Being Human with Steve Cuss Christianity Today
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- Religion & Spirituality
A new podcast from Christianity Today, Being Human with Steve Cuss is Christian counseling in podcast form. Steve Cuss, a former trauma and hospice chaplain, pastor, and leadership coach, guides listeners with a gospel-informed journey of discovery into the world of emotional health: everything from anxiety and reactivity, to triangulation, overfunctioning, and the Enneagram.
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The Expectation Gap
Steve Cuss has a special burden for pastors and church staff. As someone who spent 27 years in such roles, he knows the unique challenges personally. On this episode, Cuss shares some of his own journey, including how he struggled with conflating his identities as a child of God and what felt like being an employee of God.
Cuss talks about the gap between what we believe about God and what we experience from God. He guides listeners through the story of Peter walking on water (Matt. 14). Cuss discusses peace, freedom, and love, inviting us to help our body align with our head beliefs so we can relax into God’s presence.
Cuss also reads from his upcoming book, The Expectation Gap, releasing May 28, which listeners can preorder here. Preorder bonuses are available here.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Managing Leadership Anxiety: Yours and Theirs by Steve Cuss
“From a Distance”
Matthew 14
The Expectation Gap: The Tiny, Vast Space between Our Beliefs and Experience of God by Steve Cuss
Preorder bonuses for The Expectation Gap
“Being Human with Steve Cuss” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Produced by Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper
Produced and Edited by Matt Stevens
Associate Producers: McKenzie Hill, Raed Gilliam, and Abby Perry
Theme song by Dan Phelps
Original Music by Andy Gullahorn
Mix Engineer: Kevin Morris
Graphic Design: Amy Jones
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Grieve, Breathe, Receive with Steve Carter
“Did you have integrity today?”
That’s the question that Steve Carter, author, podcaster, and former lead teaching pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, pictured his son asking him when allegations of sexual harassment against Bill Hybels emerged. Carter realized he couldn’t go “play church.” He had to take the allegations seriously and act with integrity, which, for him, looked like resigning.
On this episode of Being Human, Cuss and Carter discuss what it looks like to have integrity when mentors and institutions fail us. They talk about the heartbreak of losing beloved communities, navigating relationships when people feel betrayed, and how difficult it is to see broken systems when inside them.
Carter shares how he has dealt with the weight of being misunderstood, the way some of his highest values were wielded against him, and what it was like to deal with public loss and accusation as an Enneagram Three. He and Cuss talk about the power of the resurrection and the two Greek words that became an anchor for Carter. And they discuss what propelled Carter to write Grieve, Breathe, Receive—a stunning memoir on grief and healing that recounts Carter leaving Willow Creek Church, entering a wilderness season, and enduring loss upon loss upon loss, from income and reputation to precious family members and more.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Luke: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching by Fred B. Craddock
Steve Carter
Craft & Character with Steve Carter
Grieve, Breathe, Receive: Finding a Faith Strong Enough to Hold Us by Steve Carter
The Thing Beneath the Thing: What's Hidden Inside (and What God Helps Us Do About It) by Steve Carter
Willow Creek Community Church
“Managing Leadership Anxiety: Yours and Theirs”
“Cadet Prayer”
Annie F. Downs
Ira Glass
Camino De Santiago
“What Is a Verbatim?”
Compassion International
“Welcoming Practice”
The Worst James Harden Flops
“Being Human with Steve Cuss” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Produced by Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper
Produced and Edited by Matt Stevens
Associate Producers: McKenzie Hill, Raed Gilliam, and Abby Perry
Theme song by Dan Phelps
Original Music by Andy Gullahorn
Mix Engineer: Kevin Morris
Graphic Design: Amy Jones
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Playfulness, Earnestness, and Worship
A systems theorist walks into an organization and orders playfulness and earnestness.
This isn’t just a silly take on a joke format—it’s a tested method of determining whether or not teams have what it takes to go the distance. As host Steve Cuss explains on this episode of Being Human, too much seriousness on a team tends to lead to rigidity, but playful teams tend to be able to handle ambiguity and challenges.
Could the same be true for worship?
Sometimes we get too earnest and everything gets rigid. In this episode Steve looks at the power of playfulness in your people, how ot notice when things are getting too earnest and stuck and the relationship between playfulness and worship. Steve also teaches us how to use a Life Giving List to help us relax into God’s presence. You can download a life giving list template here.
Tune in for an episode that invites us to treasure our faith through playful presence with God.
