In the first episode of this season, we looked at the reconstruction of Notre Dame after the fire, the painstaking work of refashioning and rebuilding a place that took centuries to construct. Rebuilding requires sacrifice… a dogged commitment to seeing the task through. If this is the case for churches, it’s also the case for families of churches, for networks, partnerships, conventions, and denominations. In episode two, we looked at the trend of “dechurching.” People drifting away from the church is one of the biggest stories in religion reporting right now. But the other big story is about the shifting landscape of those who do belong to a church. I’m talking about the decline of most denominations in America, and the rise of non-denominational churches in Protestant Christianity. On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he asks how we look beyond our congregation to the health of the evangelical movement as a whole. Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

The iconic family scenes we see in classic TV are not the norm for most people in American society today. Divorce has disrupted more families than ever before in our history. And the ripple effects go beyond the obvious heartache and loss, affecting even the banalities of annual rituals and traditions. Challenges to family life aren’t new. But the challenges in our day have multiplied. And these problems aren’t unrelated to the difficulties we face as God’s people, especially since we see in the New Testament how the church is to be the family of God. We are in relationship to one another as brothers and sisters, as fathers and mothers in the faith. On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he considers the church’s responsibility in the era of family breakdown. Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

In the latter decades of the 20th century, many churches across the country shifted from a formal style of worship, with traditional and classical music, to a more informal style of worship, with praise choruses and rock-influenced instrumentation. These changes in worship didn’t happen without conflict. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, controversies became so heated in some churches that some observers began calling them “The Worship Wars.” Today, we may be well past the worst of the worship wars, but we’re never going to be in a season where discussions over what we do as gathered members of the body of Christ go away. On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he considers the formative influence of how we worship and how that will affect what the future looks like. Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

For the past few years, sociologists and journalists have been describing millennials as “the burnout generation.” Now, there are reports that burnout and stress are on the rise with Gen Z as well. And then there’s the reality of spiritual burnout, the inability to feel the presence and power of God, a loss of desire for spiritual things. In the Bible, we see examples of spiritual disillusionment, from the frustrations of Moses as he led the children of Israel, to Elijah fleeing into the wilderness, feeling isolated and forgotten. Read the writings of monks in monasteries in medieval times and, even there, you find similar battles with spiritual apathy, a loss of passion and compassion. Burnout isn’t just a pastor problem. It isn’t just a workplace problem. It’s a spiritual problem, and this challenge affects the church. On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he asks why burnout is happening and how we can respond. Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

We’ve entered a new era in terms of technology. AI is the most powerful predictive tool we’ve ever created. It’s really good at analyzing and predicting human behavior… like, scary good. And the new world of AI is leading to ethical dilemmas previous generations would have found unimaginable. What will happen when in the future, it becomes even harder to discern truth from falsehood, human fingerprints from AI creations, when we no longer agree on common narratives because we’re living in parallel online AI-influenced universes? What does unity and division look like in the church when these problems arise? And how will we address some of the ethical questions that arise? On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he discusses the challenges and opportunities AI will provide for the church, as we seek to fulfill our mission faithfully. Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

There will be no avoiding conversation about sex and gender in the days ahead, and as Christians, the starting place must be our convictions about reality. All our choices must flow from those convictions. Strong convictions are the prerequisite for true conversations. And convictions and compassion aren’t in opposition. When the world is falling en masse for a bold and terrible lie, the most important and compassionate thing the church can do is uphold the courageous and irrepressible truth. On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he asks the question, how can we best present the Bible’s vision of the body as good, as a gift, in a time of radical individualism, digital reinvention, and technological promises?  Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

More and more commentators speak openly about the social and mental health consequences of porn: the degrading nature of warped expectations, the ever-more transgressive practices, the normalization of violence, and the dark underside of human trafficking. But most of the time, they stop short of pronouncing moral judgment about pornography in general. As people who follow Jesus Christ, we go further. We don’t oppose pornography merely because of bad outcomes. We oppose pornography because we know, deep down, our hearts are to be pointed in a different direction. But we fool ourselves if we think porn is something only out there, in the world. The pervasiveness of pornography affects the church as well—young people and old, men and women. On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he discusses how to address this secret catastrophe, the challenge that pornography poses to hearts and minds inside the church, not just out in the world. Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

All across the spectrum, you find commentators chattering away about the crisis of manhood in the wake of gender confusion, the denigration and disparagement of men traditionally involved in “men’s work,” and the quest for significance and identity among men who seem to be lost and lonely in our strange new world. What happens in a society where markers of manhood, the passing from adolescence into adulthood, become obscured, where men stagger forward without mentors or friends? What happens to a society that pathologizes competition, achievement, roughness, and the aggression required to protect the weak or pursue what’s good? How does it make sense to push back against toxic expressions of masculinity without a clear picture of actual manliness, a positive vision that shatters the caricatures? On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he considers how the church can respond wisely to the challenges facing men today. Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

