I said this last week: Many today claim they are in a “phase of deconstruction.” I have not been able to determine just exactly what they mean by deconstruction but the general point is clear. They find the Christian faith as they have experienced it to be inadequate. Whether it is some intellectual problem (science vs. Genesis 1-2 and the creationismn they were taught) or the hypocrite problem (well-known pastors collapsing) or social problem (why can’t the church get on board with universal health care?), they are finding the church falling short. The credibility of the church’s claims is withering for them.
Scot, I think you have helped us deconstruct the reductionist, truncated, formulaic Gospel for a fuller, truer, richer understanding of what the Gospel means. So, you have been on the forefront of a type of deconstructing AND reconstructing for a while now. Thanks very much for that.
I just came upon this blog post three years later, and most of the deconned people I know are not like those described here. Deconstruction is not built on a foundation of judgment or even woundedness. It’s not about the hypocrisy they see — that has always been there. It’s not about progressive politics or Christianity being inadequate. It’s grief. They are grieved that their religion has been twisted into a Christian nationalist platform for Donald Trump, confused that God did not protect their loved ones from Covid (though some might conclude that He anointed Katalin Kariko thirty years earlier to begin studying mRNA because He knew it was coming). Grieved that Christians all around them have hardened their hearts toward the hurting, desperate poor. I think our job is to love them back to life, and instead, in so many cases, they are shoved outside the fold, like the wounded stray sheep left behind. I see being a Jesus follower as becoming a servant of all, not becoming wealthy or being the best worship leader or preacher or having the most followers on social media. It’s following the tiny whisper that says, “This is the way. Walk in it.” There was a guy in my old church back in Texas who used to collect bags of beans all week and then on Saturday he’d load up his station wagon chock full floor to ceiling with these beans and cross into Mexico and feed the poor. God bless the charismatic Episcopalians quietly doing the work of the Gospel because the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts. That is what the Holy Spirit should be prompting our hearts to do, right? Visit those in prison, heal the sick. I think it’s hardness of heart within church culture itself has caused these precious ones to flounder and finally fall away. I believe we should be looking at our own structures to figure out where WE went wrong and instead we (the church) are trying to identify where the deconstructed went astray. I think that’s telling.
You last line of "what the church should and can be" is an interesting idea. Is this what the re-constructors think, or is there a broader implication to this statement? What are your thoughts on this?
Scot, I think you have helped us deconstruct the reductionist, truncated, formulaic Gospel for a fuller, truer, richer understanding of what the Gospel means. So, you have been on the forefront of a type of deconstructing AND reconstructing for a while now. Thanks very much for that.
I just came upon this blog post three years later, and most of the deconned people I know are not like those described here. Deconstruction is not built on a foundation of judgment or even woundedness. It’s not about the hypocrisy they see — that has always been there. It’s not about progressive politics or Christianity being inadequate. It’s grief. They are grieved that their religion has been twisted into a Christian nationalist platform for Donald Trump, confused that God did not protect their loved ones from Covid (though some might conclude that He anointed Katalin Kariko thirty years earlier to begin studying mRNA because He knew it was coming). Grieved that Christians all around them have hardened their hearts toward the hurting, desperate poor. I think our job is to love them back to life, and instead, in so many cases, they are shoved outside the fold, like the wounded stray sheep left behind. I see being a Jesus follower as becoming a servant of all, not becoming wealthy or being the best worship leader or preacher or having the most followers on social media. It’s following the tiny whisper that says, “This is the way. Walk in it.” There was a guy in my old church back in Texas who used to collect bags of beans all week and then on Saturday he’d load up his station wagon chock full floor to ceiling with these beans and cross into Mexico and feed the poor. God bless the charismatic Episcopalians quietly doing the work of the Gospel because the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts. That is what the Holy Spirit should be prompting our hearts to do, right? Visit those in prison, heal the sick. I think it’s hardness of heart within church culture itself has caused these precious ones to flounder and finally fall away. I believe we should be looking at our own structures to figure out where WE went wrong and instead we (the church) are trying to identify where the deconstructed went astray. I think that’s telling.
You last line of "what the church should and can be" is an interesting idea. Is this what the re-constructors think, or is there a broader implication to this statement? What are your thoughts on this?
Read A. J. Swoboda's "After Doubt" for a deep dive on this.
Scot, thank you for these thought-provoking insights, and for offering a glimmer of light at the end of what can feel like a very long tunnel
I would be interested to know how many become reconstructors and how many give up.