Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Popular YouTubers Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal have publicly announced that they have left Christianity and landed in agnosticism.. Their deconversions are especially noteworthy given how publicly the two had once been with their Christian faith (e.g., missionaries for CRU, featured in Phil Vischer's What's in the Bible?It's also noteworthy that Rhett and Link have over 15 million . Rhett & Link are entertainers who primarily use the Internet to display their talents. Sign up to get our newsletter your inbox every day. And you think Los Angeles stretched One article about Rhett and Link said, "they both felt a deep discomfort with biblical sexual ethics, which they perceived to oppress women and their LGBTQ+ friends.". Much of their appeal comes from their history together. 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. ", "Until we meet againhttps://www.youtube.com/wat". I'm super disappointed but also not surprised. They never talk about if it's morally wrong, but rather the person expressing who they think they are and who they think they love. And, every time Rhett said, I know you are going to say _____________, I was thinking, Yeah, thats exactly what Id say.. Its the people behind the arguments. Please help us to continue to make our videos and movies available on YouTube free of charge. This creates a sense of community, in which we come to experience love and loyalty for our favorite YouTube celebrities. Thats why leaving it is so damned scary. 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. Leaving aside the irony of that accusation, I would simply say, as I always do, that certainty is the currency of fundamentalism. stand to lose if they didnt capitulate to culture on an issue like same-sex marriage? I remember my former Christian marriage therapist asking me point blank: What are you getting from this? I often joke that most of the people I How can two guys who make a living as YouTube personalities go from making possum corndogs one day to throwing 2,000 years of Christian history under the bus the next? The lesson we can learn from the Rhett and Link story is to observe the power of the media platform, recognize the roadblocks of the new apostles of unbelief, and keep a humble eye to history, remembering that our Savior told us some would fall away. Rhett and Link have never punched each other in the face. She's been showing up less and less on the main series so I've suspected for a . ButIm more interested now in what I do when I LIVE.because the only thing that I know that Ive got is this life. I mean we have little finite minds and we are trying to understand an infinite God. I could barely stay in my car seat listening to Rhetts story. First, he read Francis Collinss (the other Francis), The Language of God, and was convinced that evolution is true. Reasonable answers exist for each notion the duo passed along that, in their opinion, defeats the truth of Christianity. 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. 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. Charles Lincoln Neal III) have already established themselves as YouTube's grand old men and as two of the platform's most consistently . Like in biological puberty where one begins to form an adult identity separate from their parents and begin to wrestle with the understanding that the world is much more complex and nuanced than originally thought. Certain? Gods in control. suggestion that their moving to Los Angeles was just the slippery slope to Giza Theme by Pixel Object, G.O.P. The joke first appeared in the episode called Odd . their home town version of Christianity placed on them. Its hard not to feel insulted by his unwillingness to accept this. I read books about it by people who didnt believe in it. My advice to Rhett and Link (and borrowing from the Immortal words of Douglas Adams) is Dont Panic; across the Jordan River of spiritual deconstruction exists a promised Land of a deeper, richer, and more beautiful faith in Christ and his Way. So Rhett got hung up on the way that one pair of chromosomes looks (okay?. Here are nine things you should know about revival and the history of revivals in America. Good Mythical Morning, hosted by Rhett &Link, is a morning daily talk show. Im almost sure I said those same words at some point in my journey. I also appreciate him making a point of clarifying that bad experiences didnt push him out of the faith. But I dont think its the actual arguments themselves people have found so persuasive. 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. As an actor playing a character on a TV show, my access was limited. Rhett and Link aren't going to church either way. Through the deal, Mythical has expanded its busine As far as Im concerned, Jesus was as real to me as he possibly could be without physically manifesting himself in my presence. The two Blend that with Rhett and Links magnetic personalities, and its no wonder the faith of many Christians has been unsettled. ), but he cant escape the fact that he is an image-bearer of God, living in Gods world. That was one of the hardest pills for me to swallow, too. the opposite is often true. Bingo! It was time to stop just reading Christian answers to everything and go a level deeper, looking next at the answers to the Christian answers. Scarlett had befriended the very people who had destroyed the South. They were also Christians, former missionaries, and Campus Crusade (now Cru) staff members. I imagine those types of responses will continue to roll in. 