John Crist and Matt Fradd are “cool” Christian guys. But they share something unique. They both gained popularity in a culture that did not see Christians as “cool.” It may seem odd to start a commentary about a Catholic by first commenting on an evangelical, but it will make sense. John Crist became popular for one thing: mocking and making fun of Christian culture, not to be confused with Christianity. As one friend said to me, “John Crist noticed what we noticed, but we wouldn’t say anything. He actually said it! And we all laughed and said, ‘Yeah, we see it too.’”
Whether it’s movies like “This Time God’s Really Not Dead,” the sequel that never was to “God’s Not Dead 5,” or the fact that it would be impossible for Christian culture to accurately capture a film about a pastor in Boston due to Bostonians affinity for turning explitives into adjectives, it’s clear that American Christian Culture hit a major low point with the “fundamentalist” Christian movement. John Crist noticed, made jokes about it, and 15 years later appears to have been the first “Christian Comic” to appear on The Tonight Show. But a religion that can make a comedian famous is no religion at all; religions, if they are true, require reverence. Crist’s rise would not have been possible had modern Christianity not fractured beyond recognition. It was so disoriented in its identity that it was and is literally laughable.
In reality, Christian culture didn’t know who it liked more: Kirk Cameron or James Bond. Our options were pretty limited, and the people who were really trying to create Christian culture didn’t have the means or the creativity to do it well. That all changed with the era of podcasting. Suddenly, there was a revenue stream that could prop up an influencer, get them connected, and help them establish a brand that the free market could test.
Matt Fradd’s rise as a podcaster was not the same as John Crist’s rise as a comedian, but not because they were targeting different audiences. Fradd decided to embrace his faith, develop his skills, and spread the faith digitally from a small studio in Steubenville, OH, for most of his podcasting “career.” Matt Fradd’s rise is not the same as John Crist's, and as a result, Matt Fradd’s Daily Wire opportunity signals a new era of Christian entertainment. We are witnessing an era of content that does not mock our faith, but reveres it — yes, Andrew Klavan still needs some work, but I’ll write more about him later.
In a way, John Crist’s comedy, which I find hilarious, cleared some of the barriers Protestants had to Catholicism. I think people subconsciously thought, “If all our denominational differences are actually funny, then who cares if I decide to listen to this Catholic with a strange Australian accent?” People can “smell” contradictions. That is the basis of comedy. Again, John Crist noticed this and has even made it part of his comedy routine by asking the crowd who has changed denominations as an adult, leaving the one they attended as a kid. Every time he asks, a significant percentage of his audience’s hands are raised. Whether he realizes it or not, this opens people up to the existential experience that Protestantism leads to relativism.
After the show, they all head home, sit on the toilet, check their phone, and finally decide to click on this interview with a priest and an Australian named Matt Fradd. Once a comedian like John Crist can loosen people up about the arbitrary fundamentalism they all share, it paves the way for Catholicism, or another religion, to be more appealing, via podcasts like Pints with Aquinas or Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz.
Matt Fradd’s joining the Daily Wire has mixed reactions. Catholics online have voiced everything from Fradd being a sellout to him being controlled by Ben Shapiro to benefit the “Zionists.” I’ll be honest, as a convert myself who is attempting to evangelize the culture through social media and influence, it’s been intimidating to see how many Christians are angry about Matt Fradd’s move to the Daily Wire. We Christians, whether Protestant or Catholic, just don’t know how to support our culture warriors.
If they are struggling to get something off the ground, we are quick to criticize, point out flaws, and leave the person in a pile of negative comments and doubt. If they succeed, they become “worldly” in the eyes of their fellow Christians and are called— unless, of course, we’re a sports celebrity — sellouts and traitors to our Christian faith because if we were truly about the mission, we would do it in poverty.
Everything a successful Christian does is viewed by his fellow Christians through the eyes of skepticism. They wrongly believe that success is a sign that God is not with them, but my seminary professor viewed it differently: success and failure are both used by God to fashion us into the image of His Son. God is still working on Matt, just as He is working on you and me. God will use Matt’s success to make him more like Christ, not less. If Matt fails, God will use that as well. There is no chisel that God cannot use to bring out the image of His Son.
