CONTAGIOUS: Why No One Wants to Be Around You

What happens when people pull away? In today’s episode, “Contagious: Why No One Wants to Be Around You,” we take you behind the scenes of Josh’s exit from The Keller Center at The Gospel Coalition, then zoom out to explore a theology of disgust. In Leviticus, the Bible uses language like clean and unclean—categories that can feel strange, even offensive to modern ears. But they turn out to reveal something unsettling and surprisingly helpful about the social mechanics of cancel culture. We’ll name four marks of contagiousness from the psychology of disgust, so you can understand why public shame doesn’t just wound you. It isolates you. But there’s good news: You are not contagious to Jesus. He moves toward you. You can’t make him dirty. He can only make you clean. Several of the insights and illustrations in this episode were inspired by Richard Beck’s book Unclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality, and Mortality.-- Blessed Are the Canceled is a podcast about how being rejected, mocked, and discarded can become a pathway into the presence of God. Through personal stories, Scripture, and theology, the show explores shame, betrayal, forgiveness, exile, and spiritual formation. 🎧 Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts📬 Read along on Substack🎧 Season One Soundtrack Playlist on SpotifyEdited by Ryan Biermann Theme music by Tents Intro music by Orchid Rainbow If you found this episode meaningful, consider subscribing and sharing it with someone who might need it. #BlessedAreTheCanceled #ChristianPodcast #FaithInSuffering