How Do I Resist False Gospels? with Elizabeth Woodson

Summary

Podcast Summary: Knowing Faith

Episode: How Do I Resist False Gospels? with Elizabeth Woodson
Date: April 9, 2026
Hosts: Kyle Worley, JT English, Jen Wilkin
Guest: Elizabeth Woodson, Bible teacher, author, and founder of the Woodson Institute

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Main Theme

The episode explores how Christians can recognize and resist “false gospels” – pervasive cultural stories and solutions to life’s problems that exclude Christ. Through conversation with Elizabeth Woodson, whose new book Habits of Resistance addresses seven such stories and offers practical gospel practices, the hosts discuss personal formation, the role of habits, and the practical outworking of Christian faith amid competing narratives.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Elizabeth Wrote the Book

• Elizabeth saw the disconnect between the abundant life Christians are promised and the struggles she witnessed—fear, rage, loneliness, striving for value through external means—all even among believers.
• She wanted to help people not only identify what’s wrong but discern practical gospel habits to resist the cultural formation pulling them away from Christ.

  “If we are bearing fruit that doesn't necessarily align with the way of Jesus, then what's really going on? ... And I wanted to give people, not just identify what was wrong, but how do you practically do that in your everyday life?” (05:13)

2. Defining a False Gospel

• Woodson defines a false gospel as “a pathway or solution to a problem... that doesn’t contain Christ.”
• Example: Seeking peace through control or finding one’s value in achievement—solutions that leave Christ out.

  “A false gospel offers you a solution that's Christless.” (09:35)

3. The Seven False Stories Identified in the Book

At [12:08], Elizabeth lists them:

• Peace through control
• Identity through achievement
• Love through selfishness
• Justice through merciless vengeance
• Joy through overconsumption
• Hope through escapism

These stories are drawn from common patterns in social media, conversations, and church life—where “the places we hang out the most are the places we absorb the stories.” (13:47)

4. Formation, Resistance, and Self-Examination

• Drift from Jesus is small and gradual; resisting false gospels starts with pausing and identifying how we're being formed.
• Assessing “the fruit my life is bearing” helps reveal whether we're living by Christ's truth or a false story.
• Community is essential for helping us see our blind spots and real values.

  “Your beliefs will show up with your feet what you really believe. So you might say certain things, but what your feet are doing shows you what you actually believe.” (28:27)

5. Habits as Spiritual Resistance

• Habits structure our lives around what matters and shape who we become.
• Christian resistance to false gospels isn’t just about believing rightly; it’s about forming practices that embody those beliefs.

  “It's not if you have habits, it's which ones do you have, and are they leading you to the way of Jesus?” (28:27)

6. Personal and Corporate Scope of False Gospels

• Though false gospels shape cultures, Woodson focuses on the individual application—“I didn’t want to give people the ability to get away from identifying the things in their own self.” (10:22)
• But the personal always bears fruit corporately: “When we're all doing the same thing... that bears fruit.”

7. Confession, Forgiveness, and Church Community

• Of all resistance practices, confession and forgiveness are among the hardest yet most transformative—because they require honesty, vulnerability, and grace.

  “It just helps us realize how much grace we need... when I'm more acquainted with my shortcomings... how will that change how I respond when I am the recipient of somebody else's brokenness?” (24:16)

• Committing to messy church community, serving, and being known is both difficult and the “better way.”

  “To write about that, I wanted to be honest... but what I hope people see is like, man, this is just a better way. This is a better way for us to exist and not just on our own, but together.” (23:30)

8. Most Personally Meaningful Habit for Elizabeth

• For Elizabeth, showing up to church and living in spiritual family—especially after leaving vocational ministry—pressed on her the vulnerability and resilience needed for true community (21:59–23:30).

