The Persecution Complex
In his book, Persecution Complex, Jason Wiedel challenges the idea that Christians are the victims of a non-religious culture that seeks to snuff out our Christian heritage and replace it with secular ideals.  Playing the victim is a dangerous game, Jason says, because it puts the offending party into moral debt to us.  If "they" have done something wrong to us, we are victims of their power, and we now have the justification to retaliate.

In this podcast, we comb through the heavy issues with Jason and search for solutions on how to recreate a narrative where we stop seeing ourselves as victims of a larger culture, but a light in the darkness.  In the end, Jason says, the solution lies in the idea that we must get rid of our enemies, not through violence, but through love.  When we love our enemies, we cease to have enemies. We can then step out of the "us vs. them" dichotomy that exists in every area of life and demonstrate God's unconditional love to the world.

Just like Jason's book, our talk jumps head first into these issues.  Our talk goes deep quickly, but I think you will find Jason to be, not only be a first rate scholar of our culture, but a generous and kind man who wants to see the church reflect the imago Dei on earth as it is in heaven.

Find out more about Jason (http://jasonwiedel.com/)

Read Persecution Complex: Why American Christians Need to Stop Playing the Victim (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0990591743/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0990591743&linkCode=as2&tag=youverthewor-20&linkId=OT2OIFQPD6MBXVFD)
Show Notes
3:05 - What is the Persecution Complex?

6:20 - If you are saying that Christians play the victim in our culture, couldn't they take that to mean that you are calling them names, and thus proof that they are victims?

8:20 - Aren't Christians trying to be the heroes of our culture, not the victims?

10:05 - Is the narrative that we've bought into taking the place of solid worldview?  Have we bought into a story, rather than reality?

13:00 - What are some examples of the Persecution Complex in action?

15:30 - Isn't it natural for human beings to want to be the victim?  In a sense, don't we all want to be the "good-guy-underdog" who prevails against the "bad-guy-who-abuses-their-power"?

23:03 - What is the role of Christian doctrine?

25:17 - Have you witnessed "victims" who feel so oppressed that they begin to victimize others?

28:43 - What is the goal of the Persecution Complex?  What do you think Christians are trying to gain by playing the victim?

30:50 - We love violent Jesus!

33:50 - Brad drops the ball

38:46 - John Piper vs. Scott Matkovich - cage match style

42:24 - What is the solution to all of this?  How do we move forward?