Untangling Christianity Podcast

In evangelical Christian communities where self-deceit is prevalent, this dysfunction manifests as particular sets of expectations and codes of conduct that are tacitly created and act as “standards of faithfulness” for that community.  So whether similar to my previous examples or varied by type or degree, the creation of self-deceit based standards of faithfulness effects not […] The post Examples of self-deceit 3 (176) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

Having walked through one example, in the previous episode, of how an approach that is “self-deceit-aware” can reveal that a popular, evangelical belief is held because it is useful and self-serving, I want to analyze another, popular evangelical belief as well as several church situations, all using the same perspective of self-deceit. My second example […] The post Examples of Self-Deceit 2 (175) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In the context of evangelical Christianity, self-deceit functions to develop and maintain the “false consciousness” that key beliefs are held because they are true and that devotion to God, or piety (however flawed or imperfect) is the Christian’s main aim.  This false consciousness is a mask that we wear to obscure the real consciousness, which […] The post Examples of Self-Deceit 1 (174) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This episode is in some ways the culmination of all of the previous episodes on “First Steps”—the point toward which they were all building. On the one hand, the content of this episode directly addresses the most problematic aspect of evangelical dysfunction: its seeming invisibility to those that participate in it.  On the other hand, […] The post Foundations 7: Introducing Self-Deceit (173) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

Module 6 of “First Steps” addresses the development of self-awareness in order to become “full selves” and thereby, for non-Christians to better evaluate the value of Christianity and for Christians to reach maturity in their faith.  Yet the notion of “self-awareness” immediately poses several challenges.  First, the term is often used without sufficient definition, making […] The post Foundations 6: Self-awareness and Experience (172) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

The Foundations of Flourishing program is designed to assist Christians to recognize and overcome the entrenched dysfunction within evangelical Christianity and to assist non-Christians to decipher and evaluate the accessible, ‘here and now’ value within Christianity.  This dual approach overcomes two related problems that, left unattended, create alienation between (and potentially within) each group. First, […] The post Foundations 5: Conceptual Toolbox (171) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

“. . . in key ways, the evangelical church is neither able to help those inside become truly “Christ-like” nor is it able effectively to persuade those outside that “Christ-likeness” is a valuable or viable way of being.  To put it in Christian terms, in my view the evangelical church essentially fails at both discipleship and […] The post Revamping Untangling Christianity (170) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

The intention of this episode, the fifth episode on the Foundations of Flourishing curriculum 1, was for it to be a “round-up” of the previous four podcasts with a goal of highlighting the most important or perhaps under-exposed aspects of the first half of the curriculum that they present. However, over the course of producing […] The post Why Evangelicalism Fails (169) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This episode features content from module four of the “First Steps” curriculum, entitled: “Dialogue Skills: listening gently, speaking honestly.” Module four address a key skill for Christians, yet one this is mostly overlooked.  Specifically, as a religion eager to communicate its beliefs to outsiders—many of which are unreceptive and even hostile to these beliefs—it is […] The post Foundations 4: Communication is Key (168) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This is the third in a series of eight to ten episodes explaining the first curriculum (called “First Steps”) in the Foundations of Flourishing teaching program. In this episode Gregg focuses on the double-task of understanding, or “inventorying,” personal beliefs and then assessing how much one values these beliefs (and why).  At first glance “inventory […] The post Foundations 3: Inventory-taking (167) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This is the second in a series of eight to ten episodes explaining the first curriculum (called “First Steps”) in the Foundations of Flourishing teaching program. After last episode’s focus on the three negative elements that typically afflict evangelical churches (Legalism, Fear, Ignorance), here Gregg examines fear as the principal element that links legalism and […] The post Foundations 2: Understanding Fear (166) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

