116: Conspiracy Theories and the Gospel with Kristen LaValley

Kristen LaValley is a wife, business owner, mom of 3, and writer who is passionate about the gospel and living life in light of it. She comes on the show today to help dispel some of the myths and obsessions these days surrounding conspiracy theories and equips us to reframe our approach to them in light of the good news of the gospel.  We pray you will walk away encouraged by today's show!     What She Chats about in Today’s Episode: ~Kristen's new book, No Fruitless Words: Reframing the Pursuit of Knowledge Around the Gospel, what led her to write it, and what readers can expect ~The onslaught of conspiracy theories, especially this year ~What God has been teaching Kristen about "no fruitless words" ~Defining "conspiracy theory" ~A Biblical response to conspiracy theories; what Christians are called to do with them ~How the gospel helps us to deal with these theories which can be very fear-inducing ~Jesus' example of how to respond to hard things ~The Christian call to be the hands and feet of Christ, to be salt and light; how that corresponds to what we should do if the conspiracy theories are true ~Striking a balance between an unhealthy addiction to knowledge and learning more about conspiracy theories and our call to bring God's light and truth into the world and into areas of evil ~The ways in which Scripture is being taken out of context in this conspiracy theory age ~The big difference between just posting something on social media and actually calling out darkness ~The importance of being equipped beforehand to bring light into darkness; the heaviness of this task ~The legalism bandwagon running rampant on social media today which tells you *precisely* how a believer is "supposed to" respond to the issues of the day; the importance instead of each of us as individuals walking by the Spirit ~The wisdom found in being slow to speak and to wait on the Lord for direction rather than rushing to respond to the issues of the day as quickly as possible ~How the pursuit of knowledge in 2020 can choke out the hope of the gospel in our minds ~The idol of pursuing knowledge outside of God; the problem this led to for Eve ~The problem with pursuing knowledge outside of God and neglecting true communion with God ~How we can pursue and prioritize communion with God in the midst of a year like 2020 ~Communion with God as the only thing that will actually equip us to fight darkness ~And more! For full shownotes, head to www.hargraveshomeandhearth.com/podcast