Misfit Faith

In this episode of Misfit Faith I reflect on the tragic suicide of Anthony Bourdain as well as engage with the responses to it from Matt Walsh and USA Today. I suggest that perhaps the conservative evangelical approach both lacks compassion (gasp!) as well as fails to address the underlying structures that oppress people and sometimes drive them suicidal. I end the episode with "Jason Makes a Wish," asking Hollywood to make the most anti-climactic superhero movie ever.

In this episode of Misfit Faith I begin a series exploring Brian McLaren's latest book, The Great Spiritual Migration. I address whether the Christian faith should be understood as static and unchanging or whether dynamic growth and evolution are possible. We hear from McLaren himself, albeit not in the form of a phone interview unfortunately, and I end the show with a perfectly plausible plan to overcome my road rage.

In this episode of the Misfit Faith show I address the topic of escapism, suggesting that the root of American Christianity's dismissiveness toward social justice and environmental stewardship is the idea that it's all gonna burn anyway. I share some material from the Misfit Faith Community, after which I introduce a new segment titled "Jason Makes a Wish."

In this episode I address another area where American Christianity may need to rethink its stance: science. I suggest that science poses no threat to faith, and yet, we must not allow these scientists to get too big for their britches (or lab coats). I chat with my Drunk Ex-Pastors co-host, Christian Kingery, about the mistrust of science that he was raised with, and then take a listener's question about cults. I end the show explaining why "loving thy neighbor" is harder for me than for most people.

In this episode of Misfit Faith I suggest that the American church needs to strike a new posture towards the LGBT community if they want to avoid utter cultural obscurity in this post-Christian world of ours. I speak with pastor Jay Bakker (son of Jim and Tammy Faye) about his experience moving his own congregation in an affirming direction over a decade ago. I answer a caller's question about the nature of love, and end the show bemoaning how bored I get by almost every song I hear.

In this episode I continue our series on what the church needs to do in order to be able to speak meaningfully into the lives of people in a post-Christian culture. I address the problem of evil and the oft-cavalier Christian response to it. I chat with fellow ex-pastor Jonathan Hays about his experience navigating this issue, and then answer a caller's question about why Jesus' death was considered a sacrifice. The episode ends with the admission that Intelligent Design might be BS after all.

Episode #21 of the Misfit Faith Podcast continues our series on how the church can survive in a post-Christian culture. I address the issue of power, showing how American Christianity is just the latest expression of humanity's age-old principle of "might makes right." I suggest a better way forward, and then share a clip from Drunk Ex-Pastors in which Christian and I seek to comfort a caller who is stuck in a cycle of guilt and shame. I end the show with a rant against Family Ties. Yeah, the TV show.

Episode #20 of Misfit Faith begins a new series on how Christianity can survive in our twenty-first century postmodern culture. I address the various ways we might respond to this challenge, and then chat with Seth Taylor about the church's fear of the body and of the material world. I answer a listener's questions about priestly celibacy and the threat of hell, and end the episode with some straight-talk about how damn old we all are.

In this episode of Misfit Faith I offer a brief reflection on the degree to which many tend to understand the Christian life according to an "economic model" (which basically means it's all one big eternal quid pro quo where we scratch God's back by being good and he scratches ours by admitting us into heaven). I chat with author and historian Diana Butler Bass about her new book, Grateful, after which I get a call from a U2 fan. I end the episode by pointing out how lame kids are these days.

In episode #18 of the Misfit Faith podcast I suggest a couple distinct approaches to the issue of resurrection (one I hope is right and the other I expect probably is). I then speak at length with world renowned Jesus scholar John Dominic Crossan about his new book, Resurrecting Easter, discussing whether the western Church's art depicting Easter morning betrays a subtle but important mistake that the Church in the East avoided. Also, suburban churches suck.