Heres the deal, we (at SWO) have gone back and forth on whether or not to address this. They loved not the things of the world, but repented of their sin and put all their hope and trust in him. Governor Bullock's presence at Scarlett's crush made Melanie feel. Thats what pushed us out, in the end. I kind of saw Christianity as this boat in a very stormy sea. 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. She's been showing up less and less on the main series so I've suspected for a . Rhett and Link grew up as evangelical Christiansand worked extensively with Christian organizations in the past, including working for Campus Crusade for Christand playing the Fabulous Bentley Brothers for a children's Bible education series on Jelly Telly. Watching people eat bugs and murderously hot peppers isnt really my thing, but its a different story for my kids. Ray Comfort explains the reason why this happens so often with those who used to believe in Christianity.Visit https://www.LivingWaters.com to view more free Christian videos, articles, and to get tracts and other resources by Ray Comfort and the Living Waters team.FACEBOOKLiving Waters: https://www.facebook.com/lwwotmRay Comfort: https://www.facebook.com/official.Ray.ComfortINSTAGRAMLiving Waters: https://www.instagram.com/livingwatersofficialTWITTERLiving Waters: https://twitter.com/LivingWatersPubRay Comfort: https://twitter.com/RayComfort They began their career as engineers and ended up in the field of comedy. Mythical, founded by Rhett & Link, creates entertainment, products, and experiences that inspire human connection through curiosity and comedy. Rhett was careful to say he doesnt think these apologists are intentionally deceiving anyone. They understand if you cease to believe in core tenets of the faithlike sin, the atonement, the resurrection of Jesus, and the reality of heaven and hellthen you shouldnt still identify as a Christian. their abandoning their faith. 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. Man, does that feel familiar! Last month, the GMM duo moved one of their podcasts, Ear Biscuits, to a separate channel in order to devote that space to an increasingly personal line of conversations about what led them to leave their faith and look for new sources of meaning and inspiration in the world in which they find themselves. Rhett McLaughlin. Who will separate us from the Love of Christ? She Leaves Once This Christian Brings Up This Topic. I jumped into the water. Could it be that the cultural influences driving these deconstruction stories needs to be re-examined, rather than Christianity itself? Certain? Would. Blend that with Rhett and Links magnetic personalities, and its no wonder the faith of many Christians has been unsettled. Lori calls it guerrilla evangelism, and its a burden shouldered by everyone who knows Jesus. This implies that they are, in fact, deceiving people. Melanie then asks for coffee and sandwiches. This insatiable need for certainty is something the still-faithful need to confront about themselves, not us. How is my marriage going to stay together? 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. 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. They were getting tired of doing GMM. The LGBTQ agenda is the new master who takes no prisoners. In fact, he said that he jumped out of the Christian ship, but not into another ship, per se, but into an ocean of uncertainty more on that later. I didnt want to believe thisI didnt want to leave this thing. They are known for their comic songs, viral commercials, skits and the daily show, Good Mythical Morning. He suggested that if all these apologists and theologians were to recant their stories and change their opinions, their livelihoods would be at stake. Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Maybe youre just checking to make sure a bolt of lightning wont immediately strike you the moment you do. Not only was I taught everything I ever needed for my faith in Christ could be found in that aisle but later, sadly, that was what I went on to teach others. I love it. We don't. It doesnt really matter if it never reaches its destination. I hope youll take the time to watch/listen to the show for yourself, along with the follow-up episode in which Link tells his own story about how he left his faith behind after he became an adult. With the help of the Holy Spirit, they became convinced that Christianity is true as they gazed deeply at Christs beauty. And you think Los Angeles stretched Did you know that these entertaining goofballs were once evangelical Christians who specialized in student ministry? As far as Christians believing in the theory of Evolution or not, there is too much to go into in this short post. Or what about morality? By saying that he does not believe in the God of the Bible he is making a statement of certainty, even if he is trying to soften the blow by using non-threatening language. To some, it smells like beauty and life; to others, it smells like death. Rhett's argument here against Christianity wrongly very wrongly assumes questions about sexuality are in some way new, as if, despite having survived thousands of years, Christianity is unable to withstand the whims of human desire. And, like he says toward the end of yesterdays talk by Link, the boat is real. Francis Schaeffer once wrote about the fact that Christians need to have such a commitment to the truth that if it were proven to be false we would be the first to get out of line and join the rest of the world in their destruction. The two 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. Its the. As far as Im concerned, Jesus was as real to me as he possibly could be without physically manifesting himself in my presence. Its the people behind the arguments. 