Being fully seen and fully known can feel, in a word, terrifying. And yet, that’s exactly what our souls crave—and exactly what God designed for us to experience. 

From the Sheep Meadow of New York City’s Central Park, Steve Cuss explores the idea of being entirely ourselves. He considers the two protective extremes that often keep people from being fully human: pretense and pretending. Cuss walks through 1 John 3:19–20, which describes being vulnerable in the presence of a God who is greater than our hearts that condemn us. He looks at Jesus as the preeminent example of being exactly ourselves, shares stories from his time as a chaplain, and offers practical steps for remaining loving and curious in relationships.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God by Timothy Keller with Kathy Keller
• Capable Life Intensives

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Five years ago, Barrett Harkins walked Spain’s Camino de Santiago—an ancient Christian pilgrimage walked by over 500,000 people each year—for a friend’s birthday. Somewhere along the path, he called his wife and asked what she thought about moving there. 

Now a missionary in Santiago, where he works with pilgrims on the path and at a hostel, Harkins and Steve Cuss walk the path together. They talk about the power of slowing down and the profound conversations that take place as people journey with one another. They explore what God does in temporary spaces, what it looks like to let go of what we no longer need, and why it is important to create a reflective mind. 

Harkins discusses the history of the Camino, the reasons people walk the path, and the way many pilgrims—including Harkins—have found it to be a place where God meets them in their anxiety and offers transformation.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guests include:

• Camino de Santiago
• “The Power of Pilgrimage with Brian and Peri Zahnd” 
• Three Mile an Hour God by Kosuke Koyama
• John Mark Comer
• The Enneagram
• Striking Out: Poems and Stories from the Camino by Stephen Cottrell

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Chuck DeGroat’s name has become somewhat synonymous with work on narcissism in the church. But as he and Steve Cuss discuss, DeGroat is devoted to shining a light on wholeheartedness and internal integration.  

DeGroat and Cuss talk about anxiety—specifically around dying—and the way that age often brings with it a concern for one’s legacy. They talk about experiencing pain through work in church settings, noticing emotions that arise in ourselves and others, and coming home to God and ourselves—all while considering the impact of secondary trauma on people in pastoral and helping professions, ways to distinguish between shutdown and rest, and our response to the invitation of God.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guests include:

• Chuck DeGroat
• Healing What’s Within: Coming Home to Yourself—and to God—When You’re Wounded, Weary, and Wandering by Chuck DeGroat
• Wholeheartedness: Busyness, Exhaustion, and Healing the Divided Self by Chuck DeGroat
• When Narcissism Comes to Church: Healing Your Community From Emotional and Spiritual Abuse by Chuck DeGroat 
• “Narcissism In The Chair” 
• Internal Family Systems model
• The Expectation Gap: The Tiny, Vast Space between Our Beliefs and Experience of God by Steve Cuss
• Managing Leadership Anxiety: Yours and Theirs by Steve Cuss
• “Always Beginners” by Thomas Merton
• Experimental Theology with Richard Beck
• The Enneagram
• Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me: A Memoir … of Sorts by Ian Morgan Cron

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Brandi Wilson was happily raising her three sons with her pastor husband—that is, until he decided to leave their marriage, their family, and the church they had invested in for years. 

Close friends and leadership coaches Brandi Wilson and Lori Wilhite share how they weathered Wilson’s devastating loss together. They talk about the particular struggles of being a pastor’s wife and the heartbreak of feeling like someone else is controlling your life circumstances. They discuss managing anxiety, bearing one another’s burdens, and healing even when restoration does not occur. 

They also share about the community they run together—Leading and Loving It—and why, despite all the hard things, they still love the church. 

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guests include:

• Brandi Wilson
• Lori Wilhite
• Leading and Loving It
• Friedman’s Fables by Ed Friedman
• The Enneagram
• Philippians: Chasing Happy by Lori Wilhite

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Beth Moore is sure of one thing: In God, nothing is wasted. 

On this episode, Cuss and Moore talk about the trauma and trials she has faced, including her experience of being abused as a child, leaving the Southern Baptist Convention after devoting much of her life to it, and walking alongside her husband, Keith, as he navigates bipolar disorder. They discuss how Moore decided to share more of their story in her memoir and the ways God has ministered to people through that vulnerability. 

Tune in for an episode that speaks to God’s faithfulness in trauma, how Moore remains playful in the face of hardship, and what her recent back surgery taught her about how deeply God loves his children. 

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir by Beth Moore
• Living Proof Ministries
• Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey 
• Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story by Bono
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Have you ever walked into a room and immediately sensed anxiety between two people? Or maybe you’ve entered into a challenging conversation and have barely been able to hear it over the thunder of your heartbeat. Perhaps you’ve received a “we need to talk” text and felt your stomach drop with dread. 

