Tension

The American Church is in decline. Since 2013, the percentage of Americans claiming to be religiously unaffiliated has risen by 5%. During that same time, the percentage of Americans who said religion is either most important or among the most important things in their life dropped from 72% to 53%.

So what's causing the decline?

In the newest season of Tension, we make the argument that Cultural Christianity is what's killing the American Church. In this episode, we lay the groundwork for the next seven episodes where we'll discuss an element of Cultural Christianity each week and talk about how it's having negative impacts on the American Church.

Articles we reference:

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-04-07/trump-s-brand-of-christian-conservatism-is-driving-people-from-church

https://www.prri.org/research/religious-change-in-america/

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Tension was called Unlearning Youth Group for the first six seasons.

AI notice: the song at the beginning and end of the episode is AI generated.

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You've heard it said by Christian influencers and hyper partisans: you can't be a Christian and vote for a democrat.

We don't agree with that. We believe the Gospel doesn't fit into one American political party and that Bible believing, Jesus loving people can disagree on how we apply our faith to government.

In this episode, we walk through a Biblically focused grid to show how we came to the conclusion that we would be voting for certain democrats this fall. This episode is not to convince you that voting Democrat makes you more of a Christian or that voting Republican makes you less of a Christian. It's simply to show how an honest look at the Bible can result in different applications.

NOTE: this episode was recorded before the assassination attempt of President Trump. That shouldn’t impact any of the content, but we wanted to clarify for anyone who may have wanted that context. 

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Timestamps:

9:04 - We all negotiate our faith

10:48 - Step 1: Determine what the role of government is from a biblical perspective.

14:49 - Democracy and forms of government in the Bible

18:14 - It is not your religious duty to vote

31:55 - What does the Bible say about taxes?

40:56 - Step 2: Determine the issues you believe most accomplishes the role of government.

41:59 - Jonathan’s answer to what most accomplishes the role of government

43:47 - Eric’s answer to what most accomplishes the role of government

51:51 - Step 3: Determine which candidates align with your priorities to accomplish the role of government.

1:00:18 - How the Bible says we should approach those with a different political preference

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Andy Stanley sermon Eric references:

https://youtu.be/vga6t63XGcQ?si=ph0X-HLuOOLWRmmD

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Follow us on social:

http://instagram.com/jonathan_carone

http://instagram.com/ericw712

Email us:

[email protected]

__________________

Tension was called Unlearning Youth Group for the first six seasons.

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The music in this episode was AI generated using Suno.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For many of us who are trying to live in the tensions of our faith, we have come to places where what we're learning today is different from what we've learned in our past.

In the final episode of season ten, we talk about how it's okay to change your mind on issues as you learn new things and come to new understandings. We also discuss the amount of bravery it takes to approach your faith in a way that asks the hard questions.

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Follow us on social:

http://instagram.com/jonathan_carone

http://instagram.com/ericw712

Email us:

[email protected]

__________________

Tension was called Unlearning Youth Group for the first six seasons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This one is either going to alienate all our viewers or finally give words to what many of you are feeling.

Building on last week's episode about studying scripture in its original context, this week Jonathan shares his journey of how studying the pro-life scriptures he was taught growing up in their full context led him to becoming pro-choice. It's a nuanced conversation but one that feels culturally relevant for many of us trying to figure out how to apply our faith to the culture around us.

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Follow us on social:

http://instagram.com/jonathan_carone

http://instagram.com/ericw712

Email us:

[email protected]

__________________

Tension was called Unlearning Youth Group for the first six seasons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Let us go ahead and say it up front: this one gyat a little thick on the back end. We may have packed in a little too much junk in the trunk.

All booty puns aside - this week we're sitting down (sorry!) to talk about one of the biggest issues we face today: pulling scripture out of its original context to justify our personal preferences and beliefs.

We use the click bait of the title to pull you in before shifting to a conversation we really think you'll enjoy.

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Follow us on social:

http://instagram.com/jonathan_carone

http://instagram.com/ericw712

Email us:

[email protected]

__________________

Tension was called Unlearning Youth Group for the first six seasons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's been a lot of talk recently about the femininity of the American church. In this week's episode of the podcast, we answer an important question a listener sent in:

What the heck does Biblical masculinity look like?

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Follow us on social:

http://instagram.com/jonathan_carone

http://instagram.com/ericw712

Email us:

[email protected]

__________________

Tension was called Unlearning Youth Group for the first six seasons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why is it so dang hard for people to love their neighbor? It seems like on of Jesus's easiest commands. But if 'love your neighbor' is so easy, why do we suck at it so often?

This week we look at two ends of the pendulum for why it's hard to love our neighbor and try to find a way to get better at it.

Article referenced in the show

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Follow us on social:

http://instagram.com/jonathan_carone

http://instagram.com/ericw712

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Tension was called Unlearning Youth Group for the first six seasons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tupac told us only God can judge us.

But does the Bible actually say that?

This week we expand on how we love people like Jesus and look at what the Bible says about "judging" other people.

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Follow us on social:

http://instagram.com/jonathan_carone

http://instagram.com/ericw712

__________________

Tension was called Unlearning Youth Group for the first six seasons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You hear it all the time - we just wanna love people like Jesus.

But what does that actually look like?

This week we look at the tension between speaking truth and loving people and look at how Jesus did both as our example moving forward.

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Follow us on social:

http://instagram.com/jonathan_carone

http://instagram.com/ericw712

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Tension was called Unlearning Youth Group for the first six seasons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's got cooler clothes and a better marketing plan than the prosperity gospel we grew up around, but it's potentially just as dangerous.

In the opener to Season 10, we talk about how the American church has swung the pendulum from young, restless and reformed all the way to the other side and how we live in the tension between the two.

__________________

Follow us on social:

http://instagram.com/jonathan_carone

http://instagram.com/ericw712

__________________

Tension was called Unlearning Youth Group for the first six seasons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.