Rhett McLaughlin on Why He Left the Christian Faith

On a recent podcast, Rhett McLaughlin (of the comedy duo Rhett and Link) detailed his "spiritual deconstruction": his process of leaving the Christian faith. Though focused on relating his own personal experience, in this podcast, Rhett is also (in part) trying to persuade Christians to question and walk away from their own faith as well, since (he says) he does not believe that Christianity is in line with the truth. (In the podcast, he promotes resources that contributed to his "spiritual deconstruction".)

While I would not recommend the podcast for immature Christians who are not firmly grounded in their faith, I would strongly recommend that mature Christians, and especially those in any kind of recognized teaching or counseling position, take them time to listen to it. Most Christians have had or will have a friend who, seeming to possess a strong relationship with Jesus and a full knowledge of God's Word, later turns his back on the Christian faith. However, most people who apostatize are unwilling or unable to articulate their thought process to the degree that Rhett does in this podcast. (Rhett apparently has kept a journal for years, so he can accurately describe what was going through his mind during his 'journey'.)  So, it might be helpful for believers to have a fully detailed account of what apostasy looks like from the point-of-view of the apostate. You can listen to the entire podcast at the following link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/226-rhetts-spiritual-deconstruction-ear-biscuits-ep-226/id717407884?i=1000464459618

Here are some notes that I took during the podcast, which I think my brothers and sisters in Christ should find particularly interesting.

Former Faith

First, we should note that Rhett strongly rejects any idea that he was simply going through the motions of Christianity, without a real faith in Jesus. This is how Rhett describes his belief:

I believed that Jesus was the Son of God, that a personal relationship with Him was the only way to be saved, the only way to go to Heaven when you die, and this belief defined everything for me... Jesus was as real to me as He possibly could be without physically manifesting Himself in my presence. It was a relationship.

He says that he was not a 'Sunday morning Christian,' but that his belief shaped his entire worldview, and that he was engaged in evangelistic, apologetic, and discipleship ministries. Rhett does mention that: "Even in the midst of a very vibrant Christian faith, I had doubts."

Early Doubts

Specific early doubts that Rhett mentions:

-How the Bible came together

-Concerning the resurrection of Jesus

Rhett says that when he would start to have doubts, he would read "Christian experts" [="apologetics"]. That would "plaster over [his] doubt". These periodic struggles with doubt started for him in high school, and they intensified during college.

Doubting the Foundation

For Rhett, young earth creationism was a hang-up. In thinking about how scientists know the age of the earth and how the age of the earth should impact Christian belief, Rhett says that he initially found Creation and Time by Hugh Ross and The Bible, Rocks, and Time to be helpful. Rhett says that there is overwhelming evidence that the earth is billions of years old. When doubting young earth creationism, Rhett (at first) still believed in Adam and Eve and didn't believe in evolution. He viewed a literal Adam and Eve to be necessary for his belief due to the genealogy of Jesus found in Luke and the doctrine of Original Sin, which is the reason Jesus needed to come as a Savior.

Rhett says The Language of God by Francis Collins was transformative in his thinking. He asserts that this book presents "undeniable evidence for evolution". Rhett says of creationist responses for evolutionist arguments: 'I find them not to be compelling in the least.'

Rhett says that from his point of view: "The truth had to be more important than my beliefs." He asserts that Christians are so committed to their belief system that they are impervious to straightforward evidence of evolution. At first, Rhett thought he could incorporate evolution into his Christian belief; he recognized that C.S. Lewis believed in a theory of evolution. At this point in his 'journey,' Rhett says he spent a lot of time at the BioLogos website.

Once Rhett believed in evolution, he realized that some theistic evolutionists believed in a literal Adam and Eve. (He cites Tim Keller.) He still realized that a literal Adam and Eve were necessary to make sense of the story-line of Scripture, but he found it increasingly difficult to believe in them. His doubt "was creeping beyond the story of creation" into doubt about the Old Testament itself. He had been told that the Old Testament was always backed by archaeological evidence, but he came to disbelieve in this assertion.