These types of experiences—and reactions to them—are common, yet we often lack the tools to name or address them. On this episode of Being Human, Steve and Lisa Cuss introduce a tool called the Four Spaces that is designed to help us do just that. They explain the four spaces where anxiety shows up and offer wisdom and insight for engaging with each of them. Their conversation covers taking responsibility for our emotions, releasing our desire to control others, and relaxing in God’s presence.

 Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• The Four Spaces
• 24-7 Prayer Tools

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Why would a loving God send people to hell?

When you hear the word apologetics, that’s likely the type of question that comes to mind. But Lisa Fields, one of the world’s most sought-after Christian apologists and the author of When Faith Disappoints, says there are often much more personal inquiries beneath those intellectual inquiries. 

In this episode, Fields and Cuss talk about pastors’ kids, pain points, and perfect love. They discuss the importance of listening when it comes to challenging faith conversations and consider the ways that the church can become a place of refuge. Fields shares how the Jude 3 Project, which she founded, is helping the Black Christian community know what they believe and why. This episode covers trauma, chronic anxiety, and the healing that is only found in Jesus.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• When Faith Disappoints: The Gap Between What We Believe and What We Experience by Lisa Fields
• Jude 3 Project
• Unspoken
• Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom
• Why I Don’t Go
• Leo Percer
• Tertullian
• Athanasius

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Around 250,000 people walk some portion of the Camino de Santiago, a 500-mile network of ancient pilgrim routes in Spain, each year. In 2016, Brian and Peri Zahnd became two of those people, and it’s marked their lives ever since.

On this episode, host Steve Cuss talks with the Zahnds about the ways that the pilgrimage shaped their perspectives on life and faith. The three discuss pastoring, political participation, and peace in Jesus. Their conversation also covers the Zahnds’ books, ministry, and marriage. 

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guests include:

• Brian Zahnd
• Every Scene By Heart: A Camino de Santiago Memoir by Peri Zahnd
• Word of Life Church
• Camino de Santiago
• Faith, Hope, and Carnage by Nick Cave and Seán O’Hagan
• The Way
• Scot McKnight
• Paul Among the People: The Apostle Reinterpreted and Reimagined in His Own Time by Sarah Ruden
• Albergues on the Camino
• The Wood Between the Worlds: A Poetic Theology of the Cross by Brian Zahnd

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Humility isn’t just deferring to the desires of others. It’s also standing up for the weak. 

So says Dennis Edwards, vice president for church relations and dean of the seminary at North Park University, on this episode of Being Human. Cuss and Edwards talk about how Edwards’s many experiences of being the only Black man in the room have shaped him and his perspective. They talk about thoughtful and biblical approaches to theological education, the modern political landscape, and social media. And Cuss and Edwards consider how, for all of its flaws and challenges, the local church can offer unity in a way entirely its own.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• RevDrDre.com
• Humility Illuminated: The Biblical Path Back to Christian Character by Dennis R. Edwards 
• 1 Peter (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries) by John H. Elliott
• The Urban Christian: Effective Ministry in Today’s Urban World by Ray Bakke
• Bowen family systems theory

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The Bear is a show about cooking, kitchens, and Chicago. But for anyone who has watched more than an episode or two, it’s clear there’s more to the story.

On this special episode of Being Human, host Steve Cuss looks at seven core themes in the hit FX show The Bear. Through the lens of systems theory and anxiety theory, Cuss considers the false needs and beliefs revealed in the show’s characters. He examines their contagious anxiety, sheds light on their conflict patterns, and considers what the show has to say about relationships. Diving into everything from untamed ambition to unprocessed trauma, Cuss ponders the deeply human moments that keep viewers returning to The Bear.

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On this episode of Being Human, host Steve Cuss welcomes Alan Briggs, the founder of Stay Forth, a coaching organization that focuses on leader health and sustainable impact. Briggs’s latest book, AntiBurnout, empowers readers to avoid the perils of burnout and offers practical ways to measure one’s own health and well-being. 

Cuss and Briggs discuss the back-to-school anxiety that so many families face, how our individual wiring contributes to our unique anxiety triggers, and how to navigate modern political life. Their discussion includes tips and tools for identifying the skills, gifts, and abilities that can lead us away from resentment and toward rest. 

Resources mentioned during this episode include:

• The Expectation Gap: The Tiny, Vast Space between Our Beliefs and Experience of God by Steve Cuss
• God, Christ and Us by Herbert McCabe
• AntiBurnout: A Lighter Way to Live and Lead in a Heavy World by Alan Briggs
• Stay Forth
• Dr. Wes Beavis
• The 6 Types of Working Genius: A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts, Your Frustrations, and Your Team by Patrick Lencioni
• The Enneagram
• Capable Life

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