9. Why Habits, Not Just Beliefs

• Habits provide daily, concrete structure for resistance but also reveal and reinforce our actual beliefs.
• The trio: What we believe → how we behave → who we become (26:51).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Power of Stories:

  “Narrative is our culture's currency. He who tells the best story wins.” – JT English (07:43)

• On Formation:

  “We pick things up from the places that we hang out the most.” – Elizabeth (13:47)

• On Confession/Forgiveness:

  “Nobody wants to do that. We just kind of want to sweep it underneath the rug. But ... it changes us in really good ways.” – Elizabeth (25:37)

• On Practical Resistance:

  “You can't identify the false story if you don't know the true one. So I'm going to go with... a reading practice that is growing you in Bible literacy.” – Jen Wilkin (29:56)

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• Why Elizabeth wrote Habits of Resistance: 05:13
• Definition and Examples of False Gospels: 08:01
• Seven False Stories: 12:08
• How We Absorb False Stories: 13:36
• How to Resist (the Role of Self-Examination): 14:07
• The Importance of Community and Church Habits: 21:59, 30:55
• Most Challenging Habit for Resistance (Confession/Forgiveness): 24:08
• Why Habits Matter: 26:51
• Lightning Round: Most Foundational Habit for Resistance: 28:31 onward

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Hosts’ and Guest’s Number One Habits for Resisting False Gospels

• Elizabeth: Crafting a “rule of life” – an intentional plan to embed spiritual habits across daily, weekly, yearly rhythms (29:11).
• Jen: Bible literacy—a disciplined practice of immersing oneself in Scripture to know the true story (29:56).
• JT: Regular gathering with God’s people (church), emphasizing community, worship, preaching, and service (30:55).
• Kyle: Prayer (31:25).

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Tone and Language

Throughout, the episode is lively, conversational, honest, and laced with humor and real-world vulnerability. The group shares personal anecdotes and church experiences, offering a sense of camaraderie and shared commitment to practical discipleship.

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Conclusion

Habits of Resistance illustrates that formation into the way of Jesus is a lifelong, practical process requiring intentional resistance against the false stories of our culture. Community, spiritual habits, and honest self-reflection are vital for living not by Christless solutions but by the transforming gospel of Christ.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

This is Kyle Worley and I'm joined by my co host Jen Wilkin and J.T. english.

[A]

And today we are joined by our

[B]

friend, our colleague, our current peer in discipleship, resourcing, Elizabeth Woodson. Elizabeth is a Bible teacher, speaker, the founder of the Woodson Institute, and the host of the podcast Starting Place with Elizabeth Woodson and Shalomi. She is the author of a number of books and Bible studies, including the recently released Habits of Resistance, Seven ways you are being formed by culture and gospel practices to help you push back. Elizabeth, thanks for making time to jump on here with us.

[C]

Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.

[B]

You know what, Elizabeth? You have a very presentable backdrop. I have seen, I'm telling you, I've been doing this for years now, Elizabeth. And it's like some people have given absolutely zero thought to what is behind them. And you clearly have manicured this. And I just want to say I see it and I respect it.

[C]

You know, I appreciate that. I spent a lot of time organizing my books just for this podcast. So we did a refresh just for knowing things. Oh, because I know it matters for y', all, you know, because.

[D]

Is that a live plant? Is that a live plant?

[B]

Okay, okay, that makes me feel better.

[D]

It's a bridge too far.

[B]

I, I. Any live plant we've ever had in our house, we have killed. I'm sorry, Jen. We have killed so quickly. And, like, it's whatever the opposite of a green thumb is. That's what I have.

[D]

Kyle, do you know I still have the plant you gave me?

[B]

And it's.

[D]

And it's alive, it's thriving, and every time I look at it, I think of Kyle Worley when the Revelation launch.

[B]

Oh, my gosh. Yeah, Jen, that would have been in the trash at our house five weeks later.

[D]

Hey, that's a. There's my real plant right there.

[B]

That's crazy Jake.

[E]

You know, what's your name on air?

[D]

You guys have other gifts.

[E]

We all have a colleague. You guys remember this? She. She worked with us at our previous church, who was given, like, a succulent, and she watered it for, like, three years only to realize it was fake.

