North Point BECAUSE of their model, it is more fitting to praise God for what He has done in spite it. My recommendation is to pass on this book or read with caution. Contrary to what Stanley believes, there are faithful biblical alternatives to the North Point model.

To read my highlights and notes on the book you can click Here

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About Jared Sparks

Christian, Husband, Father, Pastor, Runner.

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Who is Jared?

Christian. Husband to Jordan. Father to Ransom. Pastor. Biblical Counselor. Runner.

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