Legalism, fear, and ignorance: these three words represent tendencies and orientations that none of us would like to own up to, much less that Christians would want to admit to.  Sadly, however, the members of this trio are all too frequently cited by outsiders as reasons that Christians are phoney and that the Christian church […] The post Foundations 1: Legalism, Fear, Ignorance (165) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This is the third of the three-episode series where Gregg offers his views on the Whitehorse Inn podcast, “Do all paths lead to God?”  Specifically, Gregg is replying to the claim that this podcast is an example of how Christians “engage well” with outsiders—how they engage thoughtfully, on point, and respectfully with non-Christians and interact with […] The post Christians Go Back to Kindergarten (164) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This is the second episode in a three-part miniseries where Gregg offers his views on the Whitehorse Inn podcast, “Do all paths lead to God?”  Specifically, Gregg is replying to the claim that this podcast is an example of how Christians “engage well” with outsiders—how they engage thoughtfully, on point, and respectfully with non-Christians and […] The post Non-Christians Have “Reason Enough” (163) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode Gregg reviews an episode from the Whitehorse Inn podcast by Christian academician Michael Horton entitled: “Do all paths lead to God?” Gregg begins by noting that this podcast was offered in the Untangling Christianity Facebook group as an example of how Christians engage well with non-Christians (i.e., how Christians can engage thoughtfully, […] The post Fuzzy non-Christianity misrepresents non-Christians (162) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode Gregg returns to the notion of interpretation and its importance, particularly for Christians, given to the extent a central text—the Bible—informs and grounds their beliefs. Gregg explains that interpretation is a way of engaging with the world that we are always already doing.  This is so much the case that interpreting is […] The post Foggy Interpretation (161) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg follow-up to Episode #159, where they began discussing the process of letting go of what is old and familiar in favour of what is better, especially as it relates to Christian beliefs, beliefs about ourselves & our world, how we interact wit other information sources. Topics for today include […] The post The Lightning Round (160) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg consider Anna’s comments regarding the episode Problems with the Westminster Confession (155) and how they might respond to some of the situations that Anna is experiencing.  Anna writes: I think that each person lives their lives according to a unique narrative that belongs to them and them alone.  No […] The post Does Belief Have to Make Sense? (159) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode Gregg takes up John’s challenge of episode #157 to to lay out exactly what Gregg meant in #157 by explaining that we all seek to “occupying the narrator’s position” in our own lives, and particularly what he meant by the idea of narrative identity (and why he believes that this way of formulating […] The post Narrating, Not Writing Your Life (158) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this podcast John and Gregg team up to discuss the notion that Gregg raised in Episode #153, where he rejects the idea that we “write our own stories.” John finds the idea of writing one’s own story to be very important, to the point the we are “victims” if we do not.  Gregg wonders […] The post Do We Write Our Own Story? (157) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This episode is the fourth of a four-part series where Gregg reads excerpts from—and comments on—an excellent  conversation that took place in the Untangling Christianity Facebook group.  All comments and names are used with permission of the authors. In this podcast Gregg engages with Amy’s comments about “preaching the Word of God” and “sensing the […] The post faith AND suspicion; belief AND scepticism (156) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This episode is the third of a four-part series where Gregg reads excerpts from—and comments on—an excellent  conversation that took place in the Untangling Christianity Facebook group.  All comments and names are used with permission of the authors. In this podcast Gregg explains his comments at the end of the previous episode, #154, where he […] The post Problems with the Westminster Confession (155) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode Gregg continues his review of—and commentary on—a conversation that took place in the Untangling Christianity Facebook group.  NB: All comments have been quoted (and names mentioned) with permission. As with the first podcast in this series, this podcast is likely to move faster be “denser” than most, and so re-listening to sections […] The post Meeting Non-Christians Where They Are At (154) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode Gregg summarizes–and responds to–an interesting conversation that took place in the Untangling Christianity Facebook group in mid-September 2017.  Note: all comments have been quoted (and names mentioned) with permission. Gregg begins by indicating that this podcast is likely to move faster be “denser” than most, and so re-listening to sections may be […] The post Understanding Non-Christians Starts With Them (153) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode Gregg discusses comments made in the Untangling Christianity Facebook Group regarding comments that he made in episode #149.  