Word & Flesh

Got a question or episode idea? Text the Word & Flesh team!

Should Christians dress up for church? What about wearing a bikini at the waterpark? Yoga pants: okay for the gym? The grocery store? Both? Neither?

How do we even begin to approach questions of Christian attire, modesty, and propriety?

In this episode of Word & Flesh, four Riverview elders tackle what the Bible says about how Christians dress, and why. We talk beauty and attraction, dressing well, cultural expectations, men’s and women’s responsibilities, swimwear, church clothes, parenting, judgmentalism, and more.

We’re not handing out a Christian dress code. Instead, we offer three questions for thinking carefully about what we wear:

What is my intent?
What is the effect?
Have I actually thought about this as a Christian?

But we do make a few... concrete recommendations.

Word & Flesh is a podcast from the elders of Riverview Baptist Church in Osage Beach, Missouri. We created it primarily to encourage and equip our congregation, but we're grateful you've joined us.

We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with questions, episode ideas, or if you'd like to learn more about Riverview.

#WordAndFlesh #ChristianPodcast #Modesty #ChristianLiving #BiblicalModesty

Got a question or episode idea? Text the Word & Flesh team!

Jesus talked about money a LOT.

And it's an interesting topic! Money promises security, comfort, freedom, status, experiences, even a sense of control. Jesus taught our relationship with money has a remarkable way of exposing what we love, what we fear, and what we trust.

So... is money good? Bad? Neutral?

And should Christians try to become wealthy?

In this episode of Word & Flesh, we continue our Matters of Conscience series by talking about wealth, generosity, debt, stewardship, contentment, and the love of money. Wealth itself isn't evil, and Scripture often describes material prosperity as a blessing from God. But Scripture also gives some of its strongest warnings to people who desire to be rich.

We talk about whether there can be a godly ambition to build wealth, when debt can be a useful tool and when it becomes a master, why generosity ought to actually cost us something, and why you don't have to be rich to love money. In fact, sometimes envy of people who have more reveals the very thing we think only they struggle with.

But maybe the biggest question is whether we've defined wealth correctly in the first place.

A healthy bank account can be a tremendous blessing. So can a faithful marriage. Children. A church family. Meaningful work. Friends who love you. And above all, the riches that belong to everyone who is in Christ.

You can have a lot of money and still be poor. And you can have very little money while possessing riches this world simply can't measure.

Word & Flesh is a podcast from the elders of Riverview Baptist Church in Osage Beach, Missouri. We created it primarily to encourage and equip our congregation, but we're grateful you've joined us. We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with questions, episode ideas, or if you'd like to learn more about Riverview.

Got a question or episode idea? Text the Word & Flesh team!

The Lindsay Clancy case has provoked extraordinarily strong reactions.

A mother killed her three young children. Her defense says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis. Her trial ended with a deadlocked jury. And much of the public conversation has centered on compassion for Clancy, mental illness, and whether she should be held criminally responsible.

But can compassion ever interfere with justice?

In this episode of Word & Flesh, we use the Lindsay Clancy case as a lens for examining some of the ideas shaping the way Christians think about guilt, suffering, moral responsibility, and justice.

We review the undisputed facts of the case.

Then we talk about mental illness and moral agency, feminism and the oppressor-oppressed framework, postmodernism and our understanding of truth, and why Scripture warns against allowing even pity for the vulnerable to distort righteous judgment.

So yeah... we cover a lot of ground. Because while none of us is the judge or jury in Lindsay Clancy's case, this case gives us the opportunity to ask what it reveals about our own assumptions and whether those assumptions have been shaped more by Scripture or by the culture around us.

Mental illness is real. Human dignity and moral agency matter. Justice matters. Those can all be true at the same time.

Word & Flesh is a podcast from the elders of Riverview Baptist Church in Osage Beach, Missouri. We created it primarily to encourage and equip our congregation, but we're grateful you've joined us. We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with questions, episode ideas, or if you'd like to learn more about Riverview.

Got a question or episode idea? Text the Word & Flesh team!

Alcohol is one of those subjects Christians have argued about for generations.

Some Christians abstain completely. Others enjoy a beer or glass of wine without a second thought. Some have seen alcohol destroy lives and families. Others point out that Scripture itself speaks positively about wine in some places... while giving incredibly strong warnings about it in others.

So what does the Bible actually say?

In this episode of Word & Flesh, we continue our series on matters of conscience by talking about alcohol, drunkenness, Christian freedom, wisdom, and what it means to love a brother or sister whose conscience may be different from your own.

Is drinking alcohol a sin? Where does Christian liberty end? What does it actually mean to cause a brother to stumble? And how should Christians think about something God permits... but also repeatedly warns can be dangerous?

The goal isn't to find the line so we can get as close to sin as possible.

It's to ask a better question:

Whether we eat or drink, how do we do it all to the glory of God?

