Rather than a “best of” recap, this year-end episode names the deep uncertainties shaping 2026 and asks how followers of Jesus might live faithfully in the midst of them.

From artificial intelligence and political instability to education, housing, and the erosion of trust in institutions, the hosts reflect on the pressures facing Gen Z, pastors, and local churches alike. The conversation circles back again and again to one central question:

Where should we center our lives when everything else feels unstable?

🎙️ In This Episode:

Why AI may be more disruptive to human formation than the internet
The growing normalization of political violence and public mistrust
The collapse and reimagining of higher education and theological formation
Why homeownership feels impossible and how churches might respond creatively
What it means to center life in the local church amid cultural fragmentation

📌 Highlights:

[00:08:00] AI, creativity, and resisting a culture of convenience
[00:17:00] Political unrest and the call to local faithfulness
[00:26:00] Education’s crisis—and why formation still matters
[00:31:00] Housing, community, and economic imagination
[00:39:00] Centering life in the church rather than institutions or identity markers

When institutions falter, and the future feels unclear, the church is called to become a visible alternative—not a retreat from the world, but a grounded community of discernment, presence, and hope. The work ahead is not to predict the future, but to faithfully inhabit it together.

If 2026 truly is a year of uncertainty, what would it look like to locate your identity not in success, security, or certainty but in a shared life centered on Jesus, practiced in real neighborhoods, with real people?

Jane Fonda on How to Turn Rage Into Hope: On with Kara Swisher

Pivot

Outro

The AI-powered Podcast Player