What do you do when the church — the very community that's supposed to reflect the love of God — becomes a source of real pain? Host Dan Johnson sits down with Scott Bessenecker, author of Bad Religion, Good News: An Honest Guide to Spiritual Disappointment, for an unflinching conversation about church hurt, institutional failure, and the long road toward healing.

Drawing on four decades of campus ministry with InterVarsity, Scott shares about being both a victim and participant in the church's sins, the role of self-examination in avoiding the spiral into deconstruction, and why honesty about the church's failures doesn't have to mean abandoning Christian community altogether. He also reflects on his own experience with disappointment with God — including his recovery from a stroke — and what it means to discover that God's presence in grief may be more powerful than miraculous rescue.

Whether you've been wounded by a leader, disillusioned by an institution, or are simply trying to maintain an honest and hopeful faith, this conversation offers both clarity and compassion for the journey.

IN THIS EPISODE

• What prompted Scott to write Bad Religion, Good News
• Being both a victim and a participant in the sins of the church
• Why self-examination is essential to navigating disappointment without becoming toxic
• The difference between deconstruction and honest disappointment
• How to talk openly about the church's failures without dismissing its good
• The hard work of forgiving an institution that may never apologize
• Scott's personal experience with a stroke and finding God in grief rather than rescue
• When it's time to leave a church community — and how to do it well
• Signs of spiritual hunger in the current generation of young adults
• What a healthier American church might look like in a decade

GUEST
Scott Bessenecker is a longtime ministry leader and author who spent four decades with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. His new book, Bad Religion, Good News: An Honest Guide to Spiritual Disappointment, invites readers into honest conversations about the church's failures — and how to find deeper faith on the other side.

RESOURCES

https://heraldpress.com/9781513817644/bad-religion-good-news/

https://slbf.org/studio

Send us Fan Mail

CONNECT WITH US
Subscribe to The UpWords Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and visit slbf.org/studio to learn more about our work at the intersection of faith, the academy, and the marketplace.

This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO at Upper House.

Produced by Daniel Johnson and Dave Conour

Edited by Dave Conour