There are definitely risks that Matt Fradd is going to have to navigate, but that doesn’t mean his failure is guaranteed. If you care about souls encountering True Christianity in a culture steeped in relativism, you should be celebrating Matt Fradd’s new opportunity at the Daily Wire. But even beyond that, we are commanded to rejoice with our brothers and sisters when God blesses them. As the scriptures say, “We rejoice with those who rejoice,” and Matt is rejoicing right now; we should too! If for no other reason than that we want the Christian world to rejoice when God blesses us!
Matt Fradd has made a courageous decision. This is why God gives us the gift of faith. It enables us to walk through the “narrow way” that only faith illuminates: “Should I,” asked Matt Fradd, “Keep doing the podcast till I burn out, or should I move to Croatia and teach Christianity?” God provided a way, and Matt Fradd is showing us that the mustard seed of faith God gives us when we start an adventure is the same fruitful seed that he gives us to finish it.
With that said, it will be interesting to see how Matt Fradd traverses the tension between Daily Wire’s goal of making a profit and Fradd’s goal of winning souls. Historically, these two things mix like oil and water. As our Lord said, “You cannot serve both God and money.” But the Lord also said, through the pen of one of His apostles, “A worker is worth his wages.”
We all know that money can have a corrupting influence on a person, but we also know that it builds cathedrals, schools, hospitals, and podcast studios to evangelize the world. It seems to me that those criticizing Matt Fradd for “taking money” or “selling out” are really just insecure about the fact that their content doesn’t make money. What podcaster out there believes his or her message is not important enough to take an opportunity that would not only amplify their message but also allow them financial freedom?
If you have a podcast and you don’t believe your message is important, you shouldn’t podcast. The whole point of podcasting is that you believe in the truth so much that you want others to know it. Any other motive is unreasonable.
Finally, there is the Jewish factor. This is the grossest theory I have seen. It is the idea that Ben Shapiro is trying to control Catholic media by hiring a bunch of Catholics into the Daily Wire. I enjoy a good conspiracy theory, but this one is pretty disgusting.
If anyone saw the recent episode of Friendly Fire, where Fradd made his debut, you know that Andrew Klavan made some pretty awful comments. They were so bad that it made me wonder if Klavan was testing Fradd to see how Fradd would react to someone cracking jokes about the Church, Jews, and Jesus. I thought this was interesting to observe because, from their perspective, DW needed to see if Fradd had thick skin. But from our perspective, it was refreshing to see Fradd deal with comments and jokes the rest of us have to deal with regularly. As a Christian podcaster, we have not seen him have to deal with these kinds of comments in real time, much less from his friends. It was encouraging to see him handle it well, and not flip out, but also not jump in and pretend like it was nothing.
But the best part about Matt Fradd coming into the Daily Wire is that it signals a shift in the culture. There is now an audience, a large one, of souls who are hungry for the Truth, which can only be fully realized in Catholicism. These souls want to go deep, and they want to actually practice a rich, historical, and most importantly, true religion. The fact that Daily Wire has now added its fourth Catholic host to its team of podcasters should be an encouraging fact for any of us who are trying to serve God in this medium. For those who are looking for Christian content that you can be proud of, you should be thrilled that Matt Fradd will now get a professional boost in his quality and frequency. I can’t wait to see what Daily Wire can do with Matt Fradd’s message. It’s gonna be great.
— DR
Thanks for reading. Make sure to let me know what you think about Matt Fradd joining Daily Wire.
I’ve been listening to Matt Fradd for years and I’m happy he is going to reach a larger audience. Now that he’s on Daily Wire, I’m excited to see his guests like Trent Horn, Jimmy Akin, Joe Heschmeyer, Father Gregory Pine and others also reach a larger audience.
As far as the friendly fire thing I never thought of it as Andrew Klavan trying to goad Matt Fradd, but after you suggested it I can definitely see it. Matt Walsh did not look amused. He looked uncomfortable.