Andy Stanley is the founder of North Point Ministries, one of the fastest growing Christian organizations in America. More than 20,000 adults attend worship services at one of NPM’s three Atlanta-area campuses, and the group has planted 16 additional churches around the country. Andy wants to change the way the church works, and in his new book he seeks to change how people think about their lives.

How do you define your purpose in life, and how did you find it?

My goal is to create churches that unchurched people love to attend. The church I attended growing up was a wonderful church. But I had lots of unchurched people I just didn’t feel I could invite there. It just wasn’t designed with them in mind. So when I had a chance to do something on my own, that was what I wanted to change.

So you’re trying to reinvent the church. Are you trying to reinvent the pastorate, too?

I’ve been accused of that, specifically about being too “corporate.” But that hasn’t been my intent.

In the Bible, pastoring is a gift, like giving or administration. It’s not a role. And when we get roles and job descriptions and gifting all mixed up, things get a little crazy.

I do tend to be pretty corporate, but that’s because I believe there’s an organizational side to ministry. And if the church is going to be an organization, I want it to be a great organization that people in the business world look at and say, “Wow, how did they do such a good job of creating an organizational culture, developing staff relationships, staying on task, staying focused, and being great stewards with money?" A lot of pastors don’t enjoy the organizational part of things, so they let it slide, or delegate it to others.

Your father, Charles Stanley, is a well-known pastor, teacher and author who has been working in Atlanta since 1971. Are there any generational shifts you see between you and your dad?

Not really. After all, I’m 50. It’s not like I’m 30 or something. I’m a boomer. But my wife often tells me I have friends my age who are way older than I am!

Your latest book is The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. Unlike other books about finding life direction, you don’t focus on finding God’s will. Why?

Because I don’t think the question, “What is God’s will for my life?” is the most helpful question to ask.

Suppose someone were to ask me, “Andy, to what do you attribute the growth of North Point?” If I say, “God,” that’s true, but that’s not a very helpful answer. You can’t go and learn or apply anything from that.

I teach my three kids to pray for God’s will every night, but in the book I argue that your prayer life really doesn’t determine the direction of your life. The decisions you make determine the direction of your life.

If you pray in one direction and walk in another direction, you’re obviously going to wind up where you walk, not where you pray. Some may say that’s a secular approach, but I say it’s common sense.

Your book suggests Christians should ask themselves “The best question ever.” That question is: “In light of my past experience, my present circumstances, and my future hopes and dreams, what’s the wise thing to do?” Where did that question come from?

It came out of my frustration after talking to a lot of people who had problems with their relationships, their finances, their career, their relationships with their kids, their academic life.

Whenever I would talk to these folks they would scratch their heads and say, “How did I end up here?” But when I hear their stories, it’s pretty obvious how they ended up here. I tell them, “You chose a path that led you to exactly where you are.”

This principle is so obvious that we shouldn’t even have to talk about it. Take highway travel. If you go south, you will end up somewhere south of where you are now. It’s the same in life. If you move in one direction thinking you can actually end up somewhere else, your direction trumps your intention nearly every single time.

You finished writing the book last fall before the economic recession really hit. But this you wrote could be written today about our country: “If you choose the path of financial irresponsibility, you will eventually arrive at an unenviable destination. An economic downturn just speeds up the trip.”

People are asking, “How did our country get in this mess?” It’s because this is the direction we’ve been headed in. We’ve arrived at the destination that anyone who moves in the direction of debt and lack of financial discipline arrives at.

As a nation, we have made the same kinds of excuses we make as individuals. “Things will be fine.” “We’ll work our way out of this.” “We’re too smart to fail. “We’re the United States of America!” We thought we would be able to intend ourselves out of the direction we had been taking for many years. But that’s not the way things work.

Moving in the right direction always requires extraordinary discipline. But people are generally undisciplined, and they choose unhealthy paths, financially and physically. That’s why we are in debt and overweight.

You’re a leader, a pastor, and a communicator. How do you define success? How do you know if what you’re doing is making a difference?

I thrive on stories of life change. I love reading e-mails from people who have changed their direction.

At North Point, before we baptize people we show the congregation two- or three-minute videos each person makes about their lives and why they are being baptized. We bring each person in and let them tape it as many times as they want. Then we show the videos before we baptize them. This is probably the best thing we do as a church. When we show the videos, people cheer, yell, and scream. We make big deal of it. And we play and replay those videos in our staff meetings.

When people make a decision that moves them in a different direction, that just fuels me like nothing else!


Mike Effinger - Baptism from buckheadchurch on Vimeo.



What’s your relationship with Rick Warren?

We’ve met a couple of times, and I interviewed him April 22 during a session at the Catalyst West conference for leaders.

I’ve never seen anybody as comfortable with himself in various public situations as Rick is. I think that says a lot about the family he grew up in.

Steve Rabey is an award-winning writer and an adjunct professor with Fuller Seminary.