The Adultery Survey

Show open: adultery survey teaser

The show opens from the Pathway Studios. A host previews a Christianity Today survey on Christian opinions about adultery and asks a co-host what Americans think about adultery, setting up the episode's main discussion.

The Science March: faith, science, and emotion

Asked for his news items, a host says he was blindsided by the Science March and had no idea people felt science was under attack. The hosts discuss whether science is being politicized and emotionalized, draw the parallel with Christians getting emotionally attached to out-of-context scripture, touch on flat-earth claims and the scientific community's handling of transgender issues, and debate who is funding the pressure behind the scenes.

Adultery survey: Bentley scandal intro

• Which behaviors count as cheating on a spouse or partner?

A host reads the Christianity Today article "Adultery in 2017: Christians rank what counts as cheating," summarizing Alabama Governor Robert Bentley's resignation after an affair exposed by synced text messages, the finding that evangelicals are more accepting of politicians' unfaithfulness yet disapprove of flirty texting, and the Billy Graham rule amid the Mike Pence dinner controversy.

Guessing game: survey numbers, part 1

• Why do Christians judge porn and strip clubs so differently in the survey?

The hosts turn the survey into a guessing game, predicting evangelical and US-average percentages for following an ex on social media, watching porn without a partner, going to a strip club, going out to dinner with someone you're attracted to, and sending flirtatious texts. They react to the real numbers, including the surprise that only 31% of evangelicals call porn cheating.

Guessing game: survey numbers, part 2

The game continues with maintaining an online dating profile (68% of Christians call it cheating), sending sexually explicit texts, romantically kissing someone else (78%), having a one-night stand (77%, lower than kissing), and regular sexual relations (82%). The hosts puzzle over what finally makes something count as cheating for the respondents, noting one-night stands poll a point worse than kissing.

Wrapping the survey: standards and drift

Reactions to the survey continue: Catholics come in less restrictive on most items, a host recounts a coworker whose wife invited him to use porn, and the hosts lament church members who walk out over crude sermon language while most evangelicals shrug at adultery. The tone is frustrated at the church's drift from its own standards.

Why do people come to church?

• Why would someone identify as Christian while living in ways contrary to following Jesus?

The hosts ask why anyone would identify as evangelical while condoning regular sex outside marriage. One host says he calls himself a "Christ follower" instead of "Christian," they joke about filtering a survey line-up with the question "will you die for Jesus?" and about the twelve disciples rocking 100% on every item, and they cite Malachi: the priests were supposed to hold the line as a light to the world.

Grace, works, and the teeter-totter

A host traces the survey results to a divorcing of "saved by faith" from any changed life: faith is an actionable item ("faith is not, I said so; faith is, I do so"), half-truths told without biblical context function as lies, and grace preaching has tilted into "grace, do whatever you want." They invoke Paul in Romans on sin abounding so grace increases, the call to repentance from John the Baptist through Jesus, and "be holy because I am holy," urging the whole counsel without overreacting to past mistakes.

Dear LFTP: the yearbook problem

• What should listeners do with unwanted school yearbooks instead of throwing them away?

A listener named Larry from Grand Texas writes in proposing three options for unwanted school yearbooks instead of landfilling them: give them to the school, its alumni association, or the local library. The hosts respond with mock-serious riffing, joke about a landfill full of yearbooks, and deliberately skip the Secular response.

Dear LFTP: the usher who wants to marry a 9-year-old

• What should a parent do about a 70s usher who keeps telling their 9-year-old he will marry her?

A listener asks what to do about a 70s usher at their church who repeatedly tells their 9-year-old daughter he'll marry her when she grows up. The hosts, who nickname the usher "Norm," advise either giving the girl a witty retort or having the husband pull the usher aside and end the comments, then read the Secular answer, which advises telling the usher privately the comment is not appreciated.

Dear LFTP: ex-husband bought liquor for a 16-year-old

• How should a family handle it when an ex-husband buys liquor for a 16-year-old?

A listener writes that his 16-year-old stepdaughter, Candy, was found with three bottles of liquor bought by her ex-husband father. The hosts advise confronting the ex with a hard warning, involving the authorities if he doesn't take it seriously, and working the daughter angle so she understands the danger; the Secular answer instead says to stay out of it and let the exes handle it, which the hosts reject.

Dear LFTP: the affair, the friend, and the grandchild

• How should a betrayed wife respond when her pregnant daughter stays close to the woman who had the affair with her ex?

A listener writes that her ex-husband had an affair with one of her dearest friends, ending her marriage; now her pregnant 22-year-old daughter is close to that woman, and it feels like another betrayal. The hosts tie it back to the survey results on adultery, validate her hurt, and advise keeping quiet, praying, and not projecting onto the daughter; the Secular answer suggests calmly discussing it with the daughter.

Sign-off: dream interpretations and protest ideas

The show closes with a call for dream-interpretation emails, a joke about protesting via rugby instead of marching and picking up litter during protests, and the sign-off line, "Be faithful to the means. God will handle the ends."