Many Christians have reduced the Church to a building, a service, or a weekly ritual—missing the deeper call of Christian faith. Matthew G. Mattson, author of Cathedrals of Connection and founder of the Between ministry, is on Christianity Without Compromise with host Jake Doberenz to discuss why the Church is not primarily an institution but a sacred space created whenever two people truly connect. Matt explains how loneliness, division, and cultural fragmentation have exposed a crisis within modern Christianity and why faith traditions at their best push people back toward one another. Together, they examine how spiritual formation is meant to shape everyday relationships, reframing church gatherings as preparation for the real Church happening in daily life.

Important Links:

Cathedrals of Connection: Your Invitation to Everyday Sacredness by Matthew G. Mattson - https://amzn.to/4s6DZA0 (affiliate)
Cathedrals of Connection website - https://cathedralsofconnection.com
Between Ministry - https://between.church

Matthew G. Mattson is a writer, speaker, and founder of BETWEEN, an inclusive global faith community helping people embrace curiosity, conversation, and sacred connection. With decades of experience growing cause-based organizations, Matt has helped thousands rediscover the divine in everyday relationships. His latest book, Cathedrals of Connection: Your Invitation to Everyday Sacredness, offers an invitation to experience God through honest, human conversation.

Follow this show and Jake Doberenz’s writings at http://jakedoberenz.substack.com.

Winning elections, winning debates, winning culture wars, and even winning converts. In this solo episode of Christianity Without Compromise, Jake Doberenz confronts the uncomfortable question at the heart of much of American Christianity: what if many of the wins being celebrated are not wins that Jesus would want? We unpack how metrics borrowed from politics and business have shaped how the Church defines and achieve success. Using cultural examples, including reactions to Charlie Kirk’s influence and assassination, Jake explores how the means used in faith and politics form disciples just as much as the results do. Jake argues that the upside-down kingdom revealed in the Sermon on the Mount demands a different kind of scoreboard—one shaped by humility, virtue, and spiritual formation rather than power and spectacle.

Important Links

• A Community of Character: Toward a Constructive Christian Social Ethic by Stanley Hauerwas

Jake Doberenz is the founder of the podcast production company Theophany Media and host of Christianity Without Compromise. He holds multiple degrees in Bible and communication studies and is passionate about Christians finding Jesus outside of the Culture Wars.

Some forms of Christianity frame difference as dangerous—so empathy and curiosity are viewed with suspicion. But this week on Christianity Without Compromise, Liz Charlotte Grant, Christian Century columnist, is on the show with host Jake Doberenz to discuss how genuine curiosity—and even disagreement—can be acts of faithfulness. They talk about the power of talking with those you disagree with, unpack the fear beneath the doctrine of biblical inerrancy, and explore how Christianity might look if it welcomed empathy instead of certainty. Liz challenges the idea that being “right” matters more than being empathetic, calling the Church to embrace wonder and listen well—even across very deep divides.

Important Links:

• Liz Charlotte Grant’s Substack: the Empathy List
• Knock at the Sky: Seeking God in Genesis after Losing Faith in the Bible by Liz Charlotte Grant (affiliate)
• Liz Charlotte Grant on Instagram
• Christian Century Columns by Liz Charlotte Grant

Liz Charlotte Grant is an award-winning writer, columnist for The Christian Century, and the author of Knock at the Sky: Seeking God in Genesis after Losing Faith in the Bible. Her work focuses on politics, theology, and spiritual formation, often exploring the spaces between certainty and mystery. She runs the Substack newsletter The Empathy List and lives in Colorado.

Follow this show and Jake Doberenz’s writings at http://jakedoberenz.substack.com.

Should you say something when your church goes toxic—or stay quiet to keep the peace? On Christianity Without Compromise, Amy Fritz, host of the Untangled Faith podcast, joins Jake Doberenz to unpack the spiritual, emotional, and relational weight of speaking out. Drawing from her own journey from rule-following Christian student to institutional whistleblower, Amy shares what it takes to tell the truth when everything in church culture says to stay silent. Together, Jake and Amy examine why Christian institutions often protect their image over integrity, how toxic church environments form, and what it looks like to choose wisdom, love, and accountability at the same time. They confront the idolization of “God’s anointed,” the confusion between fruitfulness and faithfulness, and the corporate structures that reward performance over character—all while offering hope for those discerning what to do next.

Important Links

Diane Langberg: Narcissism and the System It Breeds (YouTube)

The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It by Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel

A Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture That Resists Abuses of Power and Promotes Healing by Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer

Untangled Faith Podcast

Untangled Faith Substack

How Church Culture Can Turn Leaders Into Idols - David Ruybalid (Episode 35)

Religious Certainty and Being the Only Ones Saved - Scot Loyd (Episode 44)

When Spiritual Formulas Distract Us from Jesus - Christy Lynne Wood (Episode 39)

Guest Bio

Amy Fritz is the host of the Untangled Faith podcast and Substack, where she creates space for Christians to process church hurt, spiritual abuse, and power dynamics in faith communities.

Follow this show and Jake Doberenz’s writings at http://jakedoberenz.substack.com.

Christians have too often talked about abortion with labels instead of love. Angela Weszely, co-founder of ProGrace and author of Becoming ProGrace: Expanding the Abortion Conversation Beyond Life Versus Choice, joins Christianity Without Compromise with host Jake Doberenz to explore a faithful, grace-filled approach to abortion rooted in the teachings of Jesus. In this conversation, Angela explains why the Church’s political framing—whether pro-life or pro-choice—fails to reflect the Imago Dei in both the woman and the child. Drawing from her decades of experience in pregnancy resource ministry, Angela shares how a lack of nuance, poor language choices, and gender imbalance in church culture have alienated women and made the Church unsafe to engage this issue. Rather than offering a legislative solution, she calls for spiritual reformation—beginning not with changing others, but by examining ourselves.

