We are starting a new series today called Deconstructing and Reconstructing Faith. Right now there are many who have grown up in pews of various Christian denominations and churches who are going through a process that they call “deconstruction.” Brian Zahnd defines deconstruction as “a crisis of Christian faith that leads to either a reevaluation of Christianity or sometimes a total abandonment of Christianity.” This is what I am going to mean by the term “deconstruction” in this series of lessons.
But my reason for wanting to do this series is not because there are many of social media who are promoting the idea of deconstruction. The purpose of this series is not to address all of the objections that people who are deconstructing have. The reason for this series is far more personal. Over the past couple decades I have witnessed people who I know who grew up in the pews and heard the truth about God and his salvation leave their faith. I have known people who were what we would call “raised in the church” leave the faith for an alternative form of Christianity. I can name people that I grew up with that left the Lord. I can name people that I went to college with who I believed to be faithful to the Lord walk away from critical biblical truths. These things have deeply bothered me. The goal is this series is not take shots at people who have deconstructed or who are thinking about doing this. Instead, I want to take a series to talk about some common reasons why this has happened. I also want to use this series to try to strengthen the faith of those who may be teetering in their faith for some of the same reasons. I would also like to have this as a resource for those who are dealing with these kinds of questions whose faith is cracking so it can be a place of help or a place to start the conversation about faith in Christ.
As I already said, there is no way to deal with every objection in a sermon series. This series would never end if I did. But I think it is important to address some of the problems that are happening. I am shocked to see truths that were assumed as obvious no longer be held and believed for various reasons. I know preachers who are questioning that the Bible is the sole authority. I know preachers who think what we practice is merely a tradition and that there may be many other ways to practice our faith and worship our God. Many seem to be unsure or unaware of why they believe what they believe and why they do what they do. It is almost as if we were on spiritual autopilot and now someone has asked us to fly the plane.
Now I want to make an important point before we get too far into our study. You need to reevaluate your faith if your faith is something that was handed to you. If you believe what you believe and do what you do because this is what your parents taught you, then you need to evaluate what you were taught to make sure it is true to God’s word. If you believe what you believe and do what you do because of a person in your life not named Jesus, then you need to double check and challenge your faith so that you can have a faith for yourself. I think at some point every person who follows Jesus does such a check and maybe does so multiple times in their faith journey. I know I spent a lot of time in college doing this kind of deconstruction. I wasn’t demolishing my faith. I was tearing out the things that were not part of God’s word and testing what I was taught and believed to make sure they are true. In this regard, this is something we should always do. In fact, I regularly beg you not to believe teachings because I taught you, but because you have read it right here in God’s word for yourself. Your faith must be on Jesus and his revealed word given to us through the holy apostles and prophets. We all need to always be in an honest pursuit for the truth.
Deconstructing Experience
One of the primary problems people have with Jesus are Christians. Sometimes the problem that people have is their experiences with other Christians. Many times I unfortunately hear stories about how someone was treated by a church, by the elders, or by one or two people who claimed to be Christians. Christians are not acting like Christians. Their experience is so jarring that they draw the conclusion that this cannot be right. Sometimes the stories are even worse. When there are moral failures from trusted leaders, then people question their beliefs. When they suffer abuse or are taken advantages of by the people who claim to be Jesus followers, then think that this is all a sham. When they see a church that is fighting or divided, then people think that this cannot be right. The church is just a mess. I will admit that I walked through this for a time. I came from a great church that appeared very genuine in their faith and love and then moved a few times for college and couldn’t find a church that was genuine. It appeared that church was the thing to do on Sundays and not who you are as God’s people. We have to accept that people have had really bad experiences. We must listen to those experiences and not dismiss them. So what should we do when we have these kinds of experiences? What does this mean about God and discipleship if this is where we are?
God Said This Would Happen
First, we need to know that God knew this would be the problem because he is dealing with humans. Listen to what the apostle Paul said about the failure of God’s people under the Law of Moses.
You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” (Romans 2:22-24 ESV)
One of the primary failures of Israel before God is that they caused the world to blaspheme and reject him, rather than come to him and glorify him. They knew God’s law and did not do it. They pretended that they were doing the law and pretended to care about the law. But their lives dishonored God. Do you know who went around calling people hypocrites the most? Jesus did. Jesus repeatedly went to the religious leaders in his day and called them hypocrites. Jesus was calling people out who said one thing but did another. The conclusion I want you to draw is this: what you experienced was not right and that person will be held accountable to God for their sinning. If you had such an experience by someone who claims to follow Jesus or from the church, you need to know that God is not overlooking their sins. One of the unfortunate things we must acknowledge is that there are many people who claim to be Christians who are not truly Christians. There are fake people in every church, including this one. They are churchgoers but they have not been transformed by Jesus. The apostle Paul make this important point:
They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. (Titus 1:16 NIV)
Sometimes people think that hypocrisy is a justifiable reason to leave Jesus and the church. But I want you to see that he told us ahead of time that this would be the situation. You will have to deal with wolves who are wearing sheep’s clothing (cf. Acts 20:29).