[C]

I do remember that.

[E]

She was like, I'm so great at keep.

[C]

This thing's amazing. That's what I want to know. It just.

[E]

It was, like, a very small succulent, so she was just, like, almost, like, doing, like, water drops, like, just a little bit. It would just evaporate. It'd be gone.

[D]

It's going to the Styrofoam that was underneath.

[B]

You know what? That. I don't know how, but that's a teaching illustration.

[D]

We will find a way.

[B]

I got to figure a way to get.

[E]

I am the vine, you are the branches, but you're actually a dead succulent.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

The wheat and the tares. You look alive, but then you discover at the end that you never.

[C]

Wow, that's really sad.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

All right. We are here, and we are talking with Elizabeth about Habits of Resistance. This is kind of a part of our season of how to answer tricky questions and thorny topics. And so I've titled this episode How Do I Resist False Gospels? And, you know, the goal of this is not for you to download what we have to say or what Elizabeth has to say.

[A]

The goal of this is for you

[B]

to learn how to think theologically and biblically about everything. Elizabeth did not write Habits of Resistance so that you would know what Elizabeth Woodson thinks about these matters. She wrote this book so that you can engage in biblical and theological thinking about all matters of life. That's why we've produced the Deep Discipleship program with Lifeway. If you're interested in doing theology in community, then go do a book club around Habits of Resistance or go check out lifeway.com deep discipleship and see how you can do theology and community right where you're at. Let's just start with this. Elizabeth, this is Jen's question, but I'm going to ask it like, why did you write, why did you write the book?

[D]

It's a good question.

[B]

Why did you write the book?

[C]

Elizabeth I wrote the book partly because of what I saw in myself and what I saw in other people. So I think the low hanging fruit is I got tired of seeing dumpster fires online in the comment sections. I think I got tired of seeing just people being inundated with things that they need to buy and purchase or the prestige that rules social media, that you have value because of the amount of followers that you have. Like, you just see the fruit that exists in our culture. Sometimes it's the fear or rage or even loneliness. Right. It seems like everybody's having the same conversations about their struggles with relationships and friendships and just this whole for or look for belonging among Christians. Like, this isn't non believers. These are people who are supposed to be walking in the abundant life that Jesus gives. And so the question is, if we are bearing fruit that doesn't necessarily align with the way of Jesus, then what's really going on? And I think it's a belief that it connects to how we're being formed, which is in a conversation that is new to this platform or you all that our formation directly connects next to how we show up in the world. And I wanted to give people, not just identify what was wrong, but like, how do you fix it? How do you practically do that in your everyday life? And so that's kind of what Habits of Resistance was birthed out of.

[D]

I love that it's practical. That's my, that's my big litmus test for whether I'm going to recommend a book to people. And when you were, I'm just curious, like you, you chose seven things. You know how I feel about the number seven. I feel very positive about it. How did you decide what you were going to focus on? Because obviously there are more than seven things to think about in this conversation.

[C]

Yeah. What I wanted to do was again, making it really practical is what are some of the core things that people really desire? Right. A lot of times people aren't thinking in a complex way about am I believing a false story? They just really want peace. Right. They want to deal with the chaos that's in their life, which is a really human desire. And so I try to kind of pinpoint some of the Things that I've heard in conversation with other people. The things I see pop up online. A lot, A lot of this, what I wrote was just the product of being in community with other people. And so if I see things that are patterns that maybe that should tell me something that I need to poke into.

[B]

Like when we. Like part of the book is oriented around the temptation to believe false gospels. And we've talked a lot on this podcast about false stories and how formative they are. Jt, remind me. I'm blanking. The quote, the buster quote that we've, we've quoted 100 times. Give it to me again.

[E]

Narrative is our culture's currency. He who tells the best story wins.

[B]

Yeah. So these stories are tempting for us. Right. So Elizabeth, what are maybe some of the. Like, give me. Can you give some examples of, like, what is a, what is a false gospel? And can you give some examples of false gospels?