Word & Flesh is a podcast from the elders of Riverview Baptist Church in Osage Beach, Missouri. We created it primarily to encourage and equip our congregation, but we're grateful you've joined us. We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with questions, episode ideas, or if you'd like to learn more about Riverview.

Got a question or episode idea? Text the Word & Flesh team!

Is it okay to watch sexually explicit movies or shows like Game of Thrones? Is it good to watch them?

Is TikTok sinful? What about violent video games? Social media? College football all Saturday? Where does Christian freedom end... and worldliness begin?

We think Christians often ask those questions the wrong way.

Instead of asking, "How close can I get to the line?"  Scripture teaches us to ask a better question: "How can I glorify God with my freedom?"

In this first episode of our new Matters of Conscience series, we explore how Christians should think about... all sorts of things!

We're talking social media, entertainment, technology, and the countless decisions the Bible doesn't address with a simple "thou shalt" or "thou shalt not."

We discuss how our entertainment shapes us, why our attention belongs to God before anyone else, and how to build a biblical framework for navigating gray areas with wisdom, conviction, and a clear conscience.

Got a question or episode idea? Text the Word & Flesh team!

Too busy to rest? You need to stop.

When God created the earth, He rested on the seventh day... but most American Christians seem to have forgotten how to follow His example. We have lost something God built into the fabric of creation itself. We work hard, but who's got time to rest?

But what if work isn't good if it's not punctuated by rest?

In this episode, we discuss biblical rest, the Sabbath, and why intentionally slowing down is one of the greatest acts of faith a Christian can practice.

We examine whether Christians are still commanded to keep the Sabbath and how families can build rhythms of worship, delight, and genuine rest in a culture addicted to constant productivity.

Because sometimes trusting God looks less like doing more...

...and more like putting your phone down, gathering your family, and remembering that He's the King on the throne.

Got a question or episode idea? Text the Word & Flesh team!

Do spiritual disciplines matter? Or should the Christian life just be a whimsical, "do what you feel and hope for the best" kind of thing?

In this episode, we discuss the purpose of spiritual disciplines and why practices like Bible reading, Scripture memory, prayer, fasting, confession, generosity, and Sabbath rest aren't attempts to earn God's favor. They're gifts God uses to transform His people.

Along the way, we tackle one of the biggest misconceptions in modern Christianity: the difference between spiritual discipline and spiritual legalism.

Got a question or episode idea? Text the Word & Flesh team!

A recent vote by Southern Baptists exploded headlines (and lots of heads) across the country.

The vote? To clarify that the office as well as the functions of a pastor/elder are reserved exclusively for men.

Critics called the move backward, oppressive, and harmful to women.

But what actually happened?

And more importantly, what does the Bible actually teach?

In this episode of Word & Flesh, we discuss the recent Southern Baptist Convention controversy (and how it was more the closing of a loophole than the changing of a position), the role of pastors in the church, and God's design for men and women.

We discuss:

What the SBC actually voted on

Why the issue became national news

1 Timothy 2 and 1 Corinthians 14

The office of pastor and biblical authority

Whether women can teach and serve in ministry

Why role and value are not the same thing

The vital importance of women in the life of the church

Why Christians should trust God's design even when it conflicts with modern culture

Most importantly, we address a question at the center of this debate:

Does a difference in role mean a difference in value?

*Checks Bible...* NO!

Men and women are created in the image of God, are of equal value before Him, and yet are uniquely called to different responsibilities within the home and the church.

That's controversial these days. But it doesn't make it any less true.

Got a question or episode idea? Text the Word & Flesh team!

Somebody is going to disciple our children. Who will it be?

Questions about sex, identity, relationships, and God's design are arriving earlier than ever, and Christian parents cannot afford to remain passive.

In this episode, the elders of Riverview Baptist Church discuss how to talk to children about sexuality in an age of confusion and competing worldviews. Rather than relying on one awkward conversation, we argue for hundreds of small conversations that build a strong, positive vision of God's design, over time.

Topics include:

God's design for humanity is good, beautiful, and life-giving. Parents have the privilege and responsibility of helping their children see that before the culture teaches them otherwise.

Got a question or episode idea? Text the Word & Flesh team!

Submission.

For many people, it's one of the most uncomfortable words in the Bible.

Our culture has spent decades teaching women that submission is weakness, oppression, or the loss of personal freedom. Scripture paints a very different picture.

In this episode of Word & Flesh, we continue our series on biblical womanhood by exploring one of the most misunderstood topics in the Christian life: submission as an act of faith.

We discuss:

We also tackle practical questions that many Christians are afraid to ask:

But beneath all of those questions lies a much bigger one:

What if God's design is actually glorious?

In Titus 2, women are called to be self-controlled, pure, kind, and submissive to their own husbands "that the word of God may not be reviled."

That's a breathtaking calling.

The goal isn't merely a better marriage. The stakes are bigger than that.

A woman's faithfulness can adorn the gospel, strengthen the church, bless her family, and display the beauty of God's wisdom to a watching world.