Voxology

This episode, Mike, Tim, and Suzie talk with pastor and author John Mark Comer about how his spiritual life has shifted from anxious striving toward the gentleness and peace of Christ. Comer explains how solitude and community, trusted relationships, and contemplative prayer can help people experience God’s love and grow without turning spiritual practices into self-improvement projects.Comer describes a change from pursuing God with anxious, high-achieving intensity toward a gentler, humbler, more peaceful way of being with God.Drawing on The Holy Longing and early Christian thought, he discusses mellowing and apatheia, or freedom from disordered passions, while reframing passion as willingness to suffer for Christ.Spiritual disciplines can open people to grace, but they are not techniques for controlling or engineering personal transformation.Comer frames grace as God’s empowering presence and discipleship as staying relationally connected to God, not earning spiritual progress.He describes the inner critic and the gradual work of learning to recognize its voice without letting it dominate, through quiet prayer and trusted community.A discipleship band uses five questions about celebration, trouble, God’s guidance, confession, and what a person wants to keep secret; vulnerability grows as trust develops.Chapters00:00 Introduction 07:00 Interview: A reunion and a question about spiritual growth11:20 From anxious striving toward the gentleness of Christ15:15 Mellowing, apatheia, and a different meaning of passion21:25 Why spiritual disciplines cannot be life-hacked27:08 Grace as God’s empowering presence30:37 Quiet prayer, community, and the inner critic34:20 Confession, secrets, and trusted discipleship bands41:33 What Into the Quiet is really about46:27 Contemplation and experiencing union with God49:24 Entering solitude and community safely52:24 The secure base: growing trust step by step58:10 Influences, friendship, and the book’s lasting invitationAs always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], 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! EtsyLearn more about the Voxology PodcastSubscribe on iTunes or SpotifySupport the Voxology Podcast on PatreonThe Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology RadioFollow us on Instagram: @voxologypodcast and "like" us on FacebookFollow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerreMusic in this episode by Timothy John StaffordInstagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

Today, Mike, Suzie, and Tim unpack Matthew 23:23 and Jesus’ warning about straining out gnats while swallowing camels. They connect biblical interpretation to the fruit a community produces, arguing that justice, mercy, and faithfulness matter more than performative attention to minor rules.Mike distinguishes destination theology, which sorts people into orthodox or unorthodox, from journey theology, which invites people toward Jesus and deeper understanding along the way.The hosts argue that sound biblical interpretation should produce a community shaped like Jesus, marked by justice, mercy, and faithfulness.Mike explains Matthew 23:23: meticulous tithing of mint, dill, and cumin misses the heavier obligations of justice, mercy, and faithfulness when those are neglected.The discussion traces biblical tithing to shared meals, support for Levites, care for the poor, gratitude, and the belief that food and life are gifts.Jesus’ image of straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel contrasts fastidious personal piety with neglect of weightier communal responsibilities.Tim describes his small church supporting their community and reflects on a student encountering Christianity with little prior context.Suzie notes that repentance requires costly work toward people harmed, not only public claims of forgiveness or restoration.The hosts reflect on gardening, food, and a Mary Oliver poem as reminders to approach a broken world with gratitude, gentleness, and care.Mary Oliver: “It is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in the broken world”Chapters:00:00 Peek and Pit: music, voting, repairs, and a church serving its city11:07 Tennessee politics, Christian hypocrisy, and podcast housekeeping19:06 Destination theology versus a journey toward Jesus22:22 Biblical interpretation measured by community fruit31:13 Matthew 23:23 and the warning against straining out gnats33:23 Why biblical tithing involved meals, gratitude, and care for the poor38:00 Light and heavy commandments: prioritizing justice, mercy, and faithfulness49:21 Personal piety versus public responsibility53:17 Gentleness, repentance, and the fruit of Christian witness59:17 Gardening, gratitude, and finding a posture of hope01:03:08 Halloween, holidays, and a lighter sign-offAs always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to hello@:.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! https://www.etsy.com/shop/VOXOLOGY?ref=shop_sugg_marketLearn more about the Voxology PodcastSubscribe on iTunes or SpotifySupport the Voxology Podcast on PatreonThe Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology RadioFollow us on Instagram: @voxologypodcast and "like" us on FacebookFollow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerreMusic in this episode by Timothy John StaffordInstagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