[C]

Yeah, when I think about a false gospel, I think about a pathway or solution to a problem that we're having or longing and desire. Right. So it's a question of and why am I valuable? Where does my purpose come from? Where does hope come from? Where can I find peace? And so we feel that we're in a space, I think there's a heaven and a hell and the Savior that's going to get us from one side to the other. That's kind of what I think about. And so I'll think about in terms of singleness, it's a really kind of low hanging fruit. The, the hell can be being single and heaven is being married. And so I need to find this perfect relationship that's gonna get me from one side to the other. But the fantasy about marriage really isn't the accurate place that I want to be. Right. And so it's how can I solve this problem that I have in my life? And the solution doesn't contain Christ, like it doesn't contain Jesus. And that really is where the false gospel comes up. And so one thing, one that I think about is the ability to have peace through control. And so if I can control my situation, whether that's through information, sometimes I see this show up in like New age spiritual things like manifesting, which is the power of positive thinking, reformed for a new generation, that if I can have control over my circumstances, then I can find peace. But what it doesn't take into consideration is that we don't have control over everything because we are limited. And in order to be able to accomplish the thing that I really desire I need the one who's limitless. But the false story will have me try to accomplish those things without God.

[B]

I like that definition of false gospel a lot.

[D]

I do, too.

[B]

A problem, like the experience of a problem and the pursuit of a solution that doesn't involve Christ. Like, I think that's a really simple and clear perspective of what a false gospel is. There is you individually or you collectively are experiencing a problem. So you need that solution, and a false gospel offers you a solution that's Christless. That's a good definition of false gospel. Okay, so are false gospels, are they? When you wrote this book, were you thinking or aiming at the way that false gospels hit individuals primarily or groups of people, like, more widespread, more culturally?

[C]

Yeah, I think I was hitting at the way they touch our lives individually. That has fruit corporately. So when I think again about how we handle conflict, that a lot of times I think cancel culture is a big thing that we see, but it shows up individually in relationships where I'm just going to cut my friend off because we have an issue, and it's a lot easier to not respond to their message than to say, hey, can we have a conversation about this? But that bears fruit when we're all doing the same thing. So sometimes when we poke at the larger culture like this is affecting everybody, it gives me the excuse to say, oh, that's their problem. It's not my problem. And I didn't want to give people the ability to get away from identifying the things in their own self.

[D]

Wow. Now I know why JT never texts me back.

[E]

Got a lot going on. Yeah. What false gospel are we living in? Elizabeth, one question that I have for you, I mean, because one of the things you mentioned is you said a lot of people, you picked these stories, these false gospels, these false stories from conversations. They're just kind of picking up patterns from people. Where do you think false stories are told to people? Primarily because one of the things that we've talked a lot about is false stories. One of the things that's most powerful about them, we don't wake up each morning and decide to ourselves, you know what I want to do? I'd like to live in a false story. I want to pick the false story of perfectionism. It's just something that's so pervasive, you don't even realize you're living in a false story. Because a false story for all of us is just reality. It just is the air we breathe. It's the message that we received and that we keep Receiving. Where do people kind of pick up on these false stories? And how can they begin to maybe even identify which one or ones they're living in?

[D]

Well, and maybe before you answer that, give us the seven false stories that you identify in the book.

[C]

Yeah. The false stories I have is that we can earn peace through control, that we can earn identity through achievement, that we can achieve love through selfishness, justice through merciless vengeance, joy through overconsumption, and hope through escapism.

[D]

Okay, that's good. That's really good. I read the book. I mean, I remember thinking it was good, but it's been a while since I read it. Yeah, go ahead.