In the United States, we are experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of our country. Recent research shows about 15 percent of American adults — that’s 40 million people — have stopped going to church, and all of this, within the past 25 years. It’s a drop that has affected every region in the country, every theological tradition, every age group, every ethnicity, every education level, every income bracket. You might look at the data and assume that we’re headed for a non-religious, non-spiritual kind of culture in the next thirty years. But the religiously unaffiliated—the fastest-growing religious demographic in the United States—are often still religious in personal and privatized senses, only that their religious identities are in flux, mixing and matching various practices. On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he discusses what rebuilding looks like in the aftermath of this massive cultural decline in churchgoing. Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

The continuing decline of institutional trust represents a seismic shift in our culture and society today. Some of that distrust is warranted. In season one, we looked at the credibility crisis facing the church on several fronts. We’ve considered the rot that’s in the church—rot that needs to be removed. But some of our institutional distrust comes from an overly idealistic expectation of what institutions can provide, and from the acids seeping into all areas of our culture, slowly dissolving the structures of the past. On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he asks the question: how do we rebuild in the aftermath of so much institutional turmoil and destruction? Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

In the first season of Reconstructing Faith, we looked at the credibility crisis facing the church today in a number of areas. In season two, we’re looking at specific challenges to rebuilding the church’s witness today. We’ll be talking about the decline of church attendance, the disappearance of institutional trust, the crisis of masculinity, the pervasiveness of pornography, new gender ideologies, spiritual burnout, even AI. As always, we will lean on insights from church history and the church around the world as we work toward a healthier body of Christ. Season two episodes will begin dropping soon. If you haven’t already, subscribe now to receive notifications once season two begins.

As you look at the church today, you may ache for the church. But maybe you ache because you love…. You love the church and know she can be better than this. And you love Jesus and know He deserves a Bride whose beauty showcases His. We’ve experienced a season of humiliation and pain, in which the Lord has seen fit to expose our sins and failures. But tragedies and disasters have a way of clearing the mind of clutter and focusing the heart. As we bring this season of Reconstructing Faith to a close, Trevin Wax talks with Tim Keller, Ajith Fernando, and Jen Wilkin–several servants of the church with insight into how we might see renewal in the days ahead. These are constructive voices who want to see the church strengthened and built up. So, together, let’s clear the debris and focus on what’s central. Let’s prepare for the adventure of reconstruction and repair. Episode 12: Season Finale: It’s Time to Rebuild Discussion Guide Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook

In this series, we’ve been addressing the church’s credibility crisis, reflecting on the challenges of today while learning from church history and the church around the world. In this special episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he addresses some of the questions that you have sent in. Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook

We’ve seen that there’s rot in the house of the Lord. Some of the rooms are dilapidated. In need of reconstruction and repair. It’s good to remind ourselves that the ultimate goal of addressing these challenges is not so we can reconstruct a healthier house, a more enduring edifice, for ourselves only. It’s so we can beckon others toward the light, toward wholeness, toward the salvation found only in Christ. On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he considers the legacy of C.S. Lewis (including a tour of Lewis’ home in Oxford) and how the task of rebuilding the witness of the church is intertwined with the task of apologetics and evangelism. Episode 10: The Credible Apologist Discussion Guide Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

So far, in this podcast, we’ve looked at various ways the church’s credibility has been harmed by a lack of consistency between our beliefs and our behaviors. These are the big issues that make headlines, that draw attention, that spark conversation. But what if there’s a problem so prevalent, so pervasive, so all-encompassing that we have a hard time even seeing it? What if a church filled with Christians quietly devoted to the American Dream is the silent scandal of the church? On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he explores how the church can adopt disciplines that mold and shape hearts that chase a bigger dream – the dream of God’s kingdom, announced by Jesus Himself. Episode 9: The Silent Scandal Discussion Guide Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

The stain of sexual abuse is one of the biggest reasons the church faces a crisis of credibility today. There’s mold in the house of the Lord. And with righteous anger and determination, we’ve got to say: this rot must be removed. On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he challenges the church to respond in ways that bring healing and restoration, out of a place of deep contrition and repentance. Episode 8: The Stain Discussion Guide Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

If you’re active and involved in your church, you’ve probably noticed that things have gotten more tense regarding politics in recent years, and unless your church is monolithic in its political views, you’ve probably seen some division and debate. You want to apply your faith to your political involvement, yet you also want to avoid getting coopted by partisan alliances. On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he offers suggestions as to how better think through the relationship of Christians to political life. Episode 7: Can Anything Good Come From D.C.? Discussion Guide Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

