Andy Stanley’s Temple Model

Amy Jacobs:

For the past few weeks, [Andy] Stanley has been exhorting Christians to ditch their traditional “temple model” ways and go back to the one command Jesus prioritized — to love your neighbor as yourself.

The “temple model,” as defined by Stanley, “grants extraordinary power to sacred men in sacred places who determine the meaning of sacred texts.”

While the arrival of Jesus signaled the end of the temple model, the pastor said, Christians have continued to create versions of the temple model with rules and rituals that essentially placed the focus on themselves.

“The temple model is you-centered,” Stanley explained. “The heart of the temple model is this question: what must I do or believe to make things and keep things right between God and me?

“Because at the end of the day, my religion is all about me. Your approach to religion and your approach to Christianity is really about you.”

But that’s not what Jesus intended for His followers, according to Stanley.

“The Jesus model is centered on the you beside you (your neighbor),” the pastor said.