A Conversation
Each month we will have our normal four blog posts: one about adventure, one about rest, another about community and the final one on Be-ing. However, there are usually four months in our calendar year that have five Wednesday’s. Instead of taking that week off from blogging, we will either have a guest writer or we will share some of the topics we have been talking about at home. Today, Mike will share more on the concept of deconstruction.
At a recent dinner (charcuterie of course) with some new friends we talked about life: the joys and the hardships, The conversation then turned to young adults and the observation/rumor that they are leaving the church. As our time passed and we curiously wondered together, I, Mike, began to question if this statistic was currently correct…are there really that many young people leaving the church? Does leaving the church mean leaving faith? Most of the young adults and adults that we know that have left the church have real concerns and valid reasons.
As someone who has served in Youth and Young-Adult Ministry for over 10-years, I have heard of this decline, but I wondered if its reach was beyond our context. In recent years Ali and I have had the privilege to sit with young adults as they share their longings and losses within the church; which led them to doubt the systems they were part of; which then led them into a season of deconstruction. Doubt often brings an array of emotions.: shame, fear, control, anger, pride, grief etc. Doubt is defined as a feeling of uncertainty or a lack of conviction. Today, doubt seems synonymous with deconstruction. Pop Cultures definition of deconstruction is questioning, doubting, and rejecting aspects of Christian faith. There is one difference between doubt and deconstruction: deconstruction is active where doubt is more passive.
Upon my research, it is indeed true that young adults are leaving the church. It is also true that young adults are asking tough questions, which for some has meant they are “shown the door.” But, as I ponder the current state of the church and young adults, I have the following observations of deconstructionism. The immediate response is FEAR or HEARTBREAK, or even a concern of FAILURE. However, I would like to propose that engaging in a story of deconstruction may be more beneficial to our own faith walk then detrimental.
I know, I know… it sounds wrong to encourage deconstruction because of the fear that it could lead to a slippery slope of poor theology and a focus on feelings rather than facts. However, I constantly see JESUS engaging in people’s stories and being present, asking questions, and allowing TRUTH to be discovered. Unlike the Pharisees, who used RELIGION to suppress and rule people, Jesus only needed to interact with someone and their faith/life/thoughts and then immediately everything was deconstructed. That is because “One encounter with Jesus changes everything (Ali always says this).”
What if deconstruction is like a charcuterie board… the goal is to take a meal as we currently know it, identify all the pieces: the meat, the cheese, the veggies, the dips, the fruit, etc. and separate them all out into bite size portions. This separation does not cause the meal to cease to exist… it gives you the opportunity to refine the ingredients… dare I say… to make a better meal. If you are used to only eating mild cheddar, this is your opportunity to try a smoked cheese, or a brie, or a sweet cranberry goat cheese. The process of deconstructing this meal allows you to refine your taste, to up your cheese game, to find unique pairings of the ingredients that you would have otherwise missed in a simple bite of a burger. Likewise, with Theology, as one considers the ingredients that make up their theology, one can identify the areas in which the ingredients could be refined.
When reading the Gospels, we get to see all the different deconstruction stories: Mary and Joseph, Elizabeth and Zechariah, the disciples, Nicodemus, the woman at the well, Mary Magdalene… this list can go on and on. One Encounter CHANGED everything. However, there was a group that could not see it. There was a group that would not see it. It was the group that believed they would be the first to recognize it… the religious. The ones that were quick to judge, quick to speak, quick to make more rules. They could not see, receive, or believe that the Promised One was among them and was providing a way. They would not allow Jesus to deconstruct because that might mean a loss power, prestige, and control.
It makes me wonder how many of us might be in similar places. I am processing, are there places that Jesus wants to encounter within me that I am unwillingly to let him deconstruct? Are there beliefs that got tangled with religion that God wants to untangle? Are there perspectives about God, self, or others that God wants to speak into?
May we be a people that are brave enough to ask God to deconstruct us so that He can reconstruct us back to Him.
