“I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.” (Habakkuk 2:1 ESV)
For the next several days we are taking a sabbatical from our study of the Gospel of Matthew. Instead, the subject to be studied will be Deconstruction Christianity.
Faith deconstruction, also known as deconstructing faith, evangelical deconstruction, the deconstruction movement, or simply deconstruction, is a Christian phenomenon where people unpack, rethink and examine their belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and their involvement in organized religion or the church.
“Deconstruction is the process of systemically dissecting and often rejecting the beliefs you grew up with. Sometimes, the Christian will deconstruct all the way to atheism. Some remain there, but others experience a reconstruction. But the type of faith they end up with embracing almost never resembles the Christianity they formerly knew,” states author Ivan Mesa, books editor at The Gospel Coalition.
What are some reasons behind Deconstruction Christianity?
Some individuals reject the church and its doctrine as falsehoods. In some cases, they abandoned not only the church, but their friends and family. They replace them with an unbiblical hostile attitude and behavior towards the same. This may result in great antagonism on the part of the deconstructionist, and corresponding hurt and sorrow on the part of those rejected by the individual.
“Many of the most common doubts and struggles seem to fall into two categories, with some overlap between them,” explains Trevin Wax, visiting professor at Wheaton College.
“Is Christianity true? It’s easy to find some of Christianity’s truth claims implausible. Can we really believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, that the miracles we read about in the Old and New Testament truly occurred, and that the enchanted world of the Bible is a better description of reality that the scientific world of natural laws we experience every day? So many Christian stories – and doctrines like the full deity and full humanity of Christ –seem out of touch, irrelevant or farfetched.”
Another reason for doubt and deconstruction centers on questioning the goodness of Christian doctrine. What about the pain and suffering caused by individuals in the church against other believers in Christ? The recipients of such atrocious behavior sometimes recover and become stronger in the faith. Others, unfortunately, do not. Their faith is shipwrecked.
“As people scan Christianity’s record over the centuries and see the wreckage left by many who’ve done atrocious things in Jesus name, they grow unsettled with religious certainty that could lead to more acts of violence and unjust discrimination. Some aspects of Christianity’s moral vision, in particular the commands regarding sexuality and marriage seem backward and unworkable—the Bibles moral aspirations unattainable,” states Wax.
Others experience what is referred to as the dark night of the soul. They encounter a difficult situation and question God as to why this is happening. This was the case with the Prophet Habakkuk. He did not approve of God’s impending judgment of the Kingdom of Judah by the pagan Babylonians (Hab. 1). God had not fit into the prophet’s carefully constructed box. Habakkuk chose to wait in a watchtower until God appeared to answer the prophet’s objections.
Some have deconstructed themselves from a Christianity that was more in keeping with economic American capitalism than biblical exposition of sound doctrine and worship of God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). They became involved in a church plant that experienced exponential growth with multiple sites in a major metropolitan area. There were large crowds, high energy music, motivational talks with a vision and mission of ministry that was centered in bigger and better. This philosophy became unsustainable with the pastor increasingly becoming a sovereign dictator, a harsh taskmaster and/or an irresponsible financial manger of church resources . Dedication to the ministry transitioned into disillusioned deconstruction towards Christianity.
Is it wrong to ask questions of God and what the Bible teaches? Is it wrong to condemn all Christian pastors and churches because of the sins of the few, or the one? We will seek to address these questions when next we meet.
Who do know who is experiencing a period of deconstruction of their faith in Christ? Continue to earnestly pray and plead to the LORD on their behalf; even if they prefer you wouldn’t. Have a blessed day in Christ.
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 