[C]

So when I think about false gospels, again, we're not. Some people might, but most people are not waking up asking to live in a false story. We pick things up from the places that we hang out the most. So for most of us, that is social media. It is the people that we follow, the posts we like, the posts we share. And so what is presented to us. And I think that the hard part about the false gospel kind of dynamic is it's presenting to us something that actually looks pretty attractive, that we see something work for someone's life. What we don't see is what they're leaving out. Right. So I always see these, again, singleness, married couples who rarely post their arguments. They post the beautiful pictures and the family pictures, but you're not seeing the other side. You're not seeing the complete picture. And so we see it from the posts that we are interacting with, the podcasts that we're listening to, even the people that we're engaging with in communities. So it's like, where am I hanging out the most and where am I getting my information about these larger categories? And then it's a question of, well, what is what I'm seeing leaving out? What aren't they telling me about, what they're presenting to me? And that helps us try to kind of peel back the layers from the messaging. But it's really simple. It's the things. The places we hang out the most are the places we absorb the stories.

[B]

The places we hang out the most,

[A]

the places where we absorb the stories.

[B]

How do the stories. Okay, so talk about that, because I'm sure if I'm going to resist them. Is the manner of my resistance similar to the manner of my temptation? Like, is my resistance. So do I resist them just by hanging out in different places?

[C]

I think Resistance 1 really is just. It's the pausing and identifying. Right. So to be able to even recognize that, man, maybe there's something that I have absorbed, something I've listened to, that I'm going in a direction I don't need to. Like I've drifted from the way of Jesus. I don't think drift happens immediately. I think it happens in really small steps. Is this process of, like, self examination? Right. Because a lot of it is, what's the fruit that my life is bearing? And is that matching up with the fruit that the Lord says it should bear? How am I using my resources? And is the way I use my resources matching up with the way that the Lord should use my resources? How am I pursuing my career? Is my ambition connected to what ambition should be from the Lord? And so I think about another one that is common for a lot of people, and that's just productivity culture that says that you are what you produce. And so we're going to produce, produce, produce, produce all the time. We're going to have schedules that are just so full of activities because we're trying to achieve some sense of prestige, whether that's for us or our kids. Right. Our kids are in a million different activities because we have this high hopes for them. But does the amount of activities I'm doing communicate something about what I really find valuable? And I'm. Am I making space for my spiritual community? Am I making space to be in places where I'm growing with other believers or to live out what it means to love my neighbor? Right. So it just is, to me, it's a pausing, which social media particularly is not invested in. It just wants you to consume and that pause and reflect. Right. How can I see what is my life doing, particularly right now, in terms of fruit? And how does that align with what it's supposed to be according to what Jesus says?

[B]

Yeah, I feel like this is. Your approach to this has been more of like. Like you said, kind of focus on the individual. Jt, when you wrote Remember and Rehearse, you talk about falsehoods, and you talked about it more from a worldview almost more of like a kind of more category, genus, not species. Kind of like, what were some of the false stories that you talked about in there just to remind our listeners?

[E]

Like, yeah, I forget how many I had. I like how Elizabeth defines them as kind of short statements. Mine were more like, kind of like you said, categories. Like the. Yeah, the false story of perfectionism, the basic idea that I'm lovable and good if I pursue and live a perfect life, the false story of romanticism that the deeper I feel something. The more authentically I live, the more true I am to myself, then that's the good life. The false story of pragmatism, that my life should just work. I should do things that work. The false story of one of the powerful ones back in the day was American civil religion. Just the kind of. The more powerfully I live into the Americanized version of the good life, then the more I'll be participating in the good life. So I think we had like 10, 11, 12. But one of the things that I think is important to highlight for people as they hear, whether it's these seven habits or how I kind of framed it as false stories, is they're not exhaustive lists. We are very good at creating false stories for ourselves ever since Genesis chapter three, and that's really where they originate, is a false story of, I can find life outside of God's good command for me. I can find life outside of the presence of God. I can find life outside of the ministry of Christ to me. And so one thing I would encourage folks who are listening to this is whether it's these seven habits or false stories is. And I know Elizabeth would say this too, they're not exhaustive. You might be living in one that we haven't thought of yet. And like I tried to say a moment ago, they're so powerful because you don't even realize you're living in it. It just is what you take for reality. It's how you treat your spouse, it's how you engage with your job. It's what you think of your kids, as Elizabeth just said. And so I just think one of the important things that you could do is have conversations with people in your life around you and say, what do you see about me that I value? What do you think are the things that really kind of poke and prod at me or that motivate me? When do I come most alive? When do I feel most frustrated or dull? And so. And at the end of the day, we need community to help point out those false stories in our life and to draw us back to the true story of the world found in Scripture.

