Sign up to get our newsletter your inbox every day. Confession: When I was a kid, I was in love with Ricky Schroder. Thomas, 31, wrote his chart-topping hit, "Die a Happy Man" a story about a man's need for nothing more in life than his woman's "crazy love"for and about his wife, Lauren (Gregory) Akins, 32. I was crushed. 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.. However, when they got to the point where they turned the corner away from the God of the Bible, our paths split and my heart broke. And deal with them now, but dont exchange Christianity with doubts for an empty belief system made solely of doubts. Maybe the whole deconversion narrative is due for a bit of deconstruction. Confession: When I was a kid, I was in love with, As much as I felt undying love for Ricky Schroder, I knew little about him. Rather, he foretold, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think, pointing to Aldous Huxleys satirical Brave New World. Ill interact the most with Rhetts extimony as it covered the lions share of their reasons for leaving the faith. But it was while still back in North Carolina that Rhetts wife, Jessie, had taken Bible courses under agnostic biblical scholarBart Ehrman, and the historical questions those studies raised continued to impact their lives. These discoveries challenged the underpinnings of his whole theological system, but like all of us he was encouraged to press on through with his questions without fear because: All truth is Gods truth. My understanding of who Jesus is is not just based on my experience with him personally, but its also based on what the Bible has to say about him. Rhett, who makes up one half of the comedy duo Rhett & Link and co-hosts their hit YouTube talk show Good Mythical Morning, admits that while he is eager to "settle into the space we have,". Blend that with Rhett and Links magnetic personalities, and its no wonder the faith of many Christians has been unsettled. I couldnt check his Instagram for updates every hour or tweet at him with the real possibility he might tweet back. Heres the deal, we (at SWO) have gone back and forth on whether or not to address this. Around the time I was nursing a wounded ego for being stood up by the Ricky Schroder fan club, Neil Postman made a prediction in his 1985 book, . But I dont think its the actual arguments themselves people have found so persuasive. What does this obtain for you? I told him honestly that it could only lead to loss and pain, but that I didnt really have a choice. Exvangelicals remember this compulsion well. How is my marriage going to stay together? Rhett says hes lost his appetite for certainty, and I know what he means. Fast forward 35 years to a day replete with a global internet and smartphones, and Postmans words ring with the chill of prophetic accuracy. It gives you purpose. God draws people to Jesus, He saves them, and He doesnt lose any of them. Spotify have songs removed so you will buy them. This implies that they are, in fact, deceiving people. It gives you something to hold on to. Rhett echoed that hes more interested in what happens during his life on earth: , Its not so much what happens after you die, but what happens while youre alive., Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:1416 that through his missionary work, Christ spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of himself. As with most former evangelicals (henceforth ex-vangelicals), the majority of key turning points in Rhetts deconversion story coincide with changes in his relationship to the Bible, and to his own traditions reading of it. While their degrees and first jobs were in engineering, funny video production ultimately became their claim to fame. Could it be that the cultural influences driving these, Rhett was careful to say he doesnt think these apologists are intentionally deceiving anyone. I could barely stay in my car seat listening to Rhetts story. Rhett led off with his intellectual doubts and Link countered with an emotional appeal. Get your FREE eBook about deconstruction: 'Before You Lose Your Faith'. themselves a Christian? Bingo! They were also Christians, former missionaries, and Campus Crusade (now, When they each recorded videos walking fans through their spiritual-deconstruction stories in February, it shot through the internet like a bolt of lightning. Aug 05, 2012 12:57PM. So, if you want to listen to them you can do so without fear. The most recentand arguably most influentialone has come from entertainers and YouTube sensations Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal of the Good Mythical Morning channel and Ear Biscuits podcast. I never got a reply. I would also love to hear somethinganythingfrom their wives about how they experienced the transition out of the faith while still remaining intact as a family. The same goes for apologetics in general, doesnt it? But it wouldnt have shaken my own faith. It would appear that despite how destabilizing and difficult their deconstruction processes were, they no longer, The sad reality is that, for the deconverted, disbelief isnt sufficient. Man, does that feel familiar! Later in Pauls ministry, however, he writes that Demas ended up loving the present world more than the things of God and walked away (2 Tim. Relocating with their families to Los Angeles around this time almost certainly made it easier for Rhett and Link to think through some of their questions, removed as they now were from the Christ-Haunted atmosphere of the Bible Belt. The stories themselves werent so different from others that have lit up social media over the past few years. At one point, Rhett asked a very good question. Aside from the fact that most apologists have day jobs, this leads to a fair question: what would Rhett and Link stand to lose if they didnt capitulate to culture on an issue like same-sex marriage? I might get a new episode once a week if I was lucky. These apostles of unbelief are on a mission to help others deconstruct with the same evangelistic zeal they learned from their previous tribe. But when evangelizing, is apologetics helpful or necessary? The two I mean we have little finite minds and we are trying to understand an infinite God. One element of his deconstruction story thats particularly compelling to young people is his seemingly exhaustive knowledge of Christian apologetics. Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. It still provides the stability and the community on which peoples lives depend. That is why I read and study. The stir online is probably exhausting. And soon discovered some of these other traditions had different perspectives on some of the issues that often trigger Evangelical spiritual deconstruction: I came to realise the Evangelical aisle of the supermarket is a wonderful aisle in the supermarket but it aint the only aisleas much as they often like to claim it is. Doubt always accompany faith. On the show, the two comedians . Because of that many former Christians suddenly and unceremoniously find themselves kicked outside the church wondering what just happened (with various levels of resentment and cynicism thrown in). As a result, they are surprised and hurt by Christians who promptly said that they never truly were of us ( 1 John 2:19 ). Rhett even invokes the Apostle Peters response to Jesus when Jesus asks if he will leave him to which Peter responds, Where would I go?. That said, I sympathize even more with the ones who follow their own consciences out of the fold, in time being accused of every impure motive imaginable. feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Why ban a Tim Keller or Ravi Zacharias book when you can create a community in which no one will want to read one? Welcome to Ohio. They no longer identify as Christians so it is not judgmental to refer to them this way.) Leaving aside the irony of that accusation, I would simply say, as I always do, that certainty is the currency of fundamentalism. If I wouldve found out he was a former Christian now identifying as agnostic, it would have broken my heart. more Christ-like now that they no longer see themselves as Christians. And we as Christians shouldnt be surprised when this happens. Today that simple choice to follow Jesus and learn to engage Life through his Way comes with a whole lot of additional belief requirements. Rhett said, , to believe [Christianity], then why would I? Link expressed, Why was I working so hard to make Christianity work for me if it wasnt even true? Aside from encountering intellectual stumbling blocks, it seems that, to YouTubes favorite pair, the gospel had begun to stink. I read here a lot more than I comment, but Neil was ", "Then the LORD said to Hosea, Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. their home town version of Christianity placed on them. After all, remember, we are talking about nothing. But where did the first stuff actually come from? So you "offline mode" it. To put it bluntly. Listening to their podcast you hear the 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. Apologetics books arent written for the lost, theyre written for the saved. They exist to collect dust on the shelves of believers who will now sleep better knowing that someone took the time to think through all that stuff long enough to get it down into print. 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. Really good analogy. 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