After a short delay for technical issues, Casey and Benjie are back to discuss the shootings of Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo.

Christians tend to fall firmly in either one of two campus when it comes to police shootings. On today's pod, Casey and Benjie discuss how we can both feel empathy and compassion for communities that are disproportionately impacted by police shootings and offer tangible care and support for police officers. 

It is entirely possible to desire to see reform within the policing structure that strives for more equitable treatment under the law and to love, respect, and support existing officers of the law.

Lots to talk about this week! Casey and Benjie are back to talk through the new election reform laws in Georgia, President Biden's executive action on gun control, and the report of high vaccine hesitancy among white evangelical Christians.

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According to a recent Gallup poll, fewer than 50% of Americans say they belong to any kind of house of worship.

Why is this a big deal historically? What's happened to shift the dynamic so much in the last 20 years? What can young Christians do to be part of turning the tide?

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Lots to cover this week!

Casey and Benjie get back to their normal format of talking through big news stories from a Gospel-oriented lens. This week's big story is the shooting in the Asian massage parlor in Atlanta. The shooter was a member of an SBC church. Casey and Benjie talk about some of the difficulties of living out purity culture as an adult, the premeditated targeting of these businesses, and some latent misogyny in many evangelical circles that all contribute to problematic beliefs about Jesus, sex, gender roles, and the local church.

In the final episode of our deconstruction series, Casey and Benjie talk about the importance of intentionally engaging in community with other believers as you work through your deconstruction process. They both share instances in the recent past in which they have relied on others as they have worked through issues with the faith they have inherited and offer some practical advice on how to identify safe individuals in whom you can confide your doubts and struggles. 

Casey and Benjie talk all things gender roles in the church on this episode. They talk through why traditional understandings of gender roles have become such a flash point issue for young Christians, what the range of options are, and how men and women within the church can more graciously pursue their callings and walk in their giftings.

Plus, the best thing Casey and Benjie saw this week leads to some self-image coaching.

This week, Casey and Benjie talk about the Bible. 

Issues with the Bible come up often in deconstruction conversations. But many of our struggles with the Bible result from faulty beliefs we've absorbed from our communities and not from truth or reality.

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Casey is joined by Kendal Conner to have a deeper conversation on marriage, singleness, the church. They delve into the background of how the local church came to value the family so much, how marriage doesn't solve our deepest longings, and how both married and single people can intentionally care for one another more deeply.

Kendal is on staff at Redeemer Fellowship in Kansas City. You can connect with her on Instagram @kendalconner.

Single young adults often feel marginalized in their local church communities because of the way marriage is elevated. What's a single adult to do? What can our churches do better? How can we faithfully walk with Jesus if our local faith community makes us feel "less than" for not being married?

Casey and Benjie talk through their experiences, share some stories, and offer suggestions for both single people and churches to bridge the gap that exists between single young adults and some local churches. 

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Deconstruction is a phrase that's become increasingly common to describe the process of someone walking away from their faith. But does deconstruction of what we have been taught have to lead to completely walking away? What if the process of examining and deconstructing parts of what we have been taught led to a deeper, more intimate faith?

In this episode, Casey and Benjie talk through how deconstruction can be a positive development. They also caution on some of the pitfalls they have observed in listening to deconversion stories from prominent figures and personal friends. 

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