[F]

Are you tired of shallow discipleship in your life, the life of your church or small group? God is inviting you into deeper places. Real participation in his story, real understanding of who he is and what he has done, and a more meaningful practice of following in his ways. For the last 10 years, JT, Jen and Kyle have been teaching a program called Deep Discipleship in their local churches, and they have now worked with Lifeway to make this available to everyone everywhere. Whether you're an individual looking to go deeper, a church leader looking for an accessible way to invite your small groups, classes, and student ministry, or a homeschool family looking for curriculum for your high school students, go check out the Deep Discipleship program at lifeway.com DeepDic Discipleship.

[A]

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[B]

Yeah, what you were just saying reminds me of the Calvin quote. Like the heart is a perpetual idol factory, you know, just always producing them over and over and over again. You're right. They just come in so many different varieties. Jen, you were going to pop in.

[D]

Oh, I was just thinking about how we're rarely living into just one false story. Like any given false story is sort of an amalgam of several. I found that when I was writing the aging book. It's like the false story of anti aging is shaped by individual, you know, radical individualism. I mean, there are so many things that we're pouring in to shape that narrative influences that make the thing is, is the false story feels normal. It feels true. Otherwise it wouldn't be a threat. Right. And I think what Elizabeth has done in the book so well is say, you know, don't, don't pretend like you don't have ways to identify that this is in fact false and then to live into what's true. And I think what the biggest lie that we tell ourselves is, the false story will probably be fine or I don't have time to think about that right now. I'll figure that out later. And that's I loved, I loved Elizabeth, that your book is, like I said, it's practical, but it's written from the perspective that I think you uniquely bring to things of being someone who has been in the local church watching the real fallout from people embracing these things sort of with an indefinite timeline. And the Lord is kind to us. He lets us face our catalog of false stories not all at once like we do. Progressive sanctification means we get to face them as he brings them to our conscience. But I think we see people suppressing their consciences with regard to these things. So your book is an opportunity, I think, for people to say, oh, yeah, that is something that I'm doing. But a question that I always like to get asked when I write a book is what part of what you wrote felt the most personally important for you? You know what I'm saying? Like, what part of what you wrote? Which of the seven, I guess, is the one that you had to get sucker punched by the worst before you could talk to other people about it? Dang, Jen, I love that question. Elizabeth's like, I hate your guts. I hate your guts.

[C]

Thank you. We appreciate you. Probably what I would say, and it's just unique for my season. I recently, you know, a couple years ago, just decided to be in the path of an entrepreneur. And so that meant I had to join a church for the first time, not being on staff in a really long time. And so church has been a mix of just beautiful, but it's also really hard. And so I think about one of the chapters that talk about the benefit of the spiritual family gathering, right? Of how much that it bolsters our sense of who we are, our value purpose is when we show up to church and not just show up for Sunday service, but you serve and you're in community and you are known and you know, other people. But the truth is that's really hard and that's messy and that takes a resilience. I was like, now I gotta do what I told other people to do. I gotta send the email again. It will be okay. Reach out again, show up, you know, show up to the small group, even though you don't know if the small group leader is going to be good or it's just gonna be, you know, you need to slowly back away from the group. Like, it just is. It takes vulnerability. And so to write about that, I think there was. I wanted to be honest, right? I think they're not like these perfect solutions in some sense where it's not gonna have difficulty attached to it. But what I hope people see is like, man, this is just a better way. This is a better way for us to exist and not just on our own, but together. But you gotta push through some of that. And so I think the honesty of what it meant to be part of the spiritual family gathering was hard for me to write, but I knew I couldn't write that if I wasn't telling the contours of what that means, even though it's still the better Way.

