What's Wrong With Religion?: Reclaiming Identity from Fear, Control, and Missionalism - w/ Skye Jethani

Voxology

Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2017

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How the fear-fueled foundations of religion lead us away from the radical freedom and hope Jesus offers. Mike Erre and Andy sit down for a compelling conversation with author, podcaster, and former Christianity Today editor Skye Jethani to explore the core message behind his book, What's Wrong With Religion, and to reflect on how the American church's pursuit of cultural power has distorted the gospel.

This lively episode journeys through evangelicalism's obsession with relevance, the illusion of control through religion and politics, and the subtle idolatries of "celebrity Christianity" and mission without intimacy with Jesus. From deconstructing megachurch culture to reimagining what it means to live free in a "God-bathed world," this is an essential listen for anyone disillusioned with the church but captivated by Jesus.

Key Takeaways: • Fear as the Foundation of Religion – Religion often arises as a human attempt to control an uncontrollable, fearful world—ultimately making life even more dangerous by replacing fear of the world with fear of God. • The Trap of "Missionalism" – When being on mission for God becomes more important than knowing God, we lose sight of our true identity and worth. • Celebrity, Cultural Relevance, and Megachurch Decline – Why the personality-driven model of the megachurch isn't sustainable, and how generational shifts in trust toward institutions are reshaping the future of the church. • Evangelicals and Politics – A sobering look at the global and local fallout of white evangelical political alliances, especially post-2016. • The World Is Safe in God – Drawing from Dallas Willard and the Sermon on the Mount, Skye offers a vision of the world where we can truly live without fear, embracing our identity as deeply loved children of God rather than religious performers.

Guest Highlights: Skye Jethani – Author of What's Wrong With Religion, co-host of the Holy Post Podcast, former Christianity Today editor, and a thought leader critiquing the toxic marriage of evangelicalism, consumerism, and celebrity. Skye challenges us to move beyond fear-based faith and toward rootedness in Christ.

Resources Mentioned: • What's Wrong With Religion by Skye Jethani – Available here • The Holy Post Podcast – Skye's show with Phil Vischer • The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard – influencing the idea that "the world is a perfectly safe place for us to be" • Movie Proposal Podcast – Skye's movie review show • Resident Aliens by Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon • Sky Jethani's Site and Articles – skyejethani.com

Discover how freedom from fear leads to a more authentic relationship with God and others. Subscribe, leave us a review, and follow Voxology Podcast to stay part of this ongoing conversation on faith, culture, and Jesus's radical call to love.

As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to hello@voxpodcast.com, and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram.

We're on YouTube (if you're into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV

Our Merch Store! ETSY

Learn more about the Voxology Podcast

Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify

Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon

The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio

Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre

Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford

Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to hello@voxpodcast.com, and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram.

We're on YouTube (if you're into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV.

Our Merch Store! ETSY

Learn more about the Voxology Podcast

Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify

Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon

The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio

Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre

Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford

Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Internet. Hello. Welcome to the World Vox headquarters, suburban Columbus, Ohio,
0:18.8	with a beautiful, handsome Filipino face beaming in from San Juan, Capistrano,
0:25.9	California.
0:27.3	And my mustache is representing San Juan.
0:30.7	And, oh, my goodness, this mustache, you just need to see it.
0:34.6	It's something, I mean, the caterpillar analogy fits, although it's overused, you know,
0:44.5	but as I'm looking at it, I'm like, bro, it's a fuzzy caterpillar.
0:49.2	Yeah.
0:50.4	What's Mercedes?
0:51.8	How's Mercedes liking it?
0:53.4	You know, it's nice. She doesn't give me too much flag for it. What it's it's nice she doesn't she doesn't
0:55.4	give me too much black for it and what it comes down to is I'll just have it for a while and
0:58.7	eventually she'll just be like yeah I'm over it is there more kissing or less kissing
1:02.7	with the mustache um there's like that's the question I'm really asking I think there's a lot
1:06.9	more I mean I understand why you know when you put this thing on. So, okay, I definitely
1:15.2	need a caterpillar then. I wish you would. Ladies and gentlemen, we are so glad to be with you.
1:21.1	Andy has spent so much time figuring out how to get all this set up. I know we've been doing
1:26.8	sex loving God and thank you so much for the feedback, know we've been doing sex, love, and God, and thank you so much
1:29.1	for the feedback, but we've been eager to kind of start doing, you know, back to original stuff.
1:35.4	And if not original stuff, then interviewing people who have original stuff. And that's what we're
1:40.6	going to do today. There is a distant friend of mind named Sky Jitani, who he and I went to college together
1:51.6	and remember him just as incredibly intelligent.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Voxology, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Voxology and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.