Hope + Help for Self-Righteousness with Kendra Fletcher

Somehow in my view of faith, the gospel—the good news of Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection on our behalf—was for the unsaved, accomplishing the work of salvation but not framing the life I lived as a Christian. I'd been saved for so long. I didn't really give the gospel much thought after a certain time in my life. It didn't apply to me since I was already saved. The gospel was what got you "in," and I'd think, "Yeah, yeah, I know the gospel. Now just tell me what I need to do."

– Kendra Fletcher

About the Episode

In this episode of The Hope + Help Project, Christine Chappell interviews Kendra Fletcher. They discuss Kendra's book, Lost and Found: Losing Religion, Finding Grace, to discover how the gospel of Jesus Christ frees us from the bondage of self-righteousness and legalism. Kendra shares how the Lord used her children’s illnesses and accidents to open her eyes to the spiritual pride she had been living in, and recounts the challenges that arose when her family began to pull away from the rigid religious behaviors and beliefs of their long-time church and homeschool community. She also addresses some of ways self-righteousness slowly bleeds into in our lives, and encourages listeners to "lose their religion" by finding acceptance, grace, and identity in Christ alone.

Other questions considered:
• How can love of religion manifest itself in our thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes?
• How does the gospel free us from self-righteous living?
• Why doesn't a "Jesus + something" belief system hold up in times of suffering?
• How can we address self-righteousness when we recognize it in our lives?

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About the Podcast

The Hope + Help Project podcast offers compassionate biblical conversations about life's challenging problems. The purpose of the podcast is to share Christ-centered comfort and clarity for those seeking biblical solutions for the struggles they face. The podcast accomplishes this by offering a mix of interviews with seasoned biblical counseling professionals and ministry leaders on a variety of topics. Listeners can expect to receive biblical wisdom as well as practical steps for facing suffering, struggling and sin with courage and grace. Hosted by author/writer Christine M. Chappell .

Visit Kendra's Website

About the Guest

Kendra Fletcher is a mother of 8, speaker, author, and podcaster. She is the author of Lost and Found: Losing Religion, Finding Grace, and Leaving Legalism, and she regularly writes for Key Life Ministries. The Fletchers reside in California, where they play in the Pacific Ocean as often as possible.

About the Book

Lost and Found: Losing Religion, Finding Grace • The right homeschooling philosophy. The right brand of theology. The right meal-planning, home-managing, keep-it-all-together parenting. Kendra Fletcher, homeschooling mom of eight, had it all right, until it all fell apart. In the course of eighteen months, Kendra found her baby in a coma, ran over her five-year-old, and nearly lost her eight-year-old to a septic ruptured appendix. Lost and Found is the story of how God used those events to transform her family's self-righteous religion into freedom in Jesus Christ.

Fletcher's debut book is the gripping true story of how God used suffering to save her family from empty religion. As wave after wave of crisis hit, the Fletchers discovered that getting religion right wasn't a good substitute for a living relationship with a loving God. Through their suffering, they learned about misplaced identities and false hope, and they threw themselves wholly into the arms of Jesus where they found the grace they needed.

Fletcher, a well-known writer and conference speaker in Christian homeschooling circles, addresses the quiet legalism that so easily infiltrates Christian communities and exposes the dangers of focusing our hopes on the right ways of worship, work, and family life. More than a memoir, Lost and Found invites all of us to give up the things that hold us in bondage and find our value, worth, significance, hope, and identity in Jesus Christ alone.

View Book on Amazon

Helpful Resources from Kendra

Pastor’s Wife: Christ is All (So You Don’t Have to Be)

Pastor’s wife, your identity is in Jesus. You are loved because of what he has done. You are more than enough because he is more than we will ever be, and his calling on your life is the only expectation that truly matters.

How Grace Changes Parenting

Grace gives life. Jesus is our perfection. And we are free to love others from a place of emotional safety and transparency because we know that all our yuck is covered by the beauty and majesty of our gracious savior.

I Left Legalism and My Family Doesn’t Approve

Leaving legalism can be the most difficult thing you’ve ever done. A disapproving family heaps guilt and shame tenfold over the guilt and shame we are trying to leave. But don’t forget Whose you are and what He’s done for you. Remember, now is the time to stop and define who you are.

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*Disclosure: Bear in mind that some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a small commission. Keep in mind that I link to these resources because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. This does not affect the cost of the resource, and the decision is yours whether you choose to purchase them from my link or not. Thanks for your support!

About Your Host

Christine M. Chappell

Author, Writer, & Podcast Host

Christine Chappell is the author of Clean Home, Messy Heart, Help! My Teen is Depressed (forthcoming with Shepherd Press in March 2020), and is the host of The Hope + Help Project podcast. She is passionate about advocating for biblical one-another care and discipleship in the context of the local church. Her writing has been featured at Desiring God, The Gospel Coalition, Risen Motherhood, Servants of Grace, and other Christian platforms. Christine blogs regularly at christinemchappell.com and lives in South Carolina with her husband and three children.

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