Deconstruction or Reformation?
Deconstruction. It’s a term that’s being thrown around these days. In some circles, deconstruction is celebrated, while in other circles, it is said to be dangerous or downright heretical.
Here is a summarized, non-biased definition for deconstruction from wikipedia:
Faith deconstruction, also known as deconstructing faith, evangelical deconstruction, the deconstruction movement, or simply deconstruction, is a phenomenon within American evangelicalism in which Christians rethink their faith and jettison previously held beliefs, sometimes to the point of no longer identifying as Christians.
If every evangelical church today would hold a safe space for people to ask questions, allow for wonder and curiosity, and grant the freedom to discuss differing opinions, maybe we wouldn’t see this massive deconstruction.
If churchgoers weren’t told things like, ‘it doesn’t matter if it makes sense’, ‘don’t be divisive’, ‘just have faith; God is sovereign and doesn’t have to prove Himself’, maybe we wouldn’t see this massive deconstruction.
If churches weren’t teaching their own interpretation of Scripture as if it were the only way to understand the contents of the Bible, maybe we wouldn’t see this massive deconstruction.
If churches weren’t teaching traditions as mandatory beliefs, maybe we wouldn’t see this massive deconstruction.
If churches weren’t teaching ideologies that perpetuate unhealthy behavior, attract/enable abusers, all while neglecting the victims, maybe we wouldn’t see this massive deconstruction.
Now I know that not every evangelical church is unhealthy in all these ways. I know. However, evangelical churches that are…
safe for people with questions
prosecuting the abusers while truly caring for the abused
freely allowing discussion of differing opinions
…are not the norm.
It seems to me that if someone has personally experienced the deep love and forgiveness of the Creator, they will not leave Him, for they are filled with Jesus and His Spirit.
If someone has experienced religion and has appeared to all their church friends to be a ‘Christian’, but has never experienced Him, they may leave religion altogether. Maybe that is good, because for them, they were not able to find Him within the confines of religion. You can be sure that God will go to great lengths to woo them to Himself!
Let me tell my story. My journey.
I grew up in an independent, fundamental, Baptist church. I had a great experience overall. However, looking back, I remember teachings that I no longer hold to.
Growing up, in addition to the church, my influencers were radio preachers, summer camp preachers, Christian teen magazines, and the many books I read on parenting and marriage.
When my children were young, the Lord began opening my eyes and heart to a different understanding of His character than I had grown up with. I experienced more authentic community in different churches. I saw more sacrificial love.
My husband and I began asking ourselves, “why do we participate in this tradition or that tradition?” We searched Scripture ourselves, asking God to remove the filter of 25 years’ worth of being told what it meant, so we could read it fresh, and hear from God directly. Isn’t that what Martin Luther and the reformers did?
We stepped out of church for a time. I think some of our family was worried. We had no intention of leaving God. We just wanted to do things for a purpose, not because it’s the way we had always done it. We wanted to know, deep in our bones, what we believed and why we believed it.
I had been warned by my childhood influencers not to read anything written by anyone outside of ‘our faith’, because I would be led astray. People, that is bull-honky! If I am filled with the Holy Spirit and have the mind of Christ, why would anyone be afraid that I would be led astray? Are lies too strong for the Holy Spirit? Is He not holding me fast?
Because we live in an age where so much information is at our fingertips, those trying to control a religious group can no longer rely on their people remaining uninformed. We don’t have to go to seminary to have access to the same information taught in the universities.
Just like when the Bible was finally translated from Latin into the common languages and people began reading it for themselves, so too, in these days the common man has access to the original Hebrew and Greek. We have access to the commentaries of both ancient and contemporary scholars, religious papers written by noteworthy theologians, interlinear Bibles, a mountain of translations, and resources to learn why translators chose certain words and phrases.
Here’s what I have found. Some things I’ve been taught are not the beliefs held by the earliest Christians those first few hundred years after Jesus died. Some concepts taught as fundamental beliefs by churches today are less than 500 years old.
All evangelical churches profess to ‘strictly believe and teach the Bible’. However, they don’t all agree on the fundamental beliefs! This, by itself, is not a big deal, in my opinion. The problem arises when the group I’ve decided to congregate with cannot tolerate my understandings being different than theirs. My beliefs are just as rooted and grounded in the Bible as theirs are, we just disagree on how to interpret it. There is more than one way to approach the Bible, even when everyone at the table agrees that it is the inerrant, inspired Word of God. (I wrote about that in my blog reflection: “Just What is the Bible All About?”)
Here is the bottom line. My bottom line. If our knowledge of the Bible and our understanding of doctrine does not increase our love for others, it is of no use. If we cannot congregate and work with others whose exact beliefs do not align with ours, we cannot affect the world with the Kingdom in the same way we could if we were all playing nicely together. To me, this is very sad.
So what did I deconstruct?
I deconstructed traditions with no Biblical basis.
I deconstructed specific ideas that, after much study, I found to have been misrepresented.
I deconstructed from hypocrisy, religiosity, and feeling good about myself based on things I was either doing right, or not doing wrong.
I deconstructed from the duty to the church or others in the place of my duty only to God.
I deconstructed from allowing anything to have a higher place in my life than loving God and others.
After deconstructing, the foundation is still there!!
My foundational beliefs have not changed. Jesus is God. God loves me. He forgave me. He redeemed me. I will live, victoriously and at rest, in this physical life and in the spiritual life afterwards with Him. As I love others, they come in contact with God, because I am filled to overflowing with His lovingkindness, light, forgiveness, mercy, and grace.
It could be said that Martin Luther started a widespread deconstruction on a grand scale when he kicked off The Reformation over 500 years ago.
We could be experiencing a grand reformation in modern times! To me, that is exciting.
If you are deconstructing your faith, know this: God is holding you tightly. You are safe. You can entertain all kind of ideas and thoughts. You can ask every question. You can walk away from others’ expectations of you. God is way bigger than we can comprehend. You may even feel as though you are walking away from God, but He will never walk away from you. You can’t go far enough to hide from Him. Nothing you think, ask, or do will every separate you from His love.
If your loved one is deconstructing, know this: God is holding them tightly. You can trust Him with them. The very best thing you can do is hold a safe space for them while they are working through the things they need to. It is their journey, not yours. God can be trusted. Respect their decisions. Love and accept them for who they are today. Pray for the Spirit to give them clarity.
Tell me! I want to know! Are you in the part of your journey where you are asking questions? Would you consider yourself on a journey of deconstruction? OR is a loved one causing you concern because they are looking over their faith to see what they really believe?
Comment below and let’s talk about it!
After leaving a comment, where would you like to head next?
Faith
Relationships
A-ha Moments
Transparency in the Journey
All Posts
