How should we react when people say or do things we find offensive in public discourse? What is the role of forgiveness and grace in these contexts? How do we determine if apologies are sincere and the offending party is worthy of an opportunity for repentance and repair? Join David and Curtis as they discuss this timely topic and offer some guidance for how we can make some space for grace in our public discourse.   Show Notes: -David French (WaPo): “Here’s the difference between Colin Kaepernick and Roseanne Barr” -The French Press: “Cancel Culture, Conditioning Culture, and America’s Stun-Gun Style of Discourse” -Greg Lukianoff and Adam Goldstein - “Opinion: Please, Georgetown. Don’t fire an academic over tweets” -Les Miserable: “Back to God” -YouTube: Brandt Jean to Amber Guyger: ‘I forgive you’ -Charlestown Shooting Victims’ Families Forgive Accused Gunman -RedeemingBabel.org 20% discount for Good Faith listeners: GoodFaith20

David and Curtis are excited to welcome the inaugural guest of the Good Faith podcast, Mike Cosper. Mike is the Director of Podcasting for Christianity Today and is most well known as the producer and host of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. Join David, Curtis and Mike as they discuss some of the lessons Mike took away from the process of diving deep into such a painful story. As you will see, the lessons are sometimes hard (just like the gospel itself), but they are also surprisingly hopeful (just like the gospel itself).   Show Notes: -The Rise & Fall of Mars Hill -RedeemingBabel.org 20% discount for Good Faith listeners: GoodFaith20

Why are so many pastors considering leaving the ministry? Is it the pandemic? Is it the political and racial polarization? Is it something else? Join David and Curtis as they delve into the growing crisis of pastoral burnout, including a very personal story from Curtis about his own journey to becoming a “former senior pastor”.    Show Notes: -Barna Group - 38% of U.S. Pastors Have Thought About Quitting Full-Time Ministry in the Past Year -Michelle Boorstein - The first Christmas as a layperson: Burned out by the pandemic, many clergy quit in the past year -Kate Shellnutt - The Pastors Aren’t All Right: 38% Consider Leaving Ministry -Barna Group - The Mental & Emotional Health of Pastors and Their Congregants Amid COVID-19 -Wendy Wang and Alysse Elhage - Here’s Who Stopped Going to Church During the Pandemic -The French Press - The Crisis of Christian Celebrity -Cass Sunstein - The Law of Group Polarization

Conflict feels like it’s everywhere these days. Church communities, old friendships and even families are being pulled apart by tensions over politics, the pandemic, race and more. When should we stay in a church or relationship? When should we perhaps leave? Is there a biblical model to navigate these decisions and what comes in the aftermath? Join David and Curtis to discuss how we as Christians should approach these perplexing questions.   Show Notes: -The Russell Moore Show: Beth Moore Didn’t Expect Us to Be Us

What exactly is a Christian nation? Is America becoming post-Christian? Is it easier or harder to be a Christian in America today than it was 30 years ago? What about 70 years ago? Join David French and Curtis Chang to think through these important questions and to consider some perhaps quite surprising answers.

Why would a 53-year-old man decide that this is the year he will finally become an adult? Find out in this special New Year’s episode where David and Curtis discuss the urgent need for all of us to step up and be the grown ups, both in the church and in the broader culture.

In a special Christmas episode, David French and Curtis Chang talk about the ultimate act of empathy (God becoming human) and the somewhat surprising debate going on in certain corners of the evangelical church; the idea that empathy can be a sin. How far should we go to understand another’s pain? Does empathy require moral agreement? Is our empathy sometimes selective, reserved for those we agree with and withheld from those we don’t?  David and Curtis also dig into some reader mail for a fascinating discussion of the issue of abortion and some surprising realities that may show why pro-life Christians should look beyond the mere legal rules established under Roe v. Wade.   Show Notes: -Joe Rigney: The Enticing Sin of Empathy -The French Press: The American Crisis of Selective Empathy -The French Press: Satanic Pregnancies, Explained -C.S. Lewis: The Screwtape Letters (Amazon) -Kate Shellnutt: Bethlehem Baptist Leaders Clash Over ‘Coddling’ and ‘Cancel Culture’ -The French Press: The Pro-Life Movement Must Transcend Politics

This week David French and Curtis Chang take a hard look at the silent killer of loneliness. Why is loneliness on the rise in America? What might hope look like, and how do we access it? Join us for this Advent episode where the reality of God’s incarnation in Jesus takes center stage, and the true story of hope in dark times is revealed.   Show Notes: -Carol Graham: Premature Mortality and the Long Decline of Hope in America -Social Capital Project - Opioid Overdoses by Demographic -The college connection: The education divide in American social and community life -David Brooks: The Nuclear Family Was a Mistake -Nancy French: What civility really means

In a follow up to last week’s Deconstructing Faith episode, David French and Curtis Chang dive into the sometimes murky and contradictory political views of Christians. All too frequently, the political stances we think are biblical are actually just cultural.  Why are most Christians’ political stances so predictable? For example, why do many believers who care about abortion not care as much about systemic racism? Or vice versa?  Tune into today’s episode as Curtis and David tackle the fascinating interaction between politics, culture, and the Bible… and end with a surprising take on abortion and systemic racism.   Show Notes: -More in Common - The Hidden Tribes of America -Paul D. Miller - The Role of Social Science in ‘Deconstructing’ White Evangelicalism -Kristen du Mez - Jesus and John Wayne -Jemar Tisby - The Color of Compromise -George McKenna - On Abortion: A Lincolnian Position (circa 1995, but still relevant)

David French and Curtis Chang discuss the hot topic of “deconstruction,” a term with multiple meanings, from reevaluation of specific faith related issues to a deeper questioning of Christian faith itself. For many the discussion around deconstruction stems from some sense of pain or hurt caused by the church. David and Curtis (and producer Kris) explore the complex and deeply personal dimensions of this process, including practical suggestions for listeners.   Show Notes: -The French Press: Under Attack from Fundamentalist Pirates, Evangelical Baptists Refused to Give Up the Ship -Karen Swallow Prior: “With this much rot, there’s no choice but to deconstruct” -The French Press: John Wayne, Jesus, and the Struggle to Define the Christian Man -The French Press: America Is in the Grips of a Fundamentalist Revival