When Wellness Becomes Idolatry

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the rapidly changing landscape of Christian wellness. The wellness industry is now a multi-trillion dollar global market, one that some within the Christian faith are aiming to capitalize on. They are taking culture's focus on prevention and lifestyle choices and washing all of it in faith - putting a Christian label or a Christian personality behind it to move a product. And “Christian” social media influencers are having a lot of success in gaining the trust of other Christians.

Episode Links

Alexis mentioned the article that prompted today's discussion written by Kelsey Kramer McGinnis in Christianity Today titled “‘No Guardrails' for Some Christian Wellness Influencers.” In it she notes how influencers are using Christian language and isolated Bible verses to sell everything from energy drinks to supplements, skin care to gym clothes. And the lack of guardrails is a huge concern, particularly when it's spreading distrust of the medical world.

In response, Dr. White outlined what a social media influencer is. We had an earlier podcast episode on this topic that you can go back and listen to for a deeper discussion about influencers: CCP128: On Social Media Influencers. He also spent some time outlining the disproportionate influence that YouTube has had on our culture. Here's another past podcast episode that you can check out for more on this topic: CCP149: On YouTube.

Finally, there are four additional articles that we'd encourage you to check out that were helpful sources for today's conversation. You can get to them by clicking the titles below:

Coralie Kraft, “Why Some Teenage Girls Are Trading Medicine for MAHA,” The New York Times.

Alexa Lee, “9 influencers shaping health information online, for better or worse,” STAT News.

Ilana Amselem, “I Developed A Dark Obsession With 'Wellness.' Within Months, It Threatened To Consume My Life.” HuffPost.

Ian Bogost, “People Are Thinking About Looksmaxxing All Wrong,” The Atlantic.

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