Falling Forward: Reflections on a Culture of Deconstructing Christianity

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! 2 Corinthians 13:5 English Standard Bible

There’s a big movement within our culture of deconstructing institutions and beliefs systems to get down to the root of what it is. This is where Critical Theory stems from, and it has permeated the culture in which we live. Is this a good thing? I believe it can be, on certain issues, if there is an end goal that is worthy. Some of the issues that I see in the “deconstruction culture” is that there’s not a worthy goal in place and not a standard of truth to view to keep on track. Typically, people “deconstruct” their faith, and rather than running to Jesus, their trajectory sends them completely off course. I’ve seen it in church members and church leaders.

Semper Reformanda

There is a term in Reformed Theology (not originally from the Reformation, but a great term) called “Semper Reformanda.” What this is saying is that we should “always be reforming” to what Scripture says. That is taking what we’ve held so dear in our lives, families, Christian faith, political constructs, jobs, everything- and compare these to Scripture. Does it hold up? If it doesn’t, maybe something needs to change… Because the goal is this: realize our need for grace, to see more of God, conform more to the image of His Son, and live according to Scripture.

When given the opportunity, our issue is that we do not want to conform to God’s authority. We don’t want to submit to Him at our core. That is the story of the human condition- read Genesis to Revelation, we hate God if it’s left up to us. So, when our goal is not to see more of God, love Christ more, and want to be more like Him, we are already on the wrong path. We will not hit that target that we are shooting for.

Examine Yourself

Although I’m not the biggest fan of the term “deconstructing,” Paul does use a term that is similar. He says, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.” Some Christians would say that’s not the right thing to do, but Paul said that we should see whether we are in the faith! However, Paul had a standard of truth He was going off of: Scripture. So, if in fact, you are going through a period where you are questioning everything even possibly your own faith/beliefs, I would strongly urge that you hold on to these truths:

1. God is God. All throughout Scripture God is affirming that He is God. “I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God…” Isaiah 45:5 ESV. Yahweh is the only God (LORD in all caps). We submit to His authority- not society, culture, or anyone else. He guides our lives and thinking. (Click here for our article covering who God is)
2. Jesus is God. In many places, Jesus affirms that He is God (although contemporary culture tries to deny that He does, it’s a complete lie). Jesus states that He is a part of the Yahweh Trinity: “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM (John 8:58 ESV).’” The distinction is even more in the Greek because, grammatically, this section doesn’t make sense. It makes sense, however, that Jesus is referring to Himself as I AM who I AM (Yahweh in Hebrew). The culture will tell us there are many gods. Scripture says there’s only One God, and He came to us (Jesus). (Click here for our article covering who Jesus is)
3. Scripture is the Standard of Truth. We have written other articles on this topic, but one truth I’ve been leaning on a lot lately: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away (Matthew 24:35 ESV).” This is our lens to view and test all matters through.

I’m not a fan of the term “deconstructing.” I would rather use the terms “constructing” or “testing” what we believe. Semantics aside, while we are going through these times of questioning, if we are viewing ourselves, the world, and Scripture in view of these three truths, we are on a better trajectory. The world does not want that. The world wants to derail you, and you completely leave the faith. Hold on to these truths.

There is a term that we used to use when I played football in high school. If you were running the ball and were being tackled, you never fell backward. This gives your team the disadvantage by taking away yards from your team and giving them to your opponent. We would say “always fall forward.” That’s great advice. If we are going to question our faith, we have to hold on to truths to fall forward, gain ground. This is the only way we will truly “construct” successfully.

-Austin