Summer Reset: REPLAY // Cliques, Popularity, and Playing Church

Summer Reset
Written By Lisa Whittle
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What was the Acts 2 church meant to be? And how far have we drifted from it? Continuing the Summer Reset series on the Jesus Over Everything podcast, Lisa Whittle tackles a topic her own audience asked her to address: the cliques, popularity dynamics, and comfortable social circles that quietly take root in the very place designed to be their opposite. Drawing on real messages from listeners, teachings from top theologians, and a challenge rooted in Matthew 28, Lisa makes the case that playing church – surrounding ourselves with people who look, act, and think just like us – is more than a social problem. It's a spiritual one. This is a conversation for anyone who's ever felt the gap between what the church is supposed to be and what it sometimes is, and wants to close it.

Listen in to learn more:

  • Why Lisa almost didn't make this episode and what changed her mind

  • The listener's message about cliques in women's ministry that started it all

  • What the Acts 2 church was actually designed to be (and what it was never meant to be)

  • How our social patterns have replaced the mission of the church

  • Why cliques have no place in a community called to unity

  • The connection between comfortable Christianity and a lazy faith

  • What is really at risk when we miss the person sitting alone

  • A hard question: Are we living for Jesus or for popularity and comfort?

Mentioned in the Episode:

Connect with Lisa:

Lisa Whittle
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Summer Reset: REPLAY // Dr. George Barna on Championing the Next Generation