[D]

Well, and I think you're pushing on something that we run into a lot, again, because we have one of the false stories is the instant gratification is better for us than long term commitment commitments. And like, the right way is not the easy way. It's not impossible. I mean, it's meant to be the way that we go. But a habit. Anybody who's formed a habit of any kind knows habits take work. And I'm curious, like, of the habits that you put in the book, is there one or two maybe that you feel people are more resistant to? Like, you know, the ones that people are the most. Like, that's just too hard.

[C]

I probably would say the habits of confession and forgiveness.

[D]

Oh, wow.

[C]

And so see, right there.

[D]

Thank you.

[C]

Wow. For the immediate response. It really is like, oh, so I need to be in relationship with people and they're trusted relationships. This is not me asking you to do this with perfect strangers. Like, you need to do it with wisdom. But is that I need to be honest about my sins. And I need to be a person who continually offers forgiveness to other people, seeking to model that which we have received. And part of that is because it just helps us realize how much grace we need. Like, when I'm more acquainted with my shortcomings and my brokenness, not a place to sit there and to stay in a place of shame or just to even condone what I'm doing is how will that change how I respond when I am the recipient of somebody else's brokenness? And so I was just like, we just see all of this division and the way we talk to people is. I just think it's wild sometimes what people will say in 140 characters versus what we would say to somebody in this space. But part of it is we've distanced ourselves from our need for redemption. And that's just such a cornerstone to our faith as Christians. And to me, the Cabot of confession and forgiveness helps us push back against that. But it's vulnerable. It's hard. Nobody wants to do that. We just kind of want to sweep it underneath the rug. But it just. To me, it's been a powerful tool in my own life. And yeah, even when people just raise their eyebrows at me, I kind of still push through because I just think it just. It changes us in really good ways.

[B]

You know, there's been a lot that has been written about habits in the last seven, eight, ten years. Like, I mean, some really big books that are not, like, I don't even think, like, Christian Books like James Clear's Atomic Habits book is like, like one of the best selling books of the last decade. It's been a massive success. I think even like 15 years ago. It's. Oh, gosh, it seems crazy to say it was that long ago, but Jamie Smith was writing about the. The formative value of practices and habits and liturgies and counter liturgies. And there's a lot that's been written about habits. Why are we talking about habits so much? Like, why is that in the subtitle of your book? Why are we talking about it?

[D]

I believe the title of the book.

[B]

Oh, yeah, no, no, yes, I'm sorry, Habits of Resistance. Yes, not subtitle, sorry, dog title of the book. Why are we talking about habits so much, Elizabeth? Like, isn't this just really about believing the right thing? Like, isn't this just a belief problem? And you're shaking your head. I'm setting you up to tell me no, it's not just the belief problem. Tell me why it's not just a belief problem and why habits are so important for resistance of these false stories.

[C]

Here's just a fun fact. The book was originally titled A Better Gospel. And so we did Habits of Resistance to kind of be a little bit more spicy. That's just a fun fact for the folks. But I think on a really practical, basic level, people just feel like they need structure and order, so they need some sense of a guide. Like they recognize something's off, they don't really know how to get back on track. And habits just give us some sense of, like, logical steps that I can take that make me feel like I have some sense of order about what's happening, that I can make a plan. And that just gives us a little bit more security, I think, in a, in a good and healthy way. But when it comes to our habits, I have a friend and she, she gave me kind of this trio of ideas. What we believe affects how we behave and how we behave affects how we become what we become. And so there a lot of times we can separate it. It's like, oh, I believe these things, but we're not thinking about how what I believe about other people, what I believe about God and what I believe about myself affect how I show up in the world. And eventually, as I'm doing these same things all the time, that affects the core of my character. It affects what I love. Like, it affects all of these things that feel to be hardwired. And so I wanted people to realize one, we all have habits Right. We all have ways of doing things. I think that's kind of just our human way of existing in the world. And so the question isn't if you have habits, it's which ones do you have, and are they leading you to the way of Jesus? But it's to bring an awareness that your beliefs will show up with your feet what you really believe. So you might say certain things, but what your feet are doing shows you what you actually believe.