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. Really good analogy. and Asian Christians, and Pacific Islander Christians you soon realize the Scarlett had befriended the very people who had destroyed the South. Rhett and Link also believed that women were not treated fairly with regard to leadership roles in the church (I mean it is the 21st century - Helloooo? Today, Rhett and Link have a net worth of $25 million as of 2021. Our media fueled siloed communities dividing us in politics, religion, race, culture, and various interests meant I was totally oblivious to Rhett & Link despite their being YouTube comedy sensations with nearly 17 million subscribers. Ray Comfort explains the reason why this happens so often with those who used to believe in Christianity. I might get a new episode once a week if I was lucky. Fast forward 35 years to a day replete with a global internet and smartphones, and Postmans words ring with the chill of prophetic accuracy. more Christ-like now that they no longer see themselves as Christians. When it comes to apologetics, its a very helpful tactic to show unbelievers the truths of the Bible. Its okay to have doubts. Its not like God was all of the sudden blindsided by the fact that people are struggling with their sexual orientation or that some people have gender dysphoria. It was a relationship. Since the release of their stories, several apologists and scholars have offered sound rebuttals to some of the claims made by Rhett in particular. I believe they have a fundamental misunderstanding of the issue. Thats why leaving it is so damned scary. You need a context in which to deal with the doubts. He occasionally sends judgments to earth to remind us of this. Doubt always accompany faith. On the one hand, we dont want people who are not having doubts in their faith to listen to Rhett and Link and start doubting (Id rather have a millstone necktie). Thats humanism in a nutshell, and I feel the same way. On the contrary, as he pointed out, being a straight white dude in an evangelical church kind of greased the rails for him. Rhett and Link have never punched each other in the face. None of this is brand new; its been around for years and years and years.. 24:12). This is how we know what there is to know about Jesus. The younger generation is even more open about questioning their faith and leaving Christianity behind. We've known. Commercial Kings: With Rhett McLaughlin, Link Neal, Shayne Pax, Brandon Taylor. Rhett and Link, extremely well-known YouTubers, recently posted videos talking about how they left the faith. I was angry at the people who wrote the books. The sad reality is that, for the deconverted, disbelief isnt sufficient. So you "offline mode" it. Through the deal, Mythical has expanded its busine 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 . 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. With every hit of the like button, the personalities weve subscribed to have become our authorities for truth. He cohosts the award-winning television program Way of the Master, which airs in 190 countries. But as Reformed Evangelicals these werent simply add on beliefs. The REAL Reason Why Rhett and Link Fell Away from Christianity Ray Comfort Founder & CEO, Living Waters Rhett and Link, extremely well-known YouTubers, recently posted videos talking about how they left the faith. This channel has made Rhett and Link the fourth highest-earning YouTube stars 3 while reaching audiences around the world. As I listened to them walking through their journeys I was surprised to see that we have covered much of the same terrain. No, these lads loved Jesus. They decided to go get vasectomies together and filmed the experience for a video . I could go on and on, but Ill wrap this up by looking at the last analogy Rhett used to explain what its like to leave the faith of your upbringing. 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. 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. Both Goins-Phillips and Andros commended the comedy duo for their willingness to talk so transparently about what is sure to have been a difficult and challenging process. 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. How could so much of the history of Israel be made up? Confession: When I was a kid, I was in love with Ricky Schroder. Like him, I was told that archaeology only proves the Bible, which means theres no reason not to dive headlong into it, right? (And Im a regular YouTube watcher)But then Rhett & Link appeared suddenly on my radar when their silo crossed over into mine. We have to understand were not the first people to grapple with these sorts of questions, said Andros, noting Ecclesiastes 1:9, which says, There is nothing new under the sun., In one interview, Rhett argued that, if Christianity is true, it should be able to withstand investigation and inquiry.. I never got a reply. But as Christians we should be encouraged to remember that for every Rhett and Link, theres a Lee Strobel, a J. Warner Wallace, a Holly Ordway, a C. S. Lewis, and a Rosaria Butterfield who tested their beliefs against the evidence, and found their atheism wanting. .Both said they are no longer evangelical Christians with Rhett saying he would call himself "a hopeful agnostic" and Link saying he would call himself "an agnostic who wants to be hopeful". That the simple childlike answers of your youth which at one time gave such clarity and certainty no longer sufficed. To put it bluntly. After all, remember, we are talking about nothing. 