Is Apology Enough?
A conversation with Joshua Harris on purity culture, accountability, and what repair might look like after influence.
If you grew up in the evangelical church in the 90s or early 2000s, there’s a decent chance a copy of I Kissed Dating Goodbye once sat on your home or church bookshelf.
For many of us, it didn’t just shape how we dated.
It shaped how we understood desire, relationships, and even our worth.
And for a lot of people, that influence came with real harm.
So in this week’s episode, we sit down with Joshua Harris — not just to rehash the past, but to ask a question that feels bigger than purity culture:
When someone causes harm, what does it actually look like to make things right?
Can a leader repair the damage their ideas created?
Is apology enough?
What responsibility remains once the platform is gone?
Over the past several years, Joshua Harris has publicly grappled with these questions — apologizing for the impact of his work and listening to people affected by purity culture.
But the deeper issue isn’t just about one person.
It’s about how communities deal with harm when it comes from within their own leadership.
In this conversation, we talk about:
• what accountability looks like after influence
• whether leaders can ever truly repair the harm their ideas caused
• the difference between apology and repentance
• and whether it’s worth speaking up when we’ve been harmed
Whether you grew up in the evangelical church in the 90s or 2000s or not, these questions reach far beyond purity culture. They’re about power, responsibility, and whether redemption is possible when real harm has occurred.
You can listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
And if the conversation resonates with you, consider sharing it with a friend — these are the kinds of questions that are often easier to wrestle with together.