Click here to pre order Steve’s new book.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Bowen family systems theory
Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business by Patrick Lencioni
Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton
“Letter XLVI” by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
The Expectation Gap: The Tiny, Vast Space between Our Beliefs and Experience of God by Steve Cuss
Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue by Edwin Friedman
“Being Human with Steve Cuss” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Produced by Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper
Produced and Edited by Matt Stevens
Associate Producers: McKenzie Hill, Raed Gilliam, and Abby Perry
Theme song by Dan Phelps
Original Music by Andy Gullahorn
Mix Engineer: Kevin Morris
Graphic Design: Amy Jones
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Non-Anxious Presence with Alan Fadling
“Jesus cares for our troubles, but they don’t worry him.”
So says Alan Fadling, who joins host Steve Cuss on this episode of Being Human. Fadling is an author and the leader of Unhurried Living, a non-profit that trains people to rest deeper, live fuller and lead better. His latest book, The Non-Anxious Life, draws from spiritual formation and touches on systems theory, as well.
Cuss and Fadling discuss the ways that anxiety is not just a personal dynamic, but an organizational one. They consider what Dallas Willard had to say about anxiety and peace, how anxiety communicates that God is not there for us, and what it may look like to remember that Jesus is present with us. They talk about the differences in believing that “I am anxiety” and “I have anxiety.” And they consider how anxiety influences leadership, our sense of connection with Jesus, and our engagement with culture.
Tune in for an episode that sheds light on the way of peace.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Alan Fadling
The Non-Anxious Life: Experiencing the Peace of God's Presence by Alan Fadling
Unhurried Living
George Doebler
Bowen family systems theory
Edwin H. Friedman
Dallas Willard
Viktor Frankl
“Being Human with Steve Cuss” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Produced by Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper
Produced and Edited by Matt Stevens
Associate Producers: McKenzie Hill, Raed Gilliam, and Abby Perry
Theme song by Dan Phelps
Original Music by Andy Gullahorn
Mix Engineer: Kevin Morris
Graphic Design: Amy Jones
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'Listen, Listen, Speak' with Jay Kim
If you struggle to keep your thoughts to yourself in the internet age, you’re not alone. On this episode of Being Human, host Steve Cuss admits that he struggles with a core belief that sounds something like the world needs my opinion. What are Christians to do in an era when there’s nonstop opportunity to reply, comment, and react?
On this episode, Cuss welcomes someone he looks up to in this regard: Jay Kim, lead pastor of WestGate Church in San Jose, California and author of several books, including his latest, Listen, Listen, Speak. Kim and Cuss consider the implications of God as infinite and humans as finite and the immensity of eternity. They talk about Kim’s emphasis on listening, formative moments in his faith, and how he believes social media is shaping people. Their conversation covers spiritual practices that can help us remain rooted in a tumultuous era and points to the characteristics of God reflected in creatures and creation.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Jay Kim
WestGate Church
Analog Church: Why We Need Real People, Places, and Things in the Digital Age
Analog Christian: Cultivating Contentment, Resilience, and Wisdom in the Digital Age by Jay Y. Kim
Listen, Listen, Speak: Hearing God and Being Heard in a Noisy World by Jay Y. Kim
Gravity
Interstellar
Neil Postman
Hate Inc.: Why Today’s Media Makes Us Despise One Another by Matt Taibbi
The Art Institute of Chicago
Nighthawks by Edward Hopper
The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis
Bo Burnham: Inside
“The Ignatian Examen”
The Lord’s Prayer
Andy Crouch
Joshua Tree
“Being Human with Steve Cuss” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Produced by Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper
Produced and Edited by Matt Stevens
Associate Producers: McKenzie Hill, Raed Gilliam, and Abby Perry
Theme song by Dan Phelps
Original Music by Andy Gullahorn
Mix Engineer: Kevin Morris
Graphic Design: Amy Jones
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The Chaplain Who Taught Steve Systems Theory: George Doebler
So much of our experience is shaped by what gets passed down to us. Whether it's trauma, wisdom, or a signature hair color, traits and knowledge travel from generation to generation.
On this episode of Being Human, Steve Cuss welcomes George Dobeler, the chaplain who first passed down the concept of family systems theory to Cuss. Doebler and Cuss talk about Doebler's learning from Murray Bowen, who founded the theory. They discuss the importance of understanding one’s family system when it comes to diffusing anxiety. Doebler and Cuss provide real-life examples of systems theory helping people become less reactive and more in touch with God, themselves, and others.
Their conversation covers chaplaincy, trauma recovery, and how theology shapes our responses to anxiety.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Bowen family systems theory
George Doebler
Murray Bowen
Harry Stack Sullivan
Edwin H. Friedman
Genogram
Friedman’s Fables by Edwin H. Friedman
A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix by Edwin H. Friedman
“Being Human with Steve Cuss” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Produced by Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper
Produced and Edited by Matt Stevens
Associate Producers: McKenzie Hill, Raed Gilliam, and Abby Perry
Theme song by Dan Phelps
Original Music by Andy Gullahorn
Mix Engineer: Kevin Morris
Graphic Design: Amy Jones
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices