Christianity Today Podcasts Sponsored by Pro-LGBTQ Therapy Platform

The legacy media has long recognized Christianity Today (CT), the magazine founded by Billy Graham in 1956, as Evangelicalism’s “flagship” publication. And for many decades, it provided incisive, thoughtful reporting from a Christian worldview. But in recent years, the outlet appears to be following the trajectory of Sojourners, a religious publication that launched in the 1970s as generally Christian (it even once rejected pro-gay ads), before eventually embracing liberal theology, including affirming LGBTQ identities and behaviors.

On June 1 it was discovered that a key sponsor of CT’s hit podcast series, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, is the pro-LGBTQ therapy app, BetterHelp.

The much-debated series, which topped the podcast charts in 2022, centers on the spiritual abuse Pastor Mark Driscoll allegedly committed against former church staff and members. Given the extensive references to emotional trauma, the therapy company makes a good fit for the subject matter. But its ideological commitments would usually prove a bridge too far for any media outlet that brands itself as distinctly Christian.

They did not prove a problem for CT however.

During the ads that run prominently during each episode of Mars Hill, a narrator encourages listeners in a soothing voice to take a moment to “pause and really evaluate how things are going.” The ads then invite listeners to visit the BetterHelp app and take a quiz to determine what kind of therapist might best address their mental health needs. After determining if therapy is being sought for an individual or couple and what country the potential patient is in, the third question in the survey asks the patient to select a “gender identity.” Selections include “non binary,” “transfeminine,” “a gender,” and “I don’t know.” Later questions ascertain if the potential patient is gay, straight, bi-, or pan-sexual. The site then offers to connect the patient to “a therapist who specializes in LGBTQ+ issues,” before finally asking for preferred pronouns.

The platform is clear that a BetterHelp therapist will not encourage a patient to heed the Bible’s prohibitions against homosexuality and transgenderism, saying this in one of its many LGBTQ-specific articles:

LGBTQIA+ affirming therapy or counseling provided by licensed therapists is a valuable resource for the LGBTQIA+ community. Finding the right therapist who understands the challenges of gender transition, gender nonconforming identity, and discrimination can be critical to resolving mental health issues, relationship issues, and anger management.

BetterHelp also touts its commitment to Pride Month, arguing that gay parades and drag shows are “significant for the well-being of LGBTQ people.”

Though it is the most popular, Mars Hill isn’t the only CT podcast directing listeners to seek therapy with BetterHelp. So does the titular show hosted by the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Russell Moore.

Will Dawson, a former producer for The Russell Moore show, confirmed for that the BetterHelp ads are produced in-house and are not included in CT programs due to an outside advertising company’s lack of vetting. “I was the producer from August ’24 to March of this year,” Dawson said. “[The ads] ran every day. They also were running BetterHelp ads [during the tenure of] the producer that preceded me.”

In fact, Dawson recalled that BetterHelp was displeased with how he read the ads. “I wasn’t breathy and whispery enough for them,” he laughed. And he noted that while BetterHelp provided the basic copy to be read, it relied on CT’s in-house marketing team to tweak it for their specific audience—that is, Christians.

John West, Vice President at the Discovery Institute, noted that CT does turn down some ads for apparently ideological reasons. After an ad representative had approved a spot for his new book, Stockholm Christianity, which tracks leftist capture of evangelical institutions, West was informed that they’d changed their minds and would not run the ad.

“No one should fall for the argument that CT simply allows all comers to advertise with them,” West said. “Their advertisers reflect CT management’s views of what is acceptable/unacceptable for Christians.”

Other Christian publications, like The Christian Post, have also run BetterHelp ads, but they severed the relationship when the LGBTQ promotion was pointed out to them. Several Christian Post staffers told me that the media outlet was not aware of BetterHelp’s content and that, unlike CT, the ads were not produced in-house but bundled with other advertisers by an outside advertising company.

I reached out to Mars Hill producer Mike Cosper and CT CEO Timothy Dalyrmple to ask about the BetterHelp sponsorships. Neither responded by the time of publication.

The BetterHelp ads are hardly the only signs of CT’s softening on the LGBTQ issue. Throughout the Mars Hill series, Cosper turns to gay- and trans-affirming theologians and academics to act as experts. Feminist historian Kristen Kobes Du Mez, for instance, spends much of her air time lamenting an American church culture dominated by toxic masculinity and patriarchy. The show also prominently features pro-LGBTQ pastor Doug Pagitt, who once condemned Fuller seminary for expelling a student for marrying someone of the same sex.

The outlet’s podcasts have also run ads for other LGBTQ-affirming products. According to Evangelical news and commentary site Protestia, in 2023, CT carried sponsorships from Brian Nietzel, a gay LGBTQ activist who has founded “ministries” designed to “help reform the Christian response and responsibility to the LGBTQ+ community.”

Then there is the fact that when CT does cover legislation related to homosexuality or transgenderism, it frequently highlights Wheaton psychologist Mark Yarhouse as its resident expert. Few of the outlet’s Christian readers are likely aware that Yarhouse is a member of WPATH, a radical organization that promotes transgender medical procedures for children, including irreversible surgeries. 

Nor is CT’s slide into progressivism limited to issues like marriage and sexuality.

Previously, conservative news outlet The Daily Wire reported on money the magazine’s employees, including editorial staffers like news editor Daniel Silliman and executives like Dalrymple, donated exclusively to Democrats during the 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022 elections. During the 2024 campaign, CT board chair Claude Alexander was a prominent leader of Evangelicals for Harris (initially launched as Evangelicals for Biden). Also in the lead up to that election, Moore developed a Bible study on politics that subtly impugns conservatives. It was funded by left-wing foundations like Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and Bill Kristol’s NeverTrump PAC,

Dr. Tim Clinton, president of the American Association of Christian Counselors, the largest Christian counseling association in the world, told me that it’s not just poor spiritual stewardship for CT to send Christian listeners to BetterHelp, it can also be dangerous.

“In mental healthcare, therapeutic alignment between therapist and client is very important to therapeutic outcomes,” he said. “It is well known that a very significant number of those seeking help and hope want their faith addressed a part of their mental health journey. Incongruence can lead to confusion, early termination of therapy and a disillusionment of the efficacy of care and counsel!”

Clinton added, “it’s very important that therapist and client find congruence and be united on sincerely held religious beliefs and therapeutic goals.”