Doubting the Old Testament

Specific doubts Rhett mentions concerning the Old Testament:

-Why is there no Egyptian historical record of the Israelite captivity, when the Egyptians "kept really good records"?

-Why is there no evidence of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites?

Rhett says: "I was in crisis at this point." But he says that he tried to calm himself with the question: "Isn't the important thing Jesus?"

Concerning the slow development of his "spiritual deconstruction" (taking place over years), Rhett observes: "When you're in full-time ministry, you have no impetus to examine these things," because your livelihood depends on believing them, and why would you want to call into doubt the source of you income?

Rhett also observes that for Christianity, the whole of the Bible being true is a lynch-pin.

Doubting Jesus

Concerning the evidence for Jesus, Rhett had read Josh McDowell's Evidence That Demands a Verdict, and New Evidence That Demands a Verdict. He had read Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ, and he knew these resources well. Countering this evidence, Rhett cites Bart Ehrman's Jesus Interrupted, and The Historical Jesus: Five Views. Rhett came to the conclusion that the Gospel accounts of Jesus are a mix of history and religious propaganda.

Rhett declares: "The major shift for me occurred when I asked, 'What if I'm wrong?'"

Of his spiritual state today, Rhett says that he doesn't have a philosophy that gives him community, purpose, and meaning, but he has an openness that he says is the most liberating thing he has found in his adult life.

He self-describes as a hopeful agnostic.

He says he is currently in therapy, he does back exercises every day, and he watches what he eats, because this is the only life he knows he's got.

Some Thoughts Concerning Rhett's Account of His "Spiritual Deconstruction"

Personal: My primary response to the podcast is heartbreak. To have been given the light of the gospel and to have rejected Jesus as Lord is a tragic thing with everlasting consequences. Also, according to Rhett's account, he led his wife away from her Christian faith, and they have children as well.

Moral: For a large portion of Rhett's account, there is no consideration of any moral aspect of his decision to leave the Christian faith. Near the end of the podcast, Rhett and Link assert that turning away from the Christian faith has no negative impact on one's morals. (Interestingly, Rhett does not use any foul language in his account until after he describes his final rejection of Christianity, and from that point on the podcast contains several obscenities.) In recounting his "spiritual deconstruction," Rhett speaks as if his decision was entirely intellectual in nature (though he does mention an intense emotional impact made by his intellectual decision: especially in light of his relationship to his wife and others). However, it seems unlikely (just given how humanity works as a whole) that along with the intellectual doubts, there were not also specific moral temptations; also: Rhett's account does not consider whether acceptance or rejection of Jesus is, in itself, a moral decision (as John chapters 1 and 3 would indicate that it is).

Ecclesiastical: According to his account, Rhett remained in ministry positions (leading a church small group, etc.), while he was exploring serious doubts about his faith. He says that he did confide to certain Christian friends, voicing his doubts. However, it seems, the people that he confided in were either not in the position to remove him from a ministry position or they were unwilling to do so. If someone is unsure of the foundation of his faith, he is unqualified for any teaching ministry, in which he must be an example of faith to others. Someone should have insisted that he step away from ministry, rather than just waiting for him to make that decision. We should keep this in mind in our own churches as well.

Apologetic: Andy Stanley (the pastor of North Point Community Church in the Atlanta area) has [in]famously suggested that we "unhitch" Christianity from the Old Testament. He believes that in persuading people to consider the Christian faith, many evangelists and apologists are unnecessarily burdened by the perception that they have to defend Old Testament accounts. Stanley and apologists who follow his view believe that we should focus on getting people to consider the evidence for and claims of Christ, so that even if they remain in doubt about the rest of the Bible (at least initially), this will be enough to get them saved, and their other views can/will change over time. Rhett's account shows, however, that once the foundation is doubted, the rest of Christianity cannot stand. The same kind of thought process that doubts God's word about creation or Israel will lead a person to doubt the eternal Word, Jesus Christ.