You all sent in so many amazing questions for our Culture War Mailbag that we couldn't get to all of them in that Q&A episode. We're back this month with a bonus episode answering:

(10:04) What's the role of apologetics in our faith and how do we keep from turning into debate bros?

(19:41) How do we approach those who hold different Christian beliefs than we do?

(35:20) What do we do with the teaching of former pastors who have now left the faith?

(43:40) How do we respond to a church leadership change that impacts the DNA of the church?

(49:48) How do I find a new church in today's climate?

Plus Jonathan goes on a rant about barbecue and sings a college fight song for some ungodly reason.

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

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This isn't the bonus episode we thought we'd be making this week but it's the one we felt like we needed to make.

This week, as we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, we wanted to pull back the curtain and have a candid conversation about mental health and some of the stigmas around it, especially in the church. In this episode, Jonathan opens up about the anxieties he's been dealing with and all the emotions he's gone through while processing that. We also talk about how we can better respond to those who trust us with what they're going through.

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

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Eric has been asking to do this episode for two dang years. So in true Halloween fashion, he's playing the role of host and Jonathan is playing the role of Eric.

But seriously - this is a topic people always talk about each year. You've probably already read at least one rant on Facebook about it. This week we close out season eight with a conversation about how Christians should view Halloween, the freedom we have in Jesus, and more importantly how Jesus has come to redeem and restore everything - even Halloween.

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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.

We invited you to send in your culture war questions and goodness, you did.

In this week's episode, we're talking Israel, former President Trump, cultural marxism, churches who have been politically co-opted, something about Hobby Lobby, and Eric goes on another rant.

Plus we discuss how we approach our church's leadership if we feel they've gone too far one way or the other, how to support friends who may have fallen down the Christian nationalism rabbit hole, and cultural marxism.

There's a lot in here this week.

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

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There are pastors who have done terrible things. There are Christian organizations who have engaged in horrible practices. But despite those things, they have still produced things that were good - strong, biblical based teaching; engaging mission work; great music.

What do we do with those things though? Do we have to throw them out because of who was responsible for them? Or can we still engage with them?

This week we talk through how we should approach the good "fruit" from people and organizations who have done terrible things.

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

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If you're in or around the church space in America, you've heard of all the scandals that have happened in recent years. From Driscoll to the Duggars, Hillsong to Harvest, there have been scandals, cover ups, and all sorts of general yucky-ness.

But why do these keep happening?

How does the same story play out over and over and over?

This week we use our background on church staffs to look at three reasons church scandals and cover ups keep occurring.

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

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We've all been taught our culture is at war with Christianity. But what if it's not? What if our culture doesn't even care about Christianity anymore? How does that change things?

This week we talk about what we believe is the real enemy of the church today and how that perspective shift impacts how we interact with the culture at large.

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

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References:

https://careynieuwhof.com/why-andy-stanley-is-right-about-reaching-post-christians/

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On one side of the aisle, you have Christians who want to ignore the things going on around us in the name of "just preaching the Gospel."

On the other, you've got Christians who want to ignore core tenets of church history while focusing on "just loving like Jesus."

But what if both sides of the tension had some truth in them?

And what if we all were honest about our biases going into these conversations?

This week we talk about how dishonest the entire conversation around "woke" Christianity has become and try to find the way forward in the midst of the culture war going on around us.

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

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If you've been in the church for any length of time, you know we've been boycotting things since before boycotting was considered canceling. After all, the evangelical boycott of a company and the secular canceling of a person is essentially the same thing.

But where did boycotts originate from? And is there a better way to approach how we interact with the world around us?

This week we talk about the hypocrisy surrounding our current boycott culture and give you a new way to look at how you support companies and entertainers in our society.

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

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References:

https://relevantmagazine.com/current/nation/the-forgotten-history-of-the-american-churchs-most-successful-boycott/

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In our culture, we have two groups on the extremes who are at war with each other. One side is waging war against anything that doesn’t explicitly promote white, evangelical Christian fundamentalism. The other views any type of religious conviction as bigotry and hatred.

This week we talk about how people trying to authentically follow Jesus survive this war.

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__________________

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

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References:

https://providencemag.com/2023/02/a-tale-of-two-culture-wars/

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/march-web-only/russell-moore-ct-culture-wars-woke-evangelicals-scripture.html

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/april-web-only/holy-week-good-friday-cross-christ-evangelical-culture-wars.html

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