Why We Should Not Redeem Deconstruction, Before You Lose Your Faith: Deconstruction and the Church, Why Progressive Christianity Cant Bring Reformation, Jen Hatmaker and the Made-to-Order Gospel. Role. Ill interact the most with Rhetts extimony as it covered the lions share of their reasons for leaving the faith. Its stable. stand to lose if they didnt capitulate to culture on an issue like same-sex marriage? Please help us to continue to make our videos and movies available on YouTube free of charge. I was crushed. Link is known to be awkwardly funny, a master of organization, the President of the Republic of Cheesistan, and prone to retching and gagging when introduced to strange or unfamiliar food. Rhett led off with his intellectual doubts and Link countered with an emotional appeal. Whenever somebody other than Rhett mentions the word "Tokyo," Rhett will shout "What" for a length of time, and an overlay appears with the word "Tokyo," stylized to look like the Japanese flag, the cityscape of Tokyo, and a cat chasing a red laser beam, while a bell rings in the background. As an evangelical Christian, you learn to tackle controversial subjects by reading only books by other evangelicals as they talk through their own rationalizations for their beliefs. Doubt always accompany faith. One main issue discussed by them is the problem with LGBTQ and church. We still believe the truth and the opinion of two YouTube comedians cannot change that. Im reasonably certain that you dont burn in hell because you were intellectual curious and honest. What I want to address is that even if Evolution were true (which I dont believe it is) there are way too many things in this world that need explanations that the Naturalistic worldview cannot answer. Augustine goes on to say that it is significant when someone of this stature converts . In fact, at the conclusion of Links talk, they both indicated theyll be setting this whole topic aside for a while in order to get their bearings. This channel has made Rhett and Link the fourth highest-earning YouTube stars 3 while reaching audiences around the world. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:1416 that through his missionary work, Christ spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of himself. Both guys were raised in an environment that assumed Christianity as a part of the culture, and ultimately that did them a grave disservice. They were getting tired of doing GMM. Church is much more varied and diverse than you can imagine yet can all still Christy Neal: Link's wife. Theres one thing I respect about the deconstruction stories of Rhett and Link. Link Neal. I found myself identifying with them a lot through experiences from our very similar pasts. About 24 minutes into the podcast, Rhett compares the development of human DNA to an instruction manual that gets two pages permanently stuck together, leaving the headers and footers in place to show exactly where one ends and the other begins. Cotton Candy Randy is known to whisper "sweet nothings" in people's ears, but in Rhett's house, where he had a fan going in his room as . Anticipating the response he would get for opening up about all of this, Rhett addressed the No True Christian argument right off the bat: I want to emphasize how big of a deal it was to me. SUBSCRIBE to Faithwires (free) YouTube channel. Christians today must be ready to provide a compelling defense for Christand even. Later on, Wade asks Rhett if he understands little boys, and Rhett bitterly says he does. How could so much of the history of Israel be made up? While God is love, we must remember that Hes also just and holy. What about the beginning? Do you think you know more than all these other brilliant people before you? Of course that knife cuts both ways, although the people who say this never do see how it should undermine their own confidence, as well. The comment sections of their Reddit, Facebook, and YouTube pages reveal that their stories inspired many atheists and touched the hearts of some folks who experienced similar deconversion journeys, describing the videos as beautiful, candid, and vulnerable.. I remember my former Christian marriage therapist asking me point blank: What are you getting from this? With the help of the Holy Spirit, they became convinced that Christianity is true as they gazed deeply at Christs beauty. Good Mythical Morning is the most watched daily show online, averaging 100 million views in a month. How would it affect their revenue streams and net worth to remain faithful Christians in todays cultural climate? But the same timeworn skepticism the church has interacted with since its inception is given a fresh dose of potency when delivered to a whole new generation by cool and funny guys whove become a fixture of their childhood. Now that they no longer need to outsource their morality to God they begin to take more responsibility for it themselves. Should we avoid it? their abandoning their faith. And then my heart broke hearing not only where they are in their faith, but how they have made it easier for others to abandon their belief in God too. Responding to a fan question in 2010, Rhett said that, while they were both Christian, their content is not religious. First, he read Francis Collinss (the other Francis), The Language of God, and was convinced that evolution is true. They were also Christians, former missionaries, and Campus Crusade (now Cru) staff members. Reasonable answers exist for each notion the duo passed along that, in their opinion, defeats the truth of Christianity. This week, Faithwire managing editor Dan Andros discussed some of those concerns with editor Tr Goins-Phillips. As I listened to them walking through their journeys I was surprised to see that we have covered much of the same terrain. What am I gonna teach them now? Its the people behind the arguments. Demas traded eternal hope for earthly treasure. For those who don't know, Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal are a musical comedy duo who have built their YouTube show Good Mythical Morning into one of the biggest shows on the channel, with over 17 million subscribers. It didnt take long before quickly discovering these two were not some boys who got saved at some church youth camp alter call and then used their new found Christianity merely as a buttress against sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll after that. Do you want to read more articles like this? Norman C. Nevin, Theistic Evolution Edited by J.P. Moreland, Stephen C. Meyer, Ann K. Gauger, Wayne Grudem, & Christopher Shaw. I'm not saying that Rhett and Link walking away from the faith isn't a big deal . Cotton Candy Randy is a Mythical character created by Rhett & Link on their daily show, Good Mythical Morning. As a result, they are surprised and hurt by Christians who promptly said that they never truly were of us ( 1 John 2:19 ). He cohosts the award-winning television program Way of the Master, which airs in 190 countries. Hopefully, they also realize these accusations are shots fired out of fearfear that one day they may wake up to find that we are making at least as much sense as they are. As they mixed with Christians that perhaps So I think that I was primed to hear what they had to say with an open (but biblically-grounded) mind. I had been pulling on this thread for a really long timeLets call it the sweater of faithI had been pulling on