Specifically, a listener is advocating against Gregg’s view and is stating that Christians are seeking to engage with outsiders and are, generally, doing a good job at it. Gregg introduces the discussion by noting […] The post Christians Disconnected From Outsiders (152) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode Gregg talks about the necessity for Christians to be pursuing excellence and the conditions for inclusivity within Christian communities. He does so by drawing on his experience of moving from a small town is South-Central Alberta to Canmore Alberta, 15 minutes from Banff National Park, and the differences in employment experience that […] The post Excellence and Inclusivity (151) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg re-connect to discuss the idea of whether we “deserve” certain things. John takes this idea from the Bronnie Ware’s book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying (upon which John has also podcasted). John is intrigued by the notion of whether we “deserve” certain things and how we would […] The post What Do You Deserve? (150) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode Gregg goes further regarding the Integration Project. He begins by expressing doubt that “seekers” actually exist, arguing that this is a fictional category of people created by Christians.  Instead, Gregg views those people who appear most open to Christianity as perhaps a) those with past exposure but who have not been marginalized […] The post Feeling Dirty at Church (149) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode, Gregg takes the discussion of the previous few episodes (on Coaching versus Christianity) as a point of departure to begin a new, solo podcasting series that focuses on “love and truth in Christianity.” Gregg explains the importance of this  focus using the tagline of the Untangling Christianity podcast: “Defusing destructive ideologies, unsnarling […] The post Considering Love and Truth (148) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg round-out their “coaching versus Christianity” discussion.  Gregg begins by affirming his perspective that it is both normal and potentially helpful to find oneself more deeply engaged or compelled by pursuits other than Christianity. John wonders: what core questions could help listeners ask themselves to evaluate theses types of situations? […] The post Going to the Next Level (147) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg record the podcast together for the first time in person in Drumheller, Alberta. In it they discuss their recent trip to the Royal Tyrrell Museum, one of the world’s preeminent dinosaur museums, that is located in Drumheller. John explains how, while at the museum, he was struck by the amount of […] The post Dinosaurs and Drumheller (146) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg return to John’s positive engagement with coaching and his unfulfilling engagement with Christianity. Gregg’s hunch is that John’s situation offers an example that is very applicable for many listeners, in that the phenomena of finding one’s faith to be lackluster in comparison with other activities or pursuits seems not […] The post Ownership, Coaching and Christianity (145) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This episode continues John and Gregg’s conversation about John’s excitement around coaching and lack of enthusiasm for Christianity. Yet Gregg proposes that this may actually offer positive orientation for John’s engagement with Christianity. Gregg believes that there are many Christians in a similar position to John, such that they are excited and enthused more by […] The post Coaching and Christianity (144) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg take their discussion in a different direction. Beginning with a retrospective of the podcast, they discuss a potentially “new way” for Untangling Christianity to fulfill one of it’s original purposes which was to give hope to other people.  John originally put this as, “I have to believe that there […] The post Self Discovery as a Hobby or Lifestyle? (143) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss an introspection on “where John is at,” touching on John’s views about God, his career, and life generally. John opens with his concern of being being misunderstood by listeners, and specifically not wanting to regret being “nailed down” to what he offers today while sharing personally and honestly. […] The post What Belongs in the House? (142) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg resume their discussion from last episode of the article on apologetics in the Biola University Magazine: “Young people are indeed leaving the church,” by Craig Hazen and Larry Barnett. During this conversation John contrasts the above article with another, entitled “How becoming more secular brought me closer to Jesus,” […] The post Paying an Intellectual Cost (141) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss an article from the Fall 2016 Biola University Magazine entitled, “Young People are Indeed leaving the Church.” John summarizes the article as stating that the reason why young people are leaving the church is because they have “doubts,” and if these doubts can be sufficiently addressed then young […] The post Bogus Commandments (140) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss