The next night in my small group a couple of the ladies said, "Andy, you don't know how much it helped me to know that you doubt," because everybody assumes I don't doubt. "But if you can doubt and still believe that helps me." So I think anytime I can express — I don't mean make it up but sincerely say, "Boy I struggle with this too." Whenever I mention hell or eternal separation from God I almost always say, "You know, if God would give me five minutes and He'd turn His back I would erase all this part out of the Bible" I say, "If we all get to heaven and we find out that there's a loop hole and everybody gets to go to heaven, I'll be so happy. But the reason I believe that is because Jesus taught it. I am as uncomfortable with it as anybody in this room." Well then, they think, "OK, he understands, he's not so dogmatic." And it's true. I'm not making it up. I wish it wasn't there. I hope universalism is true. I don't think it is. But I have to believe it because of what Jesus talks about. I think that's huge.

Advertisement

I think its one reason we are able to communicate to the unbeliever and believer. People don't come here and get surface sermons because it's a seeker church. I've preached on everything. My view on divorce and remarriage is so narrow I might be all alone, but one Sunday I preached on it. I told them, "Here's what I believe the scripture teaches. You know this is the minority view and I hope I'm wrong and if you've got something I need to read send it to me but here's what Jesus said." So I think if we can be authentic, we can let scripture be the authority and we're simply the mouth piece — we'd just have all kinds of unbelievers that come week after week after week and say we don't believe it yet but we'll be back next week. Yet we have mature believers who flock to this church because they say that the teaching is so rich.

I don't think we have to go one way or the other. Preaching to unbelievers in a seeker church and the Bible church — I just think that dichotomy does not have to be there. If Jesus modeled anything — so many people of faith flocked to hear Him teach because He spoke with authority but Matthew and Zaccheus came too. How do you do that? He just took truth and made it clear and it was like "Wow." I think that the best thing I can do for the skeptical unbeliever is for them to go, "I didn't know that was in there," because the reason they don't believe it is because they think it's irrelevant. If for one moment there is a relevant thought that comes out of this book, that gives us credibility. What I enjoy about preaching, I think, is that "ah-ha" moment for people who either have been away for so long or it's gotten old or stale, or they just don't think its relevant.

Preaching: Some preachers say they can't just preach scripture as they would have previously because people don't come with an acceptance of the text's authority. A generation ago people walked in the church and there was a level of knowledge about scripture that doesn't exist.