Reframing Deconstruction
Bottom Line: reframing ‘deconstruction’ as the ‘deculturization’ of the gospel & not the destruction of the gospel
feels like a more helpful way to talk about how so many are experiencing a new stage in their faith.
Deconstruction.
Up until a few years ago, the only understanding of that word I had was the literal breaking down of something. Then I began to hear the word used to describe a process in someone’s faith where they begin to question, push, pull what they understand their faith to be.
This blog is not an exhaustive attempt to explain deconstruction. Just google “what is faith deconstruction” and you’ll see plenty of options to choose from if that’s what you’re looking for.
Spoiler alert, if you do that, you’ll quickly learn that ‘deconstruction’ doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing to everyone.
Some view deconstruction as the end of faith. Destroying it for good. Others view it as a healthy part of a vibrant faith. That your understanding shifts as you grow in life & in your faith. While there are some aspects of the word that can absolutely capture the experience that some have, it’s not tough for me to argue that the word ‘deconstruction’ has become too broad & almost unhelpful in some ways.
For instance, we’d likely use the term deconstruction to describe someone who grew up in emotionally, sexually & spiritually abusive situations and has walked away from their faith as an adult. But many would also use the same word to describe someone whose faith has gone through a transition. Whose understanding of following Jesus, the Bible or theology has changed, but who feels like they are living out a truer & deeper relationship with God.
It feels unhelpful & inaccurate to use the same word to describe both of these experiences.
A few months ago, while scrolling my oddly curated twitter feed filled with golf, baseball, 90’s wrestling, ministry, music & theology tweets, I came across a tweet that said something along the lines of…
“Deconstruction is really just the deculturization of the gospel.”
For the life of me, I can’t remember who said it & I can’t find that tweet at all. But this idea has implanted itself in my psyche & I keep ruminating over it. I’ve done some research into the idea, and some other words I’m seeing other than deculturization (which I’m not even sure is a real word) are ‘deculturation’ and ‘disenculturation’.
There’s something about this that has resonated with me. Not only in my own faith experience, but with what I’m seeing in so many others. We have to be honest with the fact that the vast majority of what we understand about our faith is colored by so many lenses. I can do my best to be open & unbiased, but - as a straight, white, 38-year-old male who has spent his whole life in the midwest & south of the USA - there are certain filters that are more difficult for me to even notice.
I had a friend who accidentally had a filter on every picture they took on their iPhone. It wasn’t until someone was looking at pictures on their phone, said something & showed them what a ‘normal picture’ was supposed to look like before they even realized it. They had always seen their pictures through that filter, they didn’t even recognize it was on.
I think our understanding of the gospel can often be understood through filters we don’t even realize we have. The deculturization of the gospel is, in my eyes, not the destruction of faith. Rather, it’s the journey TO a faith that is more honest, real, and meaningful while being less ecocentric & ethnocentric.
My faith & understanding of God has shifted & changed throughout the years. There are absolutely some aspects to it that have been deconstructed & rebuilt into something different based on how my understanding of life, God, Jesus, the gospel & scripture has changed. But that feels more like a feature than it does a bug. More like an asset to my faith than a liability.
In the same way that buildings in San Fransisco are built to sway & oscillate along with any potential earthquake to withstand the shifting ground underneath, so too should the faith that we’re helping the next generation build. Too often, we seem to be sending them into adulthood with a faith/building so rigid and lacking curiosity in the name of truth that, rather than oscillate with the winds & quakes of life and a growing understanding of God through the discernment of the Holy Spirit, they experience a devastating collapse.
I think the church needs to be careful about fear regarding deconstruction. Faith has growing pains. The more we can help people navigate their faith through growing pains, the healthier their faith will be. If we help our kids, our students & our adults…
develop critical thinking skills,
value curiosity,
adopt a humble posture,
accept the mystery of God,
learn to discern the Holy Spirit with wisdom,
& give them safe faith communities to process life in the midst of that
…the less likely it becomes that deconstruction leads to their faith being destroyed for good.
Rather, it allows for the opportunity for a more resilient faith that isn’t afraid to rethink previous understandings through the discernment of the Holy Spirit as we grow deeper & closer in our relationship with God.