In the past decade, many Christians have wrestled afresh with questions about racial injustice, racial disparities, racial prejudice and discrimination, and what racial reconciliation can and should look like in the church. There’s no avoiding this challenge. And if we truly believe God gets glory when we reflect the beautiful diversity of His kingdom, we can’t opt out. Are we up for the task of letting theology, not politics, drive the discussion among Christians regarding race? Can we avoid the pitfalls of secular ideologies and religious denialism as we take this path? On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he examines the road to racial equality and racial unity within the church. Episode 6: Reckoning with Race Discussion Guide Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

We can’t talk about renewing the church in our generation if we don’t put the question of abusive leadership on the table. But discussing leadership raises an even bigger question, one of authority, and how it is to be exercised. There’s no easy task in front of us. The problem is multifaceted. Shepherds who, for one reason or another, abuse their authority, lording their power and domineering the sheep. And shepherds who respond by failing to lead, abandoning the proper sphere of influence they’ve been given. What will it take for future church leaders to look like Jesus and reject the sinful scrambling for power? And what will it take for pastors to stand firm, to not abandon the sphere of influence they’ve been given, but to lead with boldness and courage, reflecting the wise rule of the Creator who called them to ministry? On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he questions how to rebuild the culture of leadership in the church to showcase healthy examples of authority and power. Episode 5: The Authority Question Discussion Guide Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

What if we can acknowledge with clarity some of the problems of purity culture while also rediscovering and fortifying the foundational Christian teaching about chastity? What if we can remove the rot and uphold the foundations, as a way of standing apart from the world for the good of the world? We need to distinguish what the Bible teaches, by getting out of our culture and looking at the church through history (including the excesses and flaws there) as well as the church around the world (where the question of sexual ethics is a non-negotiable). On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he wrestles with the best way to articulate and apply a Christian sexual ethic in our day. Episode 4: I Kissed Chastity Hello Discussion Guide Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

Social media primes us to see our life as a stage, a performing of an identity for our online community. These practices form and encourage negative character traits that lead us away from the kind of wholeness God desires for us. We get lonelier and more isolated, finding online communities that don’t ask much of us, often at the expense of flesh-and-blood neighbors and church members. Social media makes it harder to be a follower of Jesus, to be whole, an integrated person. The water is toxic, and we feel trapped. On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he discusses how we can be purifying agents in the toxic waters of social media. Episode 3: The Water Is Toxic Discussion Guide Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

We’ve experienced a wave of terrible revelations about the condition of the church in the past decade. So much has come to light. And like homes that didn’t get the attention they needed after a flood, there’s rot, for sure. There’s mold in the house. Rotting floors. Sin has seeped in, and it’s left a watermark. And even after the floodwaters are gone—after the church split, after the abuser is exposed, after the deconversion—the effects of all that remain. The rot is strong. But thankfully, so is the foundation. On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he discusses how we can be the generation that roots out the rot to start the process of rebuilding. Episode 2: Renewing the Church Discussion Guide Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have a question you want to ask Trevin? Send it to resources@namb.net.

When we see leaders fall by the wayside either because of life or doctrine, the pain cuts in many directions all at once, with a lot of hurt left in the wake. The long-term effect of this kind of failure is a diminishing of the credibility of the church. Will God fail because of human weakness? No. But the church’s failures can become obstacles in the path of those who don’t yet know God or can cause believers to stumble in their faith. The spiritual fallout can be devastating. On this episode of Reconstructing Faith, join Trevin Wax as he tackles a problem that has been decades in the making. Episode 1: The Church’s Credibility Crisis Discussion Guide Connect with Trevin on Twitter: @TrevinWax on Facebook Have comments or a question you want Trevin to address? Send it to resources@namb.net.

I’m Trevin Wax. In October, I’m starting a new podcast called Reconstructing Faith that examines the state of the American church’s witness. For years now, we’ve seen the church rocked by sin and scandal and our credibility as Christ’s followers has been diminished. Reconstructing Faith avoids the simplistic knee-jerk reactions you see on social media and instead looks at the church the same way you’d look at your home after a natural disaster, say a flood. We’ll examine the foundations of the church that have stood the test of time, both here in America and around the world. We’ll also examine the rot in the church, the attitudes and practices that have sprung up over the decades like mold. While there’s been a lot of bad news, we’ve got to remember the good news of the gospel and work within the church to restore and rebuild its witness so that people experience the majesty of Jesus. I hope you’ll join me.