206: Jay Kim and Why We Need Real People

Jay Kim, a pastor in the Silicon Valley and the author of Analog Church: Why We Need Real People, Places, and Things in the Digital Age. Today, Jay shares how being alone as a child shaped him, wandering into agnosticism as a college student, and how Brennan Manning was just what he needed. We talk about the dark season struggling with infertility, too. Then, we discuss his book, why tangible people are so important, and how churches can hold that value even while they engage online. This conversation is the perfect one to have in the midst of a global pandemic and I know it will encourage you. Listen to Jay’s story in your favorite podcast app now! Stories Jay shared:

• Pastoring a church in Silicon Valley
• Emigrating to the United States after his mom’s conversion
• Being alone a lot as a child and how that shaped him
• Thinking that his church involvement meant he loved the Lord
• Wandering in college a bit
• The college friends that invited him for pizza and Brennan Manning
• The people and practices that keep him grounded
• How he discovered practices that help
• Struggling with infertility and how that shaped him
• Why he wrote Analog Church
• How analog practices and meetings transform us

Great quotes from Jay:

I discovered they weren’t looking for someone with answers, they were looking for someone to affirm their questions.

When you go through valleys, the emotion trumps your theology.

Incarnation is by definition analog.

Transformation happens in analog, always and only.

Resources we mentioned:

• Jay’s website
• Connect with Jay on Twitter and Instagram
• Analog Church: Why We Need Real People, Places, and Things in the Digital Age by Jay Kim
• The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out by Brennan Manning
• Skye Jethani’s article about The Case Against Sermon-Centric Sundays

Related episodes:

• ddd
• Caroline Harries and The Invitation of Hope
• Rob Burns and Crossing Cultures

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