What a wonderful word, Jeff! I think it’s too easy sometimes to throw out the baby with the baptismal font, and fashion all things “church” as hypocritical and ignorant on some level.
I’ve struggled with this and am grateful to have been shepherded by a faithful God, to his people again. There are still real challenges in this day of hyper-politicization of faith, but I imagine in Paul’s time the divisions were equally if not more intense, and he never wavered.
I think my understanding of deconstruction is different then yours.
It's not rejection but sorting.
It comes from realizing that there were flaws in the beliefs you held and the need to find what is true. Church hurt can be a catalyst for deconstruction but the reason for deconstruction is closer to realizing that your house is built on sand.
No amount of doubling down is going to fix that. If the foundation is bad or the wood is rotted, you can't just build over it and hope it gets better.
I am glad that the house of your faith was built on the solid rock that is Jesus. For many of us, it takes a time of deconstructing to find the rotted pieces (and/or faulty foundation) before we can (or should) rebuild. Using the good and tossing out the bad.
To me the journey of deconstruction isn't one of wholesale destruction but careful examination and removal of unhealthy root issues in pursuit of healing.
I didn't lose my faith in God. However I have lost all faith in his followers. 40 years of trying to fit in with the church crowd and I finally just gave up.
The church didn't care enough about my kids to even notice when they disappeared. After loosing their mother they needed a church family to support them but we've always been invisible to the Sunday morning country club and eventually went under water for the last time. I stayed in the church as long as I could but finally I reached a point where I just couldn't go and be ignored every week.
What a wonderful word, Jeff! I think it’s too easy sometimes to throw out the baby with the baptismal font, and fashion all things “church” as hypocritical and ignorant on some level.
I’ve struggled with this and am grateful to have been shepherded by a faithful God, to his people again. There are still real challenges in this day of hyper-politicization of faith, but I imagine in Paul’s time the divisions were equally if not more intense, and he never wavered.
I will be rereading this piece.
Thank you!!
This is beautiful. Thank you for writing this.
I think my understanding of deconstruction is different then yours.
It's not rejection but sorting.
It comes from realizing that there were flaws in the beliefs you held and the need to find what is true. Church hurt can be a catalyst for deconstruction but the reason for deconstruction is closer to realizing that your house is built on sand.
No amount of doubling down is going to fix that. If the foundation is bad or the wood is rotted, you can't just build over it and hope it gets better.
I am glad that the house of your faith was built on the solid rock that is Jesus. For many of us, it takes a time of deconstructing to find the rotted pieces (and/or faulty foundation) before we can (or should) rebuild. Using the good and tossing out the bad.
To me the journey of deconstruction isn't one of wholesale destruction but careful examination and removal of unhealthy root issues in pursuit of healing.
I didn't lose my faith in God. However I have lost all faith in his followers. 40 years of trying to fit in with the church crowd and I finally just gave up.
The church didn't care enough about my kids to even notice when they disappeared. After loosing their mother they needed a church family to support them but we've always been invisible to the Sunday morning country club and eventually went under water for the last time. I stayed in the church as long as I could but finally I reached a point where I just couldn't go and be ignored every week.
I’m sorry that was your experience, Scott. 🙏