[B]

All right, I'm gonna land the plane by putting all of us on the spot.

[D]

Oh, perfect.

[B]

And you can't use somebody else's answer. And because Elizabeth is our. Our guest, we're gonna let Elizabeth go first. Okay. What is in your mind the key habit of Christian resistance to false stories? Elizabeth, you can only commend one. What's the. And it's for all Christians everywhere. It can be. It can be anything. But you get one, I get one.

[E]

I've got one for Jen. Can I pick Jen's.

[C]

Feels tricky. And like a trash.

[D]

Our friendship is at stake is what

[E]

you should be feeling right now.

[D]

Just kidding. I'm kidding. I'm mostly kidding.

[C]

Can I just take the easy route and say a rule of life that includes all of that?

[D]

Oh, nice.

[B]

Wow. A little bit of a cheat code there. As a guest, we're going to give you.

[D]

We will allow it.

[C]

Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

[D]

Say what you mean by a rule of life, though, because I don't know that everybody will.

[C]

Yeah. A rule of life really is a plan for how I'm going to incorporate a set of disciplines into my life. So what will I do daily? What will I do monthly? What will I do annually? And so some of it might be like, I'll take a silence and solitude retreat annually, but daily I'm going to be able to spend time in prayer, but it's just creating a plan for how I do the habits throughout the entirety of a specific period of time.

[B]

Okay. All right. That's a good one, Jen.

[D]

I can't. You can't identify the false story if you don't know the true one. So I'm going to go with

[C]

just

[D]

say a reading practice that is growing you in Bible literacy and Bible fluency. Elizabeth, don't laugh at him. You're encouraging him.

[E]

So, like, quiet times.

[D]

It's not. Not quiet times, but it's probably not quiet times. Okay.

[C]

All right.

[B]

Regular engagement.

[E]

So glad I got to be here for this.

[B]

With. With God's word from Jen.

[D]

No, don't. Not regular engagement with God's Word could mean a lot of things. I put some.

[B]

Let us help.

[D]

Okay. All right, all right.

[B]

Keep getting canceled for the quiet.

[D]

All right, fine.

[C]

Wow. Wow.

[B]

Let me help her. At this moment. Okay, Vince. Inductive Bible study.

[D]

No, I don't mean that. Okay, go ahead. What's yours?

[B]

All right, jt.

[E]

Yeah, I would have said those two. Those are the two that I pick first, but since we can't pick that, I'll go. Maybe a little bit more untraditional and just. Elizabeth already alluded to this, but just gathering together with God's people there you have preaching, praying, singing, serving, giving of yourself. I mean, I just don't know how you could be walking with Christ without regularly gathering together with God's people under his Word.

[B]

Yeah, I agree with that. 100. Those are good answers. Great. We'll just. We'll call it there.

[D]

Oh, wait a minute.

[B]

Prayer. I'll say prayer.

[D]

Oh, that's good. We hit them all then? Or there we go.

[B]

We got. We got all. We got all. Really? Elizabeth covered all of them with Rule of Life, and then we just kind of hit some of the crucial ones, our favorites. Elizabeth, thank you for writing this book. Thank you for jumping on here today. It was so fun to have you on. Thank you.

[C]

Thanks for having me.

[B]

Listen, if you were listening to the episode and you want to resist false gospels and false stories, which, if you're a Christian, you do, go check out Elizabeth's book, Seven Habits of Resistance. Excuse me. Habits of Resistance. Seven ways you're being formed by culture and gospel practices to help you push back. Available wherever good books are sold. If you heard something from one of our sponsors, go check it out through the webpage link in the show notes or online at trainthechurch.com under the Knowing Faith podcast webpage. We hope you enjoyed the discussion. Grace and peace.