By Andy Hale
This week on the CBF Podcast Conversation, Andy Hale welcomes Katherine M. Douglass and Brittany M. Tausen, co-authors of Love Your Neighbor: How Psychology Can Enliven Faith and Transform Community. Bringing together practical theology and psychological science, Douglass and Tausen explore one of Christianity’s most familiar commands—and one of its most challenging realities. Why is loving our neighbors often so difficult, even when we genuinely want to do it? And what can both Scripture and psychology teach us about closing the gap between intention and action.
In this thoughtful conversation, Katherine and Brittany discuss the barriers that prevent people from loving well, including cognitive biases, dehumanization, polarization and the disconnect between intended love and perceived love. They explore how psychology can illuminate the habits, environments and relational dynamics that shape our behavior, while theology provides the deeper vision of who we are called to become. Together, they offer practical wisdom for individuals and congregations seeking to cultivate communities marked by greater empathy, hospitality and connection.
Rather than settling for abstract ideals, Love Your Neighbor invites readers into concrete practices that create what the authors call “ripples of connection.” Whether you’re a pastor navigating division, a church member seeking deeper relationships or simply someone longing to live out Jesus’ command more faithfully, this episode offers both hope and practical tools for becoming a more loving neighbor in an increasingly fragmented world.
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Sponsorship
This podcast is presented by:
- Baylor’s Garland School of Social Work: Social workers can be found addressing the full scope of the human experience in churches, schools, prisons, government agencies, senior living centers, nonprofits, and Fortune 500 companies.
- Baptist Seminary of Kentucky: BSK equips leaders through their Homegrown Initiative, offering ministry leaders training and growth that fits into their busy schedules.
- The Gardner-Webb School of Divinity: The Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity aims to equip, nurture, encourage, and support men and women for their very best service in the Kingdom of God.
- The Center for Congregational Health: Strengthening congregations through consulting, leadership coaching, and intentional ministry.
- The Baptist House of Studies at Union Presbyterian Seminary: Exists by God’s grace to educate, inspire, and support generations of bold, faithful servant leaders as they seek actively to participate in God’s mission in the world.
- Community Transformation Center: Through educational opportunities, community conversations, and research initiatives in collaboration with universities and local leaders, PBACTC is at the forefront of integrating spiritual care into holistic community development.
- Creation Justice Ministries: Creation Justice Ministries equips churches to turn conviction into faithful action with Scripture-based resources, worship guides, and community support to pursue environmental justice and care for God’s creation.
- Dawnings: Through prayerful discernment, storytelling, and collaborative visioning, Dawnings helps churches rediscover their calling and imagine their next chapter—guided by trained facilitators and grounded in God’s ongoing story.
- Congregational Ministries Team of CBF Global: Through coaching, resources, and collaborative support, CBF’s Congregational Ministries Team helps churches and ministers cultivate the five traits of thriving—Rooted Relationships, Compelling Clarity, Holy Tenacity, Strategic Agility, and Dynamic Collaboration—for faithful and flourishing ministry.
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Andy Hale is the creator and host of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Podcast. Hale is the Associate Executive Coordinator of CBF North Carolina. He’s also served as CBF’s Church Start Specialist, the founding pastor of Mosaic Church of Clayton, and the senior pastor of University Baptist Church of Baton Rouge. Follow on Twitter @haleandy.