Welcome to Walking the Middle Path

Finding "both/and" in a faith and culture of black and white.

May 24, 2024

If you come from Evangelical Christianity like me, you know our faith often demands we think in an absolute, right or wrong way.

The Bible is clear.
If you don’t believe this, then you’re not a Christian.
Just listen to what your pastors say.

But our culture also insists we to put ourselves in boxes and to assert black-and-white beliefs about everything.

You’re either conservative or liberal.
Those beliefs are abusive.
If you don’t agree with me, then you’re not safe.

What would happen if we practiced walking the middle path between two extremes?

What if instead of either/or thinking, we embrace both/and?

What is the Middle Path?

In Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), the therapy I practice, one of the foundational skills is called “walking this middle path”. We do this by embracing dialectical thinking.1

Dialectical thinking is the opposite of polarized thinking.

It is about finding the synthesis between two seemingly opposing ideas. It is walking the middle path to find freedom from judgment and extremes. We embrace nuance in the gray areas and reject black and white answers and all-or-nothing thinking to find integration.

Dialectical thinking is the foundation of my approach to therapy and how I think about faith, culture, and the world.

I believe it is also consistent with the way Jesus taught. Jesus was full of paradox, both welcoming people and calling them to change, both forgiving sins and requiring repentance, both offering grace and speaking truth.

You have heard it said . . . but I say . . .
We live in the “already, but not yet.”
Your sins are forgiven. And go and sin no more.

Social media and even a typical blog post don’t allow for the kind of nuanced, both/and thinking I strive for. But perhaps on Substack, we can find the middle path we’ve been missing.

Why Substack?

I try to follow the advice to “be authentic with many, and vulnerable with few.”

Moving my blog and email newsletter to Substack is aligned with my values of authenticity and safe vulnerability.

Here’s why I’m moving to Substack:

I've started using the app to read my favorite writers/newsletters (eliminates multiple daily emails!) and I’m hooked. I even pay for a few subscriptions (Meredith Miller’s Faith & Kids, Emily P. Freeman’s Soul Minimalist, Sarah Bessey’s Field Notes, and Coffee + Crumbs) because I value their writing so much. I’d love to provide that same kind of value and encouragement to my readers.
Substack has a clean, simple (some might say boring) design. But as someone who values words more than design, this fits me. My least favorite part of blogging and writing email newsletters was formatting it, making it look “pretty”. On Substack, I don’t have to worry as much about that, but can focus on the writing instead.
I’m tired of the work of promoting my blog and “getting the word out”. Yes, I’ll still share my Substack on social media but there’s a lot less pressure to promote because Substack has its own built-in users—readers like me and you who might find my words and resonate with them!
I’d like to be less formal and more personal in my writing, and Substack is ideal for that. Unlike a blog, I don’t have to worry about SEO and “evergreen content”; but unlike a newsletter, the content lives longer than a few minutes in your inbox and can be accessed any time! I hope to write more frequently, perhaps eventually weekly.
I love that you have the ability to leave a comment on Substack and discuss with me and other Middle Path-ers. This can be a two-way conversation instead of the one-way form of email or the debates of Twitter; a space to be vulnerable and authentic instead of image-driven IG. (I’m still in those spaces, but it just won’t be my main focus any more.)
Long-form content like this better suits my personality. As one who always exceeded word limits on school papers, the short form of social media just isn’t suited to a deep exploration of topics. Plus, we all know social media isn’t built for nuance. If there’s anything social media isn’t, it’s gray. Picture captions and 280 characters just don’t capture the kind of both/and thinking I’m striving for.
With a smaller, more intimate group of subscribers, I can be more vulnerable and personal in my writing (I can, right?) and won't have to worry that you will unsubscribe or unfollow if I say something unpopular (you won’t, right?)

My Vision for This Space

I envision this as a less formal, more personal place to share my writing on faith and culture with you. And in doing so, I hope to grow a more authentic community than what is possible on social media platforms or even a standard email list.

So here, we will find the both/and and explore the middle path in an either/or, black and white world. I plan to write a couple of times a month about current news and headlines, analyze hot topics in Christianity, and debunk common myths in favor of the middle path. And of course, I’ll also share book reviews and round-ups of my favorite reads, listens, watches, and follows.

Because my first book, Recovering from Purity Culture, releases this October 15 (and you can pre-order it now!), I’ll also include long-form content here that didn’t make it into the book. We’ll explore those topics in-depth and answer common FAQs about purity culture and the writing process. I’m most excited for a mini-series on Surviving Purity Culture, with full-length transcripts of the interviews I did for the book.

What does “walking the middle path” mean to you? What do you like or dislike about Substack (or email newsletters in general) and what’s your hope for this space?

Thanks for being here, and I’ll hope you’ll subscribe, leave a comment, and join me and other Middle Path-ers on this journey of both/and.

Walking the Middle Path