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. Hes the one whos established this entire universe. Augustine goes on to say that it is significant when someone of this stature converts . Rhett and Link have grown their brand performing hilarious satirical songs and engaging in zany stunts such as duct-taping themselves together, playing wedgie-hangman, crushing glow sticks in a meat-grinder, and flinging bags of dog feces at one anothers faces. Rhett mentions to Scarlett that he goes to New Orleans to visit a young boy who goes to school there, because Rhett is his guardian. I quickly downloaded and submerged myself into Rhett and Links respective stories (which you can also see on YouTube here and here). There will be those among us who claim the name of Christ today, and tomorrow they wont. They are known for their comic songs, viral commercials, skits and the daily show, Good Mythical Morning. Ray Comfort is the Founder and CEO of Living Waters, a bestselling author, and has written more than 100 books, including, The Evidence Study Bible. These apostles of unbelief are on a mission to help others deconstruct with the same evangelistic zeal they learned from their previous tribe. The sweater of faith. you? Travis Tritt asked the question, but it seems Thomas Rhett knows the answer. Mark Spence, a Christian, discusses some controversial subjects with a couple, and they leave once he brings up one topic in particular. If the below fields are visible, ignore them. Im reasonably certain that you dont burn in hell because you were intellectual curious and honest. 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. This is why growth is stunted, why people abandon the faith: our church is too shallow for roots to dig deep. When I listened to their journeys from belief to hopeful agnosticism I was shocked at how much this looked like a one-two punch attack against Christianity. They like to call themselves "Internetainers." Charles Lincoln Neal and Rhett McLaughlin first met on the first day of first grade in Buies Creek, North Carolina, when they were held in class during recess as punishment for writing profanity on their desks. If I wouldve found out he was a former Christian now identifying as agnostic, it would have broken my heart. But, Continue reading, When we talk about what it means to be a man from a biblical perspective, we have to realize that we are working completely against popular culture. / Politics / Trump / Uncategorized, find a Statement of Faith list of things you will need to believe, had to the spiritual journey of Rhett and Link. Rhett is 0% left-handed. If youre younger than 30, you likely have a list of favorite YouTube channels that you follow. Why were so many people rattled and even persuaded by them? 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. When he jumped the Christian ship, he didnt jump into another boat, but into a sea of uncertainty. His Christianity has been replaced with what he calls openness and curiosity. He describes how liberating its been to let go of the appetite for certainty. To the careful observer, its evident that Rhett has traded in one worldview for another: Christianity for postmodernity, with all its skepticism, denial of absolutes, and relativism. When I was 11, I only had the opportunity to see Ricky Schroder once a week. I never got a reply. their abandoning their faith. Thats humanism in a nutshell, and I feel the same way. Watch the rest of their discussion in the video above, and read Goins-Phillips story on Rhett and Link here. This is the effect the gospel has, and we should expect these types of reactions. Their shift away from Christianity, though, raises quite a few red flags, especially given so much of it seems to hinge on their own experiences and desire to embrace the LGBTQ community. This! Watching people eat bugs and murderously hot peppers isnt really my thing, but its a different story for my kids. I kind of saw Christianity as this boat in a very stormy sea. Commercial Kings: With Rhett McLaughlin, Link Neal, Shayne Pax, Brandon Taylor. Ill interact the most with Rhetts extimony as it covered the lions share of their reasons for leaving the faith. Theres a lot of other people on it. For exmaple, you decide you're hooked on a song. Whether it's Rhett and Link, who used their platform to honestly discuss their deconstruction and deconversion; or Abraham Piper, son of influential pastor John Piper, who's publicly deconstructing evangelical Christianity on TikTok; or . Right and wrong? No, we are the ones who learn to accept that on our best day, were still mostly grasping at straws. Rhett says hes lost his appetite for certainty, and I know what he means. Governor Bullock's presence at Scarlett's crush made Melanie feel. And the question that Ive gotten from some people who are close to me, who love me. No one that I was in personal contact withpastors, Christian friends, elders in the churchnone of them disappointed me or let me down. He was basically telling MY story, along with the stories of a hundred people I know who went through the same thought processes and the same emotional struggles. Link asked, Why on airplanes? to which Rhett replied: Because when youre an evangelical Christian, when you sit next to a stranger, this may be the only opportunity you have to share the life changing message of Jesus with them. He even says that he understands the argument that you cant have a moral law without a moral law Giver But then he says, that he just doesnt know. 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. I dont know. 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. It gives you something to hold on to. ). 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