God, Sex & Rich People: Honoring the Journey of Mattie Jo Cowsert

This episode features Mattie Jo Cowsert, author of "God, Sex and Rich People: Recovering the Evangelical Testimony," in a deeply personal conversation about growing up in evangelical purity culture, deconstructing faith, and finding autonomy.

Mattie Jo shares her journey from being raised in a multi-generational Baptist ministry family in Branson, Missouri, through her transformative move to New York City at 22 to pursue acting, where her insular religious worldview collided with diverse cultures and experiences. The conversation explores the damaging effects of purity culture on self-esteem and autonomy, the process of questioning long-held beliefs through academic study of scripture, and the unexpected role that working for wealthy New Yorkers played in her identity crisis.

Both Leslie and Mattie Jo discuss the importance of respecting others' belief systems while maintaining personal boundaries, the stages of grief in deconstruction, and how their parents' responses shaped their journeys.

To pick up her book, click here!

Mattie Jo's website: www.mattiejocowsert.com

Key Points of Interest:

• Multi-generational evangelical heritage - Mattie Jo's great-great-grandfather through both grandfathers were Baptist preachers, making evangelicalism "literally in her DNA"

• Purity culture's core damage - The primary harm wasn't about sex itself, but the complete lack of self-trust and autonomy it created, leading to poor self-esteem and inability to make decisions in one's own best interest

• The "what do I want?" question - How evangelical teaching explicitly discourages asking yourself what you want, framing personal desires as sinful idolatry

• New York City as catalyst - Moving from rural Missouri to Manhattan's Upper West Side provided the culture shock that made her insular belief system "unravel real quickly"

• Academic approach to deconstruction - Mattie Jo's recommendation to read actual divinity school textbooks and non-theological biblical scholarship, discovering that concepts like "original sin" aren't actually biblical teachings

• Parents' surprising support - Unlike many deconstruction stories, Mattie Jo's father (a pastor) publicly defended her blog critiques of church hypocrisy and underwent his own deconstruction alongside her

• The "rich people" element - Working as a nanny for uber-wealthy New Yorkers provided an unexpected container for her identity crisis and exposed another layer of cultural complexity

• Reward and punishment theology - How evangelical teaching removes personal autonomy by framing everything as God's reward or punishment rather than consequences of one's own choices

• The anger phase - Both speakers discuss moving through anger in deconstruction and learning that grace and listening are more effective than righteous indignation

• Respecting belief systems as tender - The recognition that people's belief systems are fragile and existentially important, requiring gentleness rather than aggressive evangelizing for deconstruction

Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease and the artwork for the show is also created by Leslie Nease.

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