When the Gospel Seems Unjust to the Rising Generation | An Interview with Tyler Johnson
Leading Saints Podcast
Leading Saints
4.8 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 27 November 2022
⏱️ 82 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dr. Tyler Johnson is is a medical oncologist, author, and a clinical assistant professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He also serves as a leader of the Stanford inpatient oncology services, including supervising the oncology housestaff service. Tyler has served as Bishop in the Stanford Ward and taught institute. He co-hosts The Doctor’s Art podcast and writes on the intersection of medicine, ethics, and spirituality. Tyler’s writings has been featured by Religion News Service, the Salt Lake Tribune, BYU Studies, Dialogue, and The San Jose Mercury News, where he is a regular contributor.
Highlights
02:00 Introduction to the episode and Tyler Johnson
03:30 Tyler’s background as an oncologist and professor
09:30 Teaching experience in the church and at the institute at Stanford
14:00 Many youth are leaving the church. We can do a better job at teaching them.
18:20 Where do we fail to teach the power of the gospel to youth and others?
20:00 Us vs them dynamic when it comes to people who leave the church and those who stay
22:30 As a leader, how do we avoid the us vs them dynamic at church and in our classes
25:45 Tyler breaks down the four parts of America and why it’s important to understanding and helping our youth today
- Free America
- Real America
- Smart America
- Just (justice) America
36:30 Most youth today belong to “just America.” They value justice and fairness and have lots of concerns. Understanding these values is really important as a leader.
39:30 How can leaders best help and guide the youth (just America)?
41:20 When someone comes to you with a deeply felt question, it’s better to recognize the virtuous impulse behind the question before dealing with the content of the question
47:00 Empathy before certainty or ambiguity. Productive discussions are going to come from showing empathy for people’s concerns. Show them you are on their team.
52:00 The different types of Americans and these mindsets in the church. People that belong to just America don’t feel like they belong in the church.
59:00 Tyler talks to people that feel they are part of just America
1:05:30 We all need space and grace. Even the highest leaders of our church.
1:06:45 We hold back empathy from our leaders because they are the ones in power
1:08:00 Why the past 10 years of American life have been uniquely stupid. Social media makes it so easy for us to shoot people down who value different things than us.
1:13:00 A lot of us grew up with the fairytale version of the gospel when in reality church history was really messy. This is what young people are struggling with today. We need to let go of the fairytale and embrace the messiness.
1:22:00 The defining virtue of the Savior’s atonement is his perfect empathy. We are joining the Savior in His work when we show empathy to those that we lead.
1:23:30 Tyler’s final thoughts and testimony
Links
How America Fractured into Four Parts, by George Packer
Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid, by Jonathan Haidt
The God Who Weeps
The Other Prodigal, talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
The Doctor’s Art podcast
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | When someone begins to question their faith, the last thing church leaders want to do is say the wrong thing or handle in a way that will further push them away. |
| 0:12.2 | With so many historical concerns or doctor that will further push them away. |
| 0:12.6 | With so many historical concerns or doctrinal questions, what is a leader supposed to do? |
| 0:18.0 | I'm happy to report that leading Saints is here to help with the questioning Saints library. This is a full library of 20 plus |
| 0:24.4 | presentations related to how to minister to an individual who is questioning |
| 0:28.5 | their faith. We cover topics like how to answer tough questions, |
| 0:31.8 | maintaining a relationship when someone leaves the church, |
| 0:35.2 | and how to embrace doctrinal ambiguity. |
| 0:37.9 | If you want to review all the sessions from the questioning Saints library at no cost for 14 days, simply go to leading Saints.org |
| 0:45.3 | slash 14. That's leading Saints.org slash 1.4. While you're at it, we'll give you access to all of our |
| 0:52.4 | virtual libraries that cover several leadership related topics. |
| 0:56.0 | So click the link in the show notes or simply visit leading Saints.org slash 14. It's important to do know that leading Saints is a nonprofit organization, 501c3, dedicated to helping |
| 1:16.3 | Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead, and we do that through content creation. |
| 1:21.9 | You get so much positive feedback on the |
| 1:23.7 | podcast or virtual conferences the articles on our website. You definitely got to |
| 1:28.2 | check it out at leading Saints.org and on their home page at leading Saints |
| 1:32.2 | that you can actually find the top six most downloaded |
| 1:35.2 | episodes to the podcast. |
| 1:36.5 | So if you're new, like the content, want to jump in |
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| 1:41.1 | head there after you listen to this episode. |
| 1:43.2 | Hey folks, welcome to another episode of the Leading Saints Podcast and a big shout |
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