Many today are deconstructing their faith, the faith of their parents, the faith of their church, the faith of public evangelicalism. I have observed what I will call here three “phases” of this deconstruction. To remind ourselves of the phases of deconstruction I want to give a brief recap of the three phases of deconstruction.
One of the best things I ever heard about Jesus came at the graduation ceremony for former drug addicts. After the ceremony, the director told me that you did not have to be a professing Christian to come into the program, but you had to meet daily in a small group for a discussion about Jesus from the gospels. He said the most common thing he's heard over the years is that many of these men and women are not sure whether Jesus is true, but they want Him to be!
It's interesting that in my experience, this exploration of deconstruction is missing a critical piece that I have found to be indicative of many going through this process: Many deconstructors are done with institutional church altogether, whether a church platforms Jesus and justice or not. This is important because so many people deconstructing their Evangelical and fundie faith aren't looking for a church at all, recognizing that it is deeply flawed in it's innate need for preservation, hierarchy, power, control, conformity, obligation, and performance. They're definitely interested in societal justice, and most are still interested in Jesus, but for many, even Jesus is not longer the primary focus of it all. But I digress. Seeking Jesus and justice through a church platform increasingly becomes a non-sequitur for most of us who are or have experienced deconstruction from Evangelicalism. People writing about deconstruction from outside the experience continually miss this important piece and it ends up framing the whole thing inaccurately and literally drives us further away from Christian influences.
One of the best things I ever heard about Jesus came at the graduation ceremony for former drug addicts. After the ceremony, the director told me that you did not have to be a professing Christian to come into the program, but you had to meet daily in a small group for a discussion about Jesus from the gospels. He said the most common thing he's heard over the years is that many of these men and women are not sure whether Jesus is true, but they want Him to be!
It's interesting that in my experience, this exploration of deconstruction is missing a critical piece that I have found to be indicative of many going through this process: Many deconstructors are done with institutional church altogether, whether a church platforms Jesus and justice or not. This is important because so many people deconstructing their Evangelical and fundie faith aren't looking for a church at all, recognizing that it is deeply flawed in it's innate need for preservation, hierarchy, power, control, conformity, obligation, and performance. They're definitely interested in societal justice, and most are still interested in Jesus, but for many, even Jesus is not longer the primary focus of it all. But I digress. Seeking Jesus and justice through a church platform increasingly becomes a non-sequitur for most of us who are or have experienced deconstruction from Evangelicalism. People writing about deconstruction from outside the experience continually miss this important piece and it ends up framing the whole thing inaccurately and literally drives us further away from Christian influences.
Question: what if a church isn’t “worthy” of reconstructing their faith?