Doubt the Person, Not the Faith
Second, what we must do is doubt the person, not doubt Jesus. We have the tendency to take our experience and apply it universally. So if we had a bad experience with a church, then all churches are bad. If we had a bad experience with a church leader, then we say that all church leaders are bad. If we encounter a hypocritical Christian, then we think that all Christians are hypocritical. But God did not let you down. A person let you down. Go over to 2 Timothy 4:9-16 and let’s look at what Paul experienced.
9 Do your best to come to me soon. 10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! (2 Timothy 4:9-16 ESV)
Here is what I want us to think about. Did Paul give up on Jesus because Demas deserted him and Alexander did him great harm? Paul did not stop being an apostle and give up his faith because he kept dealing with Christians who were deserting him and hurting him. Rather than saying that God is not real, he said that these people were not real. We recognize that it would have been an overreaction to throw away God because he had run into some false Christians.
Now I want us to think about how we would never do this with anything else in our lives. If we have a bad restaurant experience, our reaction is not that we will never eat again. If we have a bad experience at a grocery store, we do not say that we will never eat again. Rather we will draw one of two conclusions. We will either realize that the restaurant or store had a bad day and we try it again. Or we will realize that the restaurant or store is failing and we try another place. No one says that they will stop eating. We do not say that food is not worth it! But when we reject Jesus, God’s word, the church, and eternity based on a bad experience, we are committing the same overreaction. We need to either draw the conclusion that it was a bad day or that this person or this church is not what it is supposed to be and find people who are doing what God says. There are many of you here who have found us as your spiritual refuge and your place of healing because you came from a place where there was spiritual harm happening. You are working through what you experienced. It is our goal to be a place of spiritual help and healing. It is our goal for us to be a safe space for you to work out your salvation with fear and trembling (cf. Philippians 2:12-13).
We Are All Failures
Now at this point we need to make another point clear that we see in the scriptures. No one is perfect. All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s commands. There are no perfect Christians. There is not a perfect church. There are not perfect spiritual leaders. We are people who are in process as we are being changed and transformed by God’s power. We are going to let you down and you are going to let us down. I know I have let you down. If you do not think I have let you down, then you have not been here long enough. Notice the apostle Paul made room for this in his life also. Go back to 2 Timothy 4:16 and notice what he said happened to him.
At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! (2 Timothy 4:16 ESV)
Paul says that everyone let him down. No one stood by him when he was on trial. No one was with him at his first defense. Everyone deserted him. So what conclusion did he draw? Did he quit on God? Did he quit serving Jesus? Did he quit the church? Did he burn it all to the ground? No, instead Paul shows a forgiving heart to not hold it against them.
Now I want to make something very clear here. The failures of Christians do not make the failure right. The sins of Christians does not make the sinning acceptable. The church is not the place where sins are covered up. If you have been sinned against, the solution is not for you to ignore it and bury it. The church is not the place where scandals are hidden. True churches who are following Jesus do not hide sins. If you have been sinned against, you are to go to that person about it. Their response will let you know if they are genuine or false in their claim to be a Christian. Being dismissive and trying to hide sin reveals false leaders, false Christians, or a false church. Being sorrowful, repentant, and desiring to make things right reveals true leaders, true Christians, and a true church. We are going to let you down. But we are going to admit it and correct it, not make it your problem. If we are truly God’s people, then if we see someone hurt, we are going to care that they are hurt, love them, and restore the relationship.
Do Not React Against Jesus
But in your hurt, do not throw out Jesus because of your experiences. Do not throw out the clear teachings of the scriptures because of your experiences. Do not throw out the people of God because your experiences. Do not put your hope in the people here. Put your hope in Jesus because he is the only person who will not let you down and the only person who can give you the healing and help you need. False churches does not mean there are not true churches. False Christians does not mean there are not true Christians. False leaders does not mean there are not true leaders. Let me put this one other way as we close. Do not let the sins and failures of others cause you to miss out on eternity with God. Do not let your eternity be spent in punishment because you were hurt by someone. Look to the example of Jesus and to the example of the apostle Paul who continued forward with the Father in spite of the sinning of others. As you hold on to Jesus, find other Christians who are acting like Christians. Find a church that is following the truth of the scriptures. Look for leaders who care about your soul and not themselves.