what “core values” are and how they apply to Christianity. Gregg explains that he created a questionnaire for his church group when he understood that several participants were having a very hard time engaging with the material on self-deceit. One of those questions was: “What is satisfying to […] The post Do Core Values Mix with Christianity? (139) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg talk further about Gregg’s Sunday morning “Discussion Group.” John wonders: How is the “back and forth” within the group affecting Gregg? Gregg notes that he is learning to pay attention to how some participants habitually “detract” from or even contradict his perspectives without actually engaging with the material, and […] The post Recognizing Our Own Deceit (138) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg return to the topic of Gregg’s Sunday morning discussion group. Gregg explains that last week, instead of pursuing the course of study (on self-deceit), he presented the group with 10-question Questionnaire to help them assess their expectations, energy and commitment level to the discussion group. Could it be that […] The post Choose Your Own Adventure? (137) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg continue to consider Gregg’s Sunday morning discussion group. John begins by returning to his uncertainty about Gregg’s contention that the beginning of the “Disciple’s Prayer” in Matthew 6: 9-13 (“Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is […] The post Identifying Self Deceit (136) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode, John and Gregg again speak about Gregg’s Sunday morning church discussion group. Gregg explains that the most recent session became rather fiery, particularly concerning the idea that the Holy Spirit does not do the majority the work in helping Christians understand the Bible’s original meaning. John notes how this belief is often […] The post Stuck in a Loop of Self Deceit (135) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss the morning discussion that Gregg facilitates every Sunday. John is interested in the newest developments, and Gregg highlights how engaging with a foreign mindset can be continually surprising. For example, Gregg summarizes the culture in his church as “hyper-trustful” relative to certain ways of reading the Bible. Yet […] The post The Holy Spirit Reads the Bible for Me (134) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss a recent session at the Sunday morning group that Gregg facilitates. Gregg explains how this session was quite different because the adolescents joined the adults for this discussion. The history of his involvement with this group is that Gregg has been trying to engage them in re-considering their […] The post Is God Always in Control? (133) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss two different cultures, those who find Christianity and Christian beliefs to be suspect and those who are not questioning or believing that anything is wrong with their beliefs. They then focus on how to work with the latter group. Gregg explains that indeed he is experiencing culture shock […] The post Questioning Beliefs and Trust (132) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss a meeting that Gregg had with a street preacher. Gregg explained that he has never spoken to a Street Preacher before but had his curiosity piqued and so began a conversation. After recounting his encounter with the Street Preacher, Gregg goes on to explain that he had always […] The post Street Preacher Experience (131) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss a quotation by Yogi Bhajan, submitted by an Untangling Christianity listener. John sees the discussion about Gregg’s response to the Yogi Bhajan quotation as an extension of their conversation about Christian Praise music (in episode #128, “Let them have their music”). John’s concern here is similar to his […] The post You Guys are Too Picky (130) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss a poem from an anonymous newspaper clipping titled “I am a Christian.” Gregg received the poem on Facebook as, perhaps, a way of defining what a Christian is. In Gregg’s view a Christian can be defined in two ways: a) as someone who claims to be a follower […] The post I am a Christian (129) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg again discuss Christian worship music, focusing on a listener comment about the song “Fierce” by Jesus Culture. John is of two minds in his response to the song. On the one hand he wonders if the song, in describing God’s love for us as a “hurricane that I cannot […] The post Just Let People Have Their Music (128) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss an article by Tim Lawrence, “Everything doesn’t happen for a reason.” This post “went viral” and concerns people trying to support those who suffer tragic circumstances by commiserating that “everything happens for a reason.” John notes both the author’s passion and a sense of hopelessness and is curious […] The post Everything Doesn’t Happen for a Reason (127) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg are joined by Evan from Virginia, the second person ever to contact the podcast. Evan found the UC podcast through his wife’s concerns about Kyle Idleman’s not a fan. Having mentioned that he plays in a church worship band Evan joins John and Gregg to share his insights on Church worship […] The post Exploring Worship Music with Evan (126) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.