Mike, Suzie, and Tim discuss the harm caused when fallen pastors turn repentance into a public product, then explore how spiritual abuse can distort biblical interpretation. They consider Jesus as the key to reading Scripture, and share postures that make room for humility, curiosity, hope, and uncertainty.The hosts discuss how spiritual abusers can use Scripture to control, exclude, shame, and equate their own opinions with God’s word.Mike argues that Jesus is the “key to knowledge”: the New Testament presents him as essential to understanding the full meaning of Torah and the prophets.Suzie affirms the value of historical and cultural context, and says she has grown more comfortable with not knowing everything about God.Tim compares growing faith to childhood imagination, suggesting that uncertainty can invite wonder rather than become a stumbling block.Mike reframes certainty as relational faithfulness expressed through action, not simply intellectual confidence.The hosts suggest approaching Scripture with humility, curiosity, hope, gentleness, and openness to learning from other people and communities.Timestamps00:00 - Halloween plans and the episode’s turn to spiritual abuse04:23 - Why a book about a pastor’s fall and repentance raises concerns06:39 - Repentance, restoration, and caring for those who were harmed11:11 - Carl Lentz, celebrity ministry, and systemic failures18:01 - The “key to knowledge” and Jesus’ critique of religious leaders21:18 - How spiritual abuse distorts Scripture23:12 - Reading Torah and the prophets through Jesus29:22 - Wrestling with difficult Old Testament portrayals of God30:38 - Ambiguity, maturity, and learning to live with complexity36:09 - What the Old Testament reveals about God and God’s people38:33 - Childhood imagination, faith, and wonder40:30 - Certainty as relational trust expressed in action44:42 - Humility, curiosity, and hope as ways to approach Scripture51:22 - Gentleness, joyful conviction, and learning across differences54:28 - Agency, unanswered questions, and the value of wrestling56:09 - Aslan, Lucy, and how Jesus grows larger as we growAs always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], 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! https://www.etsy.com/shop/VOXOLOGY?ref=shop_sugg_marketLearn more about the Voxology PodcastSubscribe on iTunes or SpotifySupport the Voxology Podcast on PatreonThe Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology RadioFollow us on Instagram: @voxologypodcast and "like" us on FacebookFollow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerreMusic in this episode by Timothy John StaffordInstagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

The Bible can open the kingdom—or slam the door shut. In this episode, Mike, Tim, and Suzie explore Jesus’ warning to religious leaders who use Scripture to exclude, shame, and control, and ask why that warning still feels so relevant today.Looking at Matthew 23 and Luke 11, they unpack how the Pharisees are accused of rejecting Jesus, twisting Torah, and using religious authority to reinforce their own righteousness. The conversation connects those ancient warnings to spiritual abuse, political anger, online outrage, and the ways faith can be used either to bring people closer to God or push them away.Together, they consider what it means to “nullify” Scripture, how to recognize when a teacher is clarifying its message or obscuring it, and why lament, community, and peacemaking matter in a culture overwhelmed by grief and conflict. At the heart of the discussion is one searching question: Is our use of the Bible shaped by Jesus’ way of mercy—or by coercion and shame? Timestamps00:00 - Fall break check-in and podcast banter 00:54 - Family trip to Columbus and Dave & Buster’s 02:19 - 30A, post-hurricane tourism, and fall break 03:53 - Hannah calls in after an eight-mile run 05:31 - Tim’s fall break, the Dodgers, and the Guardians 06:51 - The kindness mob story 09:34 - How positive and negative social media cascades spread 10:27 - Listener feedback about current events and Scripture 13:28 - A school shooting and the need to lament 15:23 - Making space for communal grief and prayer 19:35 - The search for peace 21:33 - Matthew 23 and shutting the kingdom door 23:59 - The “key to knowledge” in Luke 25:26 - Three ways the Pharisees closed the door 27:22 - The healing of the blind and mute man 28:44 - Jesus’ power, the Pharisees’ accusation, and blasphemy against the Spirit 31:59 - Ceremonial washing and the tradition of the elders 34:21 - Corban and honoring parents 36:36 - The sinful woman in Luke 7: judgment and mercy 38:29 - The woman caught in adultery 40:45 - Spiritual abuse and distorted readings of Scripture 44:30 - Susie on blocking others from a kingdom one has not entered 45:57 - Leaders preaching against what they have not faced in themselves 48:15 - Peacemaking, shalom, and responding to chaos 50:06 - Jesus, shame, and writing in the dust 51:35 - Mercy, wrath, and the death penalty debate 53:16 - The wounds teachers bring to their interpretation of Scripture 54:34 - Filters, theological posture, and interpretation 57:48 - Jesus clarifies Torah rather than obscuring it 58:18 - The “key to knowledge” and a cruciform way of reading the Bible 60:01 - Closing thanks and the ShemaAs always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], 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! EtsyLearn more about the Voxology PodcastSubscribe on iTunes or SpotifySupport the Voxology Podcast on PatreonThe Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology RadioFollow us on Instagram: @voxologypodcast and "like" us on FacebookFollow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerreMusic in this episode by Timothy John StaffordInstagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

Today, Mike, Tim and Suzie wrestle with two difficult questions: How should Christians respond to public cruelty and political turmoil? And how can church leaders avoid using power to heal their own wounds? The conversation moves from the death penalty and immigration enforcement to Jesus’ teaching on peace, then turns to humility, vulnerability, and spiritual abuse.They consider why “turn the other cheek” is not a call to passivity, how anger might become fuel for healing rather than outrage, and why local community matters for discernment and action. The conversation also examines the temptations of spiritual leadership: status, performance, and the difference between transparency and real vulnerability.Chapters00:00 Fall break banter and hurricane jokes04:18 The death penalty and public execution06:22 A son’s reaction to televised violence08:04 Burnout and the strain of constant political vigilance09:51 Jesus, peace, and the tension between nonviolence and resistance13:17 Turning the other cheek as creative goodness, not passivity15:15 Local community and faithful action17:07 Why political solutions aren’t the whole answer19:40 The limits of election-cycle thinking21:25 Staying local amid overwhelming news22:26 Anger, the internet, and protecting your attention32:34 Setting boundaries around news and social media36:04 The conversation turns to spiritually abusive leadership36:59 Siblingship instead of status and privilege38:27 Refusing social prestige and choosing low honor39:25 Hiddenness and performative piety40:22 Paul as a model of taking the lowest place43:45 The practice of showing genuine need44:44 Three steps toward becoming like the Pharisees47:05 Judgment, discernment, and empathy48:37 When humility becomes a performance51:07 Transparency versus real vulnerability55:45 Wounds, motives, and church leadership59:52 Preparing to teach without making the platform the center64:17 Suzie on pressure, trust, and teaching70:48 How to discern whose wounds a leader is trying to healAs always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], 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! EtsyLearn more about the Voxology PodcastSubscribe on iTunes or SpotifySupport the Voxology Podcast on PatreonThe Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology RadioFollow us on Instagram: @voxologypodcast and "like" us on FacebookFollow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerreMusic in this episode by Timothy John StaffordInstagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

Warning: Strong Language.This episode opens with a critique of political religious rhetoric, then turns to sexual abuse, church complicity, and why image-bearing, body theology, and accountability matter. The conversation also explores Matthew 23 and Jesus’ warnings about religious performance, status-seeking, and spiritual abuse in leadership.Mike, Tim, and Suzie react to Pete Hegseth’s religious language and discuss how quoting Psalm 33 and Isaiah 6 out of context can be used to baptize militarism, and then connect the Cornell University sexual assault story to broader questions of human dignity, trauma, and the failure of men and institutions to intervene.CHAPTERS: 00:00 — Opening banter and setting up the episode02:20 — Political religion, military rhetoric, and the Bible04:11 — Psalm 33 in context: the verses left out06:15 — “The real battle is spiritual” and the danger of baptizing war language08:14 — The Psalm’s corrective: war horses do not save10:25 — Isaiah 6 misused as a war cry11:12 — The “Office of Religious Affairs” and state religion13:20 — Why they keep speaking up: record-keeping, mockery, and moral witness15:19 — The Cornell assault story and why it matters to churches16:05 — Image-bearing, trauma response, and taking assault seriously17:36 — Women defending themselves in every space19:00 — Why men’s silence is part of the problem20:59 — Purity culture, gendered blame, and church complicity24:29 — Sexual ethics and a theology of the body26:28 — Matthew 23 and Jesus’ warnings about spiritually abusive leaders28:20 — Religious performance, rank, and status31:14 — Phylacteries and tassels: symbols turned into self-display35:05 — Banquets, synagogue seats, and public honor37:19 — A modern reading of Jesus’ critique of abusive leadership39:54 — Titles, respect, and the difference between function and self-importance42:28 — Authority culture and the weight given to pastoral input45:20 — Form, function, and missing Jesus’ point47:00 — Jesus’ correction: one teacher, one father, one Messiah50:55 — Luke 14: take the lowest seat, not the place of honor52:51 — Vocational ministry and the pull of visibility55:44 — Matthew 6: giving, praying, and fasting without being seen57:36 — Church structures, hierarchy, and hard questions60:20 — Momentum, affirmation, and why leaders need mental health care61:48 — Staying close to the poor as a guardrail against status addiction64:33 — Mike’s personal practices for humility and hiddenness67:27 — Trusting communities and cultures over charismatic individuals69:53 — Closing thanks and sign-offAs always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], 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! EtsyLearn more about the Voxology PodcastSubscribe on iTunes or SpotifySupport the Voxology Podcast on PatreonThe Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology RadioFollow us on Instagram: @voxologypodcast and "like" us on FacebookFollow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerreMusic in this episode by Timothy John StaffordInstagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

The best way to expose spiritual abuse is not by making Christianity smaller, but by making it more like Jesus. This episode follows a lively three-way conversation with Mike, Tim Stafford, and Suzie P. Lind about complementarianism, spiritual abuse, and what Jesus means by mercy over sacrifice. The discussion also widens into how churches create heavy loads through subculture, calling, gender roles, and expectations around community.They move from a listener email about complementarianism into a broader argument about how Jesus frees people instead of exhausting them with rule systems. Along the way, they connect Sabbath controversies, neighbor-love, and the body metaphor in First Corinthians to the everyday ways Christians can either burden or bless one another.Timestamps00:00 - Opening banter and political outrage over absurd public symbolism 03:31 - Listener email on complementarianism as a whole worldview 06:10 - Suzie on how deconstruction is often the real “choice” 10:46 - Tim questions racial and global inconsistencies in complementarian teaching 15:36 - Heavy loads, Pharisaical teaching, and Jesus’ mercy framework 18:31 - What mercy over sacrifice could look like for neighbors with different identities 22:20 - Healing on the Sabbath and the shriveled hand story 24:52 - “It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” as Jesus’ core principle 25:51 - How spiritually abusive systems add rules, shame, and fear 30:57 - Opposite of loads: blessing and empowering people 32:30 - Ways churches imply you must swallow everything or not belong 35:26 - “Gift projection” and forcing your calling onto everyone else 36:59 - The myth of “full-time ministry” versus ordinary Christian vocation 40:47 - Unity as family, not uniformity 42:17 - Turning implications into commands, like “your body is a temple” 43:17 - Examining our own hearts before calling out the load we place on others 46:27 - Redefining gospel, salvation, and what “first importance” really means 48:34 - When theological nuance leaves people unable to read Scripture with confidence 50:13 - Confession and accountability as communal, not individual, work 51:30 - First Corinthians and the body metaphor as a better model for discipleship 53:21 - Justice, guilt, and how load-bearing can happen even in good intentions 54:43 - How “we’re not program-driven” can still burden people differently 56:19 - Enneagram, temperament, and center-set community across differences 58:14 - Introverts, presence, and why every body part matters 60:09 - Closing reflections on the brutal beauty of community in First CorinthiansAs always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], 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! EtsyLearn more about the Voxology PodcastSubscribe on iTunes or SpotifySupport the Voxology Podcast on PatreonThe Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology RadioFollow us on Instagram: @voxologypodcast and "like" us on FacebookFollow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerreMusic in this episode by Timothy John StaffordInstagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