Important Links:

• Center for Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation at Fuller Theological Seminary - https://fuller.edu/center-for-peacebuilding-and-conflict-transformation/
• Becoming ProGrace: Expanding the Abortion Conversation Beyond Life Versus Choice - https://amzn.to/49Rjvnv (affiliate)
• ProGrace.org

Angela Weszely is the co-founder of ProGrace, a nonprofit helping churches move beyond political categories in how they respond to abortion. With more than 20 years of experience in pregnancy center ministry, Angela now equips Christians to speak with grace, empathy, and theological clarity about abortion, gender, and spiritual formation. She is the author of Becoming ProGrace: Expanding the Abortion Conversation Beyond Life Versus Choice.

See Also: Why "Crotch Christianity" Misses the Gospel - SOLO Episode

Behind the lights, fog machines, and polished sermons lies a darker reality in megachurches. Scott Latta, award-winning journalist and author of Gods of the Smoke Machine, is on Christianity Without Compromise with host Jake Doberenz to discuss how evangelical megachurches create environments where spiritual abuse thrives. Drawing from personal experience and deep reporting, Scott outlines the patterns that allow abusive pastors to evade accountability and return to power—even after serious harm. We unpack the sociological model of the megachurch, how non-denominational structures often sidestep oversight, and why it’s so difficult for victims to speak out or even leave. This episode confronts how systems meant to glorify Jesus have become breeding grounds for abuse—and what needs to change.

Behind the lights, fog machines, and polished sermons lies a darker reality in megachurches. Scott Latta, award-winning journalist and author of Gods of the Smoke Machine, is on Christianity Without Compromise with host Jake Doberenz to discuss how evangelical megachurches create environments where spiritual abuse thrives. Drawing from personal experience and deep reporting, Scott outlines the patterns that allow abusive pastors to evade accountability and return to power—even after serious harm. We unpack the sociological model of the megachurch, how non-denominational structures often sidestep oversight, and why it’s so difficult for victims to speak out or even leave. This episode confronts how systems meant to glorify Jesus have become breeding grounds for abuse—and what needs to change.

Important Links:

• Boz Tchividjian’s organization GRACE and BozLaw
• Scott Latta’s website - https://www.scottlatta.com
• Gods of the Smoke Machine - https://amzn.to/49DKYu2 (affiliate)
• Scott’s Substack - Gods of the Smoke Machine
• Scott’s appearance on the Untangled Faith podcast with Amy Fritz - https://www.untangledfaithpodcast.com/148-inside-the-megachurch-machine-abuse-accountability-and-christian-nationalism-with-scott-latt/

Scott Latta is a journalist whose writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and Christianity Today. His most recent book is author of Gods of the Smoke Machine: Power, Pain, and the Rise of Christian Nationalism in the Megachurch.

Follow this show and Jake Doberenz’s writings at http://jakedoberenz.substack.com.

Much of what passes for Christian marriage teaching has left couples confused, disconnected, and harmed—especially women. Sheila Wray Gregoire, author and researcher behind The Great Sex Rescue, joins Christianity Without Compromise with host Jake Doberenz to unpack how evangelical sex and marriage advice went so wrong. Drawing from large-scale survey data, Gregoire explains how obligation-based sex, rigid gender stereotypes, and authority-driven theology damage intimacy, fuel sexual pain, and erode trust. The conversation explores purity culture, entitlement, mutuality, and why equality—not hierarchy—is essential for healthy Christian marriage and faithful discipleship.

Important Links:

• BareMarriage.com
• The Great Sex Rescue – https://amzn.to/4jIqpjt
• The Marriage You Want – https://amzn.to/49A0hTa
• Bare Marriage Podcast – https://baremarriage.com/category/podcasts/
• Sheila on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/sheilagregoire/

Sheila Wray Gregoire is a Christian speaker, author, and researcher who has written multiple bestselling books on sex and marriage, including The Great Sex Rescue and The Marriage You Want. Through her blog and podcast at BareMarriage.com, she helps Christians rethink harmful assumptions about gender, intimacy, and faith in relationships. Her work is grounded in data, driven by compassion, and committed to pointing people toward wholeness and mutuality.

Follow this show and Jake Doberenz’s writings at http://jakedoberenz.substack.com.

Many Christians are trapped in a false choice between political ideologies that distort the Christian faith. Justin Giboney, political strategist, attorney, and president of the AND Campaign, is on Christianity Without Compromise with host Jake Doberenz to discuss his new book Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around and the Black church’s enduring witness in the face of oppression. Drawing on his grandparents’ legacy in the civil rights movement, Giboney shares how the Black church modeled a prophetic public faith that was both bold and redemptive. Together, they explore what the culture war really is, why Christians must learn to critique both the right and the left, and how moral imagination enables better engagement in politics.

Justin Giboney on X (Twitter) - https://twitter.com/JustinEGiboney
The AND Campaign - https://www.andcampaign.org/
Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around – https://amzn.to/4qNyUMp
Greed, Racism, Violence, and Empire - Malcolm Foley – https://christianitywithoutcompromise.transistor.fm/20

Justin Giboney is an attorney, political strategist, and co-founder of the AND Campaign, a Christian civic organization dedicated to applying biblical values to social and political issues. He is the author of Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around: How the Black Church’s Public Witness Leads Us out of the Culture War. Giboney draws from his heritage and civil rights roots to reframe how Christians engage politics with conviction and compassion.