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? admit in the podcast that moving to L.A. did free them of some constraints that With the YouTube-ification of our culture, though, consumers are connecting not with actors playing characters, but real people who allow them to peek behind the curtain of their lives. The stories themselves werent so different from others that have lit up social media over the past few years. Evolution by natural selection seemed intolerably non-intuitiveit didnt make any senseand it struck him as a desperate and unsuccessful attempt to explain how a world like ours could come into being without an intelligent designer. Take Rhett, for example. Over the course of a few days, social-media newsfeeds became inundated with hot takes, responses, disagreements, and praise for the comedy duo. Its got a destination. Should we watch it? At some level, my therapist knew what everyone in his position knows: Once you start seriously considering the unthinkable about your faith, so many scary questions begin to plague you that it keeps you up at night. When they each recorded videos walking fans through their spiritual-deconstruction stories in February, it shot through the internet like a bolt of lightning. 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. And I pulled my wife and my children with me. Rhett Butler (Born in 1828) is a fictional character in the 1936 novel Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and in the 1939 film adaptation of the same name. Why? But then I remember this is part of how they protect themselves, knowing too well the fragility of their own faith. 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As it is also, evidently, for the more than 16 million subscribers these guys have accumulated since their show started back in 2012. When the teenage years come and the questions and pushing the boundaries begin most churches are ill-equipped to handle it. Of course, I had never looked at the evidence for evolution. Alisa Childers is an American singer and songwriter who writes at alisachilders.com, an apologetics blog for doubting Christians and honest skeptics. Because of his feelings. 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. But that is no way to live. It only even pretends to talk about how stuff became other stuff. On Feb. 22, the Rhett & Link's Mythical Entertainment agreed to buy Smosh in a deal that would unite two long-running YouTube channels. Just like always, our biggest mistake was thatwe did as we were told. Copyright 2023 The Gospel Coalition, INC. All Rights Reserved. It was a relationship. I mean really loved Jesus! The REAL Reason Why Rhett and Link Fell Away from Christianity 268,033 views Premiered Mar 4, 2020 11K Dislike Share Save Living Waters 1.12M subscribers Rhett and Link, extremely. Then the format changed. However, celebrity Christian deconversions, or celebrity conversions, actually do matter. With the precision of a gifted lawyer, he laid out roadblocks to the objections he knew would follow his statements. 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.. Theres a good chance the Christian kid who looks up to Rhett (and probably doesnt ever crack open his Bible) will never read those authors now. 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. 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. Help! 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. Church is much more varied and diverse than you can imagine yet can all still 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. What he learned in time was that history disconfirms pretty much every major story from the flood of Noah all the way down through the Conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, with things not much improving for the next several books. Listening to both Rhetts and Links stories, you can feel how much pushback they anticipate encountering from people who love them. Responding to a fan question in 2010, Rhett said that, while they were both Christian, their content is not religious. 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.. That was the key for all of us, wasnt it? God draws people to Jesus, He saves them, and He doesnt lose any of them. 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. Please make sure all fields are filled out. So to Rhett and Link I say enjoy the journey and keep bringing Life and Light to those around you!Peace, Steve, this resonates so much with me, Thanks , 2023 Beyond The Pale. Could it be that the cultural influences driving these, Rhett was careful to say he doesnt think these apologists are intentionally deceiving anyone. Welcome to Ohio. In later episodes, Rhett and Link each go into depth describing what led them, ultimately, to deny their earlier faith. I dont blame them. I dont know. If you want Continue reading, Origin of Manhood: Every Man is a Theologian. I shouldnt be afraid to poke and prod at any of this stuff, right? Evolutionary theory doesnt have a sufficient cause for the universe coming into existence out of nothing. Theres a lot of other people on it. Lets keep this conversation going, please. 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