Articles
The "Deconstruction" of Faith
A new word has been coined in the “Christian blogosphere” to describe an ancient concept: “deconstruction.” In modern parlance deconstruction refers to apostasy or abandoning one’s faith. Droves of Western Millennials and GenZers have rejected belief in God, become jaded with modern iterations of Christianity and are opting for either an unstructured “spirituality” or outright atheism. Blogs abound for helping young people “deconstruct” their faith.
In the book, The Deconstruction of Christianity, authors Alisa Childers and Tim Barnett analyze the current phenomenon. “In the context of faith, deconstruction is the process of systematically dissecting and often rejecting the beliefs you grew up with. Sometimes the Christian will deconstruct all the way into atheism. Some remain there, but others experience a reconstruction. But the type of faith they end up embracing almost never resembles the Christianity they formerly knew” (164). Ever since Demas forsook Paul “having loved this present world” (2 Tim 4: 10), Satan has unraveled the faith of many and led them back to the mire (2 Pet 2:22).
Although apostasy is nothing new, every age presents its own unique package of appeals, temptations and incentives to abandon God. And while it is ultimately up to each Christian to remain close to the Lord, it behooves parents, preachers and pastors to be aware of the dangers faced by those most vulnerable – the young and inexperienced who are often inundated with cultural messaging that is hostile to faith.
While one may think that the reasons to apostatize are as diverse as the individuals who choose it, that is not entirely true. For in the blogosphere of deconstruction common themes emerge, as documented by Childers and Barnett. And these themes tend to trace back to Paul’s assessment of Demas’ departure: “having loved this present world.” In other words, Christians of every age live in a sort of cognitive dissonance with their surrounding culture, and if they are not properly grounded in the faith it is easy to choose the culture over Christ.
Deconstructionist Blake Chastain noted three main elements of what “exvangelicals” (note the play on words) are rejecting: 1) A literal reading of the Bible; 2) A belief that women are to be submissive to men; and 3) A belief in the sanctity of heterosexuality/heteronormativity and a rejection of homosexuality as sinful (ibid 34). Let’s briefly examine these:
A literal reading of the Bible. This does not mean that every word or phrase of the Bible should be taken literally, for all acknowledge that similes, metaphors, figures of speech, etc. are used in Scripture. “However, in the deconstruction movement, rejecting a ‘literal reading’ of the Bible often means rejecting the idea that the text has a literal, objective meaning the Christian needs to discover and accept. Biblical interpretation becomes subjective, or the Bible is rejected altogether” (ibid 35).
Because of the hyper-self-centered focus of postmodernism, many young people don’t want to be held to any objective standard of morality or spirituality. They see the demands of Scripture as infringing upon their autonomy, and they instinctively resist passages like Heb 10:25 (“not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together”); or Col 3:8 (“you must also put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth”) or 1 Pet 5:5 (“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders”). These sound too much like “rules” which constrain the freedom to follow one’s own pathway of faith and worship. One deconstructionist put it this way: “The moment you start to believe when somebody tells you, ‘This is what Christianity looks like, this is how you have to walk it out,’ you are then stepping into somebody else’s identity … and you’re not being who you are. And later on down the road, you’re going to feel the trauma, and you’re going to feel the pain, and be like … ‘I have to deconstruct that’” (ibid 159-160).
A woman’s submissive role. Another buzzword in the Christian blogosphere is “complementarianism,” the belief that men and women are created as spiritual equals but nevertheless occupy different roles in the home and the church. In other words, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord” (Eph 5:22), and “Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence” (1 Tim 2:11-12). These are considered “toxic doctrines,” an affront to the women who possess equal or perhaps superior gifts and abilities than men. Others see such doctrines as cover for men who have historically abused and dominated women. In either case, the cultural messaging of toxic patriarchy carries more weight than the inspired words of God which frame the context and purpose of everything (and everyone) God has made.
The sanctity of heteronormativity. Of course, the homosexual community has waged a decades-long culture war against heteronormativity, and we have experienced in one way or another the backlash of believing that homosexuality is aberrant and sinful. And, in my view, they have definitively won that battle. Even many mainstream denominations have succumbed to the pressure and normalized not only homosexual unions but incorporated practicing homosexuals into their ecclesiastical hierarchies. On an everyday level, in the words of one Twitter respondent, “My thought process in 8th grade: ‘actually Lady Gaga is awakening me and gay people aren’t bad. If God made them that way, then that means he loves them so everyone else should as well’” (ibid 93). Once again, which voice has been loudest – the Bible, or the culture?
There is more discussion to be had on why so many young people have been more conditioned by the culture than Bible class, but the bottom line is that many of them have. My own adult children have lamented how many of their friends and peers, formerly believers, have “deconstructed” and embraced cultural values. Childers and Barnett propose a soul-searching question for all to consider: “If we’re honest, the influence of cultural norms on our understanding of Christianity cannot be overstated. All of us – despite our political and denominational backgrounds – need to ask ourselves an honest question: Where do my beliefs look more like the world than God’s Word?” (ibid 51). The Bible frequently warns against self-deception, and it behooves us to ask ourselves what our honest convictions are and why.