this thread until it had sort of turned into a vestand then a midriffand then a halter tapand now it was a string bikini. Lori calls it guerrilla evangelism, and its a burden shouldered by everyone who knows Jesus. As believers, we should take comfort to know its not new,he said. So, if you want to listen to them you can do so without fear. often suggest the real reason is so they can succumb to a life of sin, I find But as both Rhett and Link recounted, there was something brewing underneath the intellectual questions. Catholics believe one can have lgbtq thoughts/ temptations, but not act on them. Anticipating pushback from those who say you have to trust Jesus over the noise of your own intellectual questions, Rhett reminds us you cannot separate an historical figure from actual history and still say youre talking about the same person. Rhett & Link preempt their critics Did it also come from that pair of chromosomes? For more than a decade, Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal have made videos together under the name Rhett & Link, cementing their bromance as one of YouTube's most memorable partnerships.In a recent vlog, McLaughlin and Neal who have been buddies since the first grade took their friendship to another level. This insatiable need for certainty is something the still-faithful need to confront about themselves, not us. They decided to go get vasectomies together and filmed the experience for a video . Episode 29: What Atheists Wish Christians Knew About Them, "I'll be there! These apostles of unbelief are on a mission to help others deconstruct with the same evangelistic zeal they learned from their previous tribe. Which means the history matters. Its hard not to feel insulted by his unwillingness to accept this. Rhett and Link already know theyll be accused of being arrogant. It still provides the stability and the community on which peoples lives depend. I couldnt check his Instagram for updates every hour or tweet at him with the real possibility he might tweet back. You need a context in which to deal with the doubts. What was scheduled as an hour-long chapel service last Wednesday has turned into a multi-day revival at Asbury University. But where did the first stuff actually come from? No, these lads loved Jesus. If I wouldve found out he was a former Christian now identifying as agnostic, it would have broken my heart. Giza Theme by Pixel Object, G.O.P. Unfortunately, much of the church and pastoral leadership seems committed to stopping the proper spiritual development of Christians and instead choose to keep them artificially in a state of spiritual arrested development. My heart is breaking and my head is spinning in light of the so-called deconstruction of Rhett and Links faith. We don't. personally know that jettison God altogether during their deconstruction often become With guest appearances on The TODAY Show, Live with Kelly, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, their stars have been rising for the past few years, swelling their net worth to an estimated $23 million. And I want to say that because Ive noticed that when I tell my story, often people kind of conclude that I was never a true Christian. Rhett and Link Controversy and Deconstruction Over the years, we learned that YouTubers Rhett and Link had been on staff with Cru, served as missionaries, led Bible studies, and worked with campus ministries. 4K Followers. Today, Rhett and Link have a net worth of $25 million as of 2021. The two men, known for their daily Good Mythical Morningbroadcast, have, over the last few years, gone through what they have described as their spiritual deconstruction[s]. After having spent years in young adult ministry, Rhett and Link now call themselves hopeful agnostics.. 24:12). ). Its like trying on a different head just for a little while. While Rhett and Link spend some time talking about their post-Christian lives in the deconstruction episodes, they devote the lion's share of the time to looking back on the life and belief. I hope in the future they will explore that question a bit more, as well as their differing orientations toward hopefulness for the future of our species. Postman posited that in the future, we would be oppressed not by an outside force like Big Brother in George Orwells dystopian novel, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think,, He predicted that with the rise of technology and communication, people wouldnt be deprived of information, but rather they would be given, that they would become passive and egocentric. I might get a new episode once a week if I was lucky. Rhett and Link refer to an American comedy duo who are very popular on YouTube. A former church elder with a seminary education, Neil now writes mostly about the struggles of former evangelicals living in the midst of a highly religious subculture. As an actor playing a character on a TV show, my access was limited. In Book VIII, Chapter IV of Confessions, St. Augustine relates the conversion of a famed Roman rhetorician, Victorinus, whose public conversion caused great rejoicing. Let me help you out here. Rhett says hes lost his appetite for certainty, and I know what he means. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to trivialize this. As part of their healing process, they are all told to declare to the world their reasons for why being a Christian is wrong. How would it affect their revenue streams and net worth to remain faithful Christians in todays cultural climate? No one that I was in personal contact withpastors, Christian friends, elders in the churchnone of them disappointed me or let me down. After all, when someone is conversant in apologetics and theology, knows his Bible, and can anticipate my suspicions and objections, its difficult to simply pass him off as someone who never really understood Christianity. I didnt have the opportunity to open my laptop (they didnt yet exist) or turn on our home computer (we didnt own one), hop on YouTube, and watch my future husband walk me through his breakfast choices, morning drive, and whimsical musings. By the way, Evolutionary theory doesnt have a sufficient cause for the universe coming into existence out of nothing. I guess my biggest frustration with what he is saying is that he is painting the picture that if you are a Christian you are not allowed to have any doubts, but if you arent a Christian then you dont have to believe in anything. Just over a month ago in two hour+ podcast episodes, Rhett and Link told their stories about how they came to believe that Christianity wasn't true. Every bit helps, and is greatly appreciated. Rhett explains that his first step toward evolution came through Francis Collins' book The Language of God. Take Rhett, for example. Listening to their podcast you hear the He firsttells the story of how during college he fell in with a crowd of Young Earth Creationists who maintained that the universe is only 6,000-10,000 years old, give or takea perspective he would adopt for many years to come. Most recently, of course, is the story of well-known pastor and author Joshua Harris, as well as the Youtube comedians Rhett and Link.. I've written on this phenomenon myself in a number of places, including my recent book, The 10 Commandments of Progressive Christianity, as well as my my article, "The . And, in reality, hes not living that way either. 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