2017 Episode 4

Show open from the Pathway Studios

A produced voiceover intro gives way to the live show start: the hosts are live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper. This is the standard opening of the episode.

The 52-show promise and old-episode nostalgia

The hosts open by revisiting their start-of-year promise to land 52 shows, which one host admits is slipping worse than any year before. He recounts listening back to old episodes while traveling: the hosts used to fight on air regularly, shows got better once they shortened to an hour to an hour and a half around 2013, and the podcast apps carry the archive back to 2013.

Remembered musical guests and upcoming bookings

The hosts reminisce about past musical guests, naming Bethany Joy Johnson, Wayne Stewart, Jeff Arendelle, Chandler Knudson, Chris Akers, and the band Silversyde. They preview upcoming bookings: the seven-piece indie-folk band The Hunts are expected to stop by in April before heading to their next gig, with Driven Eleven and Egypt Speaks also on the calendar. one of the regular co-hosts is absent tonight.

Tonight's lineup and workplace giving-campaign gripes

The hosts preview the night's content: Playboy returning to nudity, a Relevant Magazine article on eight 'Christian' virtues that aren't really Christian, a possible 'Pope style' segment, and Dear LFTP advice letters. This spins into workplace banter about employers pressuring staff into giving campaigns and volunteer time, with the hosts commiserating about looking like cheap curmudgeons for giving elsewhere instead.

Suite life: box seats, borrowed vacations, and hotel points

A host recounts attending a semi-pro basketball game in a company box suite courtesy of his son-in-law's employer, and how the luxury spoiled regular seating for him forever. The conversation widens to benefiting from wealthy friends' travel perks and timeshares, and the frustration of work travel that never books the same hotel chain twice, making points uncollectable.

Playboy's nudity reversal and the illusion of influence

• Can a comparison be drawn between how Playboy attracted people and how the church attracts people?

The hosts discuss the news that Playboy is bringing nude photography back after its non-nude experiment starting March 2016, with Cooper Hefner admitting removing it entirely was a mistake. Their takeaway: Playboy fooled itself into believing it had cultural influence beyond naked images, when nudity was always the actual currency. They generalize the warning: if you attract people with flash (or fear, or promises) rather than the thing itself, people bail when the lure disappears, and it is a poor way to exert lasting influence, including in church and marketing.

Measuring success: Jason Fried, Twitter, and perceived wins

• What is the right measure of actual success versus perceived success?

Extending the Playboy point, the hosts argue consumer culture sells shadows rather than substance, illustrated by car ads promising freedom instead of describing the vehicle. They cite an interview with web developer Jason Fried, who measured success by profitability from year one, and note that Twitter, despite being the world's most widely used communication platform, had not turned a profit in years. The application spans business, church, and life: measure success by what actually sustains the thing, not by vanity metrics or inflated perceptions of influence.

Virtue 1: niceness versus kindness

The hosts begin Frank Powell's Relevant Magazine article, 'eight Christian virtues that aren't really Christian,' with the first virtue: niceness. Powell argues Jesus was not 'nice' (he called a close friend Satan, spoke harshly to religious leaders) and contrasts cheap niceness with costly kindness, a fruit of the Spirit. The hosts push back that the premise is false: the article defines niceness as shallow politeness and cowardice to manufacture a dichotomy, and they argue niceness is often the conduit to showing love, while 'Get behind me, Satan' was honesty, not a category of kindness.

Virtue 2: always saying yes and servanthood burnout

The second virtue is 'always say yes.' Powell recounts saying yes to every church volunteer ask after college and warns that yes-saying is often about approval rather than servanthood. The hosts partly agree people burn out and need to learn no, citing 'let your yes be yes and your no be no,' but find the framing overblown: most churches run on the same 10 percent, and the real question is what you are serving and whether it makes a difference, not whether you say yes to everything someone else thought up.

Virtues 3 and 4: church attendance and following the rules

• Does following Jesus include obeying his commandments, or is that trying to righteous your way into heaven?

The hosts cover 'perfect church attendance' (Powell's line: God cares more about the condition of your heart than the location of your butt) and 'following the rules.' The hosts agree attendance does not equal a life lived for Christ, but argue community and gathered worship are irreplaceable, so attendance still matters. On rules, they push back hard: Jesus said 'if you love me, you will obey my commandments,' the Sermon on the Mount describes kingdom life, and treating obedience as legalism cuts out half the Bible, even as imputed righteousness remains entirely Jesus's work.

Virtue 7: doubting and questioning God

The hosts take up the virtue of 'never doubting or questioning God.' They note the article itself cites Jesus on blasphemy (all blasphemies forgivable except one) and the Psalms, and argue cursory Bible reading settles the matter: John the Baptist doubted from jail, Thomas doubted and still died a missionary, David and the minor prophets (Habakkuk named) asked the same hard questions as modern skeptics. They characterize the article's angry-God-with-a-club picture as an 1980s-era stereotype they do not encounter in today's gospel-centered churches.

Bible knowledge, promptness, emotional expression, and the article's verdict

The hosts cover the remaining virtues: 'knowledgeable about the Bible' (Powell's 'knowledge puffs up, but love builds up' from Paul), which they read as a misrepresentation since Paul's own writings treat knowledge as valuable while warning against pride; 'promptness,' which they reject as embarrassing exegesis, especially its use of Jesus's lateness to Lazarus; and 'expressive and emotional,' which earns the article its one concession ('score one for this man'). They grade the article a D-minus/F-plus, mock its share counts (3,052 on Facebook, zero on Twitter), and note the piece reads as a reaction to 1980s church culture rather than anything they see today.

Church culture moves slowly; manufactured crises

The hosts step back from the article to question online Christian media itself: how much of it is 'I don't have this problem, but the church broadly does,' written by people with an eagle's eye on culture they are not part of. They argue church culture does not move fast enough to justify daily state-of-the-church coverage, with side debates on whether liturgical churches are declining among millennials and how quickly songs from Hillsong or Vertical Church Band now spread. The closing counsel: read your Bible, get to know Jesus, and pass on a right foundation rather than reacting to manufactured crises.

Dear LFTP: the mandatory community-service day

• What should I do to make sure my boss's intentions are understood while not being off-putting or appearing holier than thou?

A Dear LFTP letter: a listener's boss wants staff to do a day of community service with coworkers on their own time, some coworkers oppose it, and the listener asks how to make the boss's intentions understood without seeming holier-than-thou. The hosts advise not to be the boss's advocate: if the company will not pay for the time or do it during the workday, it does not own the time. They add that giving or serving elsewhere already fulfills the impulse, and suggest companies that care put skin in the game by sponsoring community-group dues. The Secular answer agrees: making intentions clear is the boss's responsibility, not the listener's.

Dear LFTP: the toilet as garbage disposal

• How do I get my family member to stop using the toilet as a garbage disposal?

A second Dear LFTP letter: a family member uses the toilet as a garbage disposal for food scraps, and the listener asks how to make her stop before a plumber is needed. The hosts conclude it is mostly fine: the toilet's four-inch pipe handles food better than a sink drain, and it all goes to the same treatment plant, though it wastes water and bones should stay out. The Secular answer disagrees, insisting receptacles be used for their intended purposes and the user foot any plumber bill, which the hosts dismiss as a high-horse take.

Sign-off

The hosts close the show with the standard sign-off: listener email at info@livefromthepath.org, a running joke that they are no longer on the Truth Network and that listeners should pretend otherwise when contacting the station, and the benediction 'be faithful in the means, God will handle the ends.'