I was listening to a podcast. It is a series called “God After Deconstruction” hosted by Thomas Jay Oord and Tripp Fuller. The two hosts have gone through somewhat of a “deconstruction” of their faith and understanding of God over the years. Oord was raised up and active in the Church of the Nazarene, while Fuller has his roots in the Southern Baptists. The podcast series is tied to “Home Brewed Christianity.”
I don’t really care for the term “Deconstruction” since it is a term that means pretty much whatever one wants it to mean. Some may speak of a “Crisis of Faith” but although the word crisis suggests the Venn diagram overlap of Danger and Opportunity, we most often see crisis in negative terms. Additionally, the phrase “God After Deconstruction” can be confusing to people who might see in it changing God. What is being spoken of is (of course) the deconstruction of our own personal perception(s) of God. I suppose I would tentatively prefer replacing “God After Deconstruction” with “Reconstructing Faith.” Of course, no one asked me.
In preparation for the series, they asked a bunch of American (as soon becomes evident) Christians who are going through this Deconstruction or Reconstruction to explore what was the conflict or crisis that led to this process. I think these are valuable because many of them are the issues that people who think deeply about their faith within their lived context would also struggle with.
- Loss of Certainty. While I think that a crisis of faith or a deconstruction can be a good thing, this particular cause I feel is sadly unnecessary. I was raised in a faith tradition that commonly (not necessarily universally) correlated doubt with lack of faith. To have faith in God meant to have certainty— and often certainty not only in the nature and role of God, but in one’s own interpretation of God. While that may make sense for 5-9 year olds, churches really need to give a more nuanced understanding of what faith is. Loss of certainty should be understood as a healthy part of a faith journey.
- Deciding that the Bible is Untrustworthy. In some cases people find what they believe are errors in the Bible, or see the God presented as being inconsistent. These sort of struggles can be difficult but can be beneficial in the long run.
- Theodicy. If God is loving, good, and all-powerful, why does the world we live in seem so rotten. This is to me the biggest challenge… and is something that every Christian (in fact every theist) should struggle with to some extent.
- Church abuse. There is a well-known quote/rhyme: “To live above with saints we love, that will be glory. To live below with saints we know, that is another story.” I am not sure who first said this— perhaps Victor Borge. Awful things happen due to awful Christians doing awful things, and then awful churches supporting the awful Christians, implicitly or explicity perpetuating awful things. Even when the perpetrators are not Christian or at least not part of the church, often the church is not good at handling things. Separating between Christ and Christian, and between God and Church, is hugely important. While there is no universally agreed upon definition of the word “cult” one of the qualities commonly thought to be cultic is seeing the group as the only true and perfect manifestation of God’s work in the world and pure revelation. In this, such groups are understanbly linked with God because if the leaders do it, it must have God’s seal of approval on it. No Christian church should ever be like that. Leaders need higher accountability from those within and without the church, not less.
- Christian nationalism. This is very much an American thing— although it can happen elsewhere. As an Evangelical Christian I struggle with the fact that a lot of Evangelical leaders not only support a political agenda that I don’t, but suggest it is not simply their own preferences, but that it is God’s preferences as well. (As one who is anti-partisan— opposing all political parties and all political leaders— I end up being on the outside of all such political engagements.) When the church supports horrible leaders and horrible policies, that can be stressful. But when they claim they are following God’s clear leading in doing so— not surprising that there will be some crisis of faith. <Note: I am not assuming that God is “anti-partisan” as I am. However, God’s clear favoritism given to the powerless over the powerful makes me think that my view is at least justified… tentatively.>
- Conflicts with Science. Traditionally, Science and Religion were friends for the most part, but in recent decades that is often not seen to be the case. In many cases I feel that it is not Science versus the Bible, but rather an interpretation of the Natural Science versus an interpretation of the Bible. Many however, struggle with those Christians that seem to think that they must be 100% correct and everyone else is 100% wrong. Since NO ONE is 100% correct on pretty much anything, that is a hard standard to place one’s faith on.
- Religious Diversity or Pluralism. There are bad Christians (sadly) and their are (happily) good people of other religions. This should hardly be a reason for crisis. However, when our interaction with people of other faiths is based on caricatures and stereotypes, being faced with reality can lead to crisis.
- Purpose. This one was not as clear to me as the others. It seemed to be existential questions about meaning and purpose of life in general, as well as individual purpose. Not sure how this relates to a religious crisis… but I suppose it could.
There were supposedly 9 main ones, but when I was listening I only heard 8. Maybe I missed one or two were similar and I thought they were part of the same thing.
One I am surprised wasn’t on the list was Christian lack of concern (sometimes perceived, sometimes real) for the here and now— focusing only on the eternal state.
With the exception of the first one, I feel these are all potentially valid. The first one is not to me because the church should NEVER suggest that great faith means having great intellectual certainty. The fourth and fifth ones are rather inexcusable. Christians should be pointed to Jesus not to church leaders, churches, or church denominations. Christians should also deal with problems with care and concern for victims/survivors— more than protecting reputation and leaders. And churches should never suggest that they share the same political party with God.
Hopefully, this will be a good series.