This episode opens with a lively point counterpoint about whether Christianity has failed, then moves into a thoughtful listener question about complementarianism, egalitarianism, and why some disagreements feel anything but friendly. From there, the conversation shifts into a teaching-heavy look at Matthew 11 and 12, where Jesus’ “easy yoke” is unpacked as mercy over burden, not zero-effort religion.Mike, Tim Stafford, and Suzie each bring a distinct voice: Mike steers the theology and text, Tim presses the conversation from a justice and power angle, and Suzie names the lived experience of women navigating church systems.Timestamps00:00 - Cold open: “Christianity has failed”03:45 - A listener question on complementarianism and why the disagreement feels fake to some women09:21 - Susie’s response: friendship, trust, and why fellowship has levels12:20 - The danger of treating everything as first importance or nothing as important14:42 - Why the biblical case for women in leadership still matters missionally16:09 - Women in leadership, abuse culture, and why hierarchy can create bad fruit17:45 - Tim’s alt festival update and the conversation shifts into what kinds of churches he will not attend18:43 - Why churches that marginalize people are non starters22:23 - The “slippery slope” argument cuts both ways23:30 - Matthew 23: heavy loads, hypocrisy, and spiritual abuse24:57 - Torah was a gift, not the burden Jesus condemned26:23 - Sabbath, Jubilee, and the radical generosity of Torah28:51 - Matthew 11: the context for Jesus’ invitation to rest34:42 - “Come to me” and the burden of the Pharisees37:06 - Susie on legalism, hustle culture, and the simplicity we complicate39:40 - “Come to me”: a rabbinic invitation to become Jesus’ student41:11 - What a yoke meant in rabbinic teaching44:22 - Why the crowds did not fully understand Jesus at first46:24 - Status, knowledge, and why learnedness can become a burden47:22 - Jesus as gentle and humble in heart49:46 - “Easy” does not mean effortless52:39 - Matthew 12 begins: Sabbath, hunger, and grain fields55:22 - Why Sabbath became a major identity marker after exile57:19 - The written Torah versus the oral tradition58:45 - David and the consecrated bread59:43 - Priests working on the Sabbath and Jesus’ greater-than-the-temple claim61:13 - “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”62:10 - How Jesus reveals the true nature of Torah66:41 - Sabbath was made for humans, not humans for Sabbath68:24 - Torah as a shape for mercy, not a cage against mercy69:47 - Teaser for next week: mercy, sacrifice, and modern spiritual abuse71:43 - Annie Dillard’s warning about the power invoked in churchAs always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], 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! https://www.etsy.com/shop/VOXOLOGY?ref=shop_sugg_marketLearn more about the Voxology PodcastSubscribe on iTunes or SpotifySupport the Voxology Podcast on PatreonThe Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology RadioFollow us on Instagram: @voxologypodcast and "like" us on FacebookFollow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerreMusic in this episode by Timothy John StaffordInstagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

Mike, Tim, and Suzie begin with a reflection on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, then move into a wide-ranging conversation about AI risk, political despair, and the church’s role in a polarized culture. The episode keeps returning to one central concern: if the gospel is reduced to a legal transaction, it can produce hypocrisy instead of transformation.This is an episode about grief, discernment, and the cost of misreading the gospel. It’s also about hope that is not tied to elections, institutions, or tech promises - but to formation, courage, and the ordinary work of becoming more like Jesus.CHAPTERS:00:00 - Weather, Halloween decorations, and the opening banter02:04 - Marking the 25th anniversary of 9/1102:52 - Suzie on where she was when the attacks began04:05 - Tim’s dorm room memory and the campus response05:07 - Remembering the shock before social media and nonstop news06:22 - The helpers, national unity, and the emotional whiplash07:59 - Pat Tillman and the post-9/11 heroic imagination08:22 - What 9/11 changed in America10:39 - Why AI suddenly feels terrifying11:07 - Anthropic’s own warning about recursive self-improvement12:00 - A former Anthropic researcher resigns and sounds the alarm13:26 - Real-world misuse of AI by governments and criminal actors15:44 - Tim on why AI fear is not just hype16:41 - Deepfakes, stolen art, and the erosion of trust17:41 - Why AI cannot replace human experience or care19:01 - Suzie on shifting from skepticism to concern20:29 - Why regulation lags behind technology and profit21:59 - Feeling overwhelmed and the urge to prepare22:30 - Groceries, supply chains, and practical anxiety23:22 - Satire, Trump, and the absurdity of political power26:31 - What is the church supposed to do now?29:37 - Tim on community, school board elections, and hope30:27 - The church’s role in the failures of the last 25 years33:53 - Suzie on Christians causing harm and doing good side by side35:45 - Church leadership, politics, and speaking up for human dignity38:22 - Naming reality, grieving propaganda, and carrying hope39:48 - Why the legal-only gospel enables hypocrisy42:42 - Poking around the courtroom metaphor44:35 - The DMV analogy and salvation as a pop quiz45:30 - Why belief without transformation leaves room for contradiction46:38 - What Mike means by “demonic” corruption of the gospel49:35 - Repentance, transformation, and formation into Christlikeness50:43 - Tim on freedom, peer pressure, and teaching tools instead of just rules53:54 - Emotional immaturity, family-of-origin wounds, and self-protection55:23 - Defining family, illumination, and the mercy of being found out57:54 - Salvation as participation, covenant, and faithfulness59:05 - Marriage vows as something embodied over time60:01 - Why the church needs a gospel that naturally leads to formation62:01 - Nature, sunsets, breathing, and not surrendering to exhaustion64:40 - A final joke about judgment, rapture, and cultural milestonesAs always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], 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! https://www.etsy.com/shop/VOXOLOGY?ref=shop_sugg_marketLearn more about the Voxology PodcastSubscribe on iTunes or SpotifySupport the Voxology Podcast on PatreonThe Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology RadioFollow us on Instagram: @voxologypodcast and "like" us on FacebookFollow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerreMusic in this episode by Timothy John StaffordInstagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

In this episode, Mike, Suzie and Tim discuss how American Christianity can reward false selves, why being “found out” can actually be mercy, and how confession is less about shame management and more about restoration, integration, and real connection. Together, they unpack why American Christianity rewards the false self, why imposter syndrome is often a symptom of a broken system, and how “being found out” can be a form of grace instead of punishment. If you’ve ever felt the pressure to look certain, sound authoritative, or keep the real mess hidden, this episode will feel uncomfortably familiar in the best way.Timestamps00:00 - Voxology welcome and naming the team02:49 - Wendell Berry, privilege, and the Subversive Witness book club03:19 - Berry on freedom, affluence, and community04:55 - Suzie reads “The Peace of Wild Things”05:49 - Mike reads “I Dream of a Quiet Man”06:47 - Fear-based politics and “what happens to the church?”10:53 - Hypocrisy, imposter syndrome, and why it matters for teachers13:15 - Suzie on weekly prep anxiety and co-learning17:14 - Timothy on the performative church system20:38 - Why the false self gets rewarded23:58 - Therapy, the “glittering image,” and the good bad split26:49 - The impossible job description placed on pastors32:30 - “Everything hidden will be disclosed”34:50 - Found out as grace, not just judgment36:43 - Mercy, judgment, and praying children are caught before harm39:26 - Sex, consequences, and a new way to think about judgment42:21 - Confession as more than stamping 1 John 1:9 on a problem46:41 - Examen as a practice of noticing God’s presence and absence48:33 - How confession has changed over time50:26 - Sin as obstacle to fullness, not just rule-breaking54:01 - Finding a non-threatening place to tell the truth55:56 - Privacy versus secrecy57:13 - 12-step confession, healing, and accountability61:00 - Shame, connection, and being loved in weakness62:13 - Jesus’ warning about hypocrisy and spiritual abuse64:09 - Why the gospel also addresses how we live, not just what happens after death65:58 - Humanity, restoration, and confession as a return to true self67:18 - Back to 3D faith and closing thoughtsAs always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], 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! https://www.etsy.com/shop/VOXOLOGY?ref=shop_sugg_marketLearn more about the Voxology PodcastSubscribe on iTunes or SpotifySupport the Voxology Podcast on PatreonThe Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology RadioFollow us on Instagram: @voxologypodcast and "like" us on FacebookFollow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerreMusic in this episode by Timothy John StaffordInstagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy