I must admit, when I first encountered the phrase, I was not sure what it meant. What are we talking about? Young adults are leaving the church, including evangelical churches, at unprecedented rates, at least in North America and Europe. It is not new that people drop out of church or experience a crisis of faith. However, new is (1) the rate at which it is happening; (2) that we have a phrase describing what they do: they are ‘deconstructing faith’; (3) that this is a self-conscious movement.
I won’t go into the statistics; you can visit the website of the Barna Group, a Christian research company best known for its surveys on faith, if you want hard numbers. Or read David Kinnaman’s 2011 book, You Lost Me; it is still relevant. There is also good news, by the way: Barna identifies the teens and young adults of today as ”The Open Generation”. They are very interested in Jesus and open to the Bible.
But church, not so much.
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Off-Topic?
It may appear that all of this is slightly off-topic. Isn’t Create a Learning Site all about the Bible? Well, yes, but this includes teaching the Bible. To do that well, we must take into account our audience (not to mention cultural forces that influence us and our interpretation). Therefore, this topic fits.
And there are a few things I’d like to say about it.
Deconstruction
To begin with, I dislike the word, mainly for two reasons. First, it is a decidedly negative word. It means you break something down or destroy it.
I am aware that in this context, destruction is generally not the intended meaning. The term was inspired by the literary philosophy of Jacques Derrida, a French philosopher who used the term deconstruction in a special sense. But who understands what Derrida meant? And who thinks of Derrida when they hear deconstructing faith?
Words have a life of their own; you cannot control what people hear or understand once you have released your statement. The normal meaning of the word and the one most likely to be heard is breaking down, not French philosophy.
There are better terms to use. How about re-evaluating, reassessing, reconsidering, rethinking, reimagining, or even reconstructing faith?
Second, the term is too broad, covering a wide array of different issues. Some do indeed break down their faith, whether intentionally or not, and turn away. Many experience a crisis of faith at some point or struggle with doubt. Yet others simply go through a process of questioning and reconsidering their own Christian tradition or even just one dogma or a single idea, such as young-earth creationism, hell, or predestination.
Should we put all of these into one bag and combine them under the same label: deconstruction? It does not look like a helpful category to me. And if a process of reassessing what someone believes is meant, deconstruction is a poor choice of words.
Maybe it is time to deconstruct deconstruction. And if we are still going to deconstruct, it should be something like racism (in the church!), the abuse of power (in the church!), sexual abuse (in the church!), male dominance and the oppression of women (in the church!), etcetera, rather than faith.
Things that truly deserve to be broken down.
Martin Luther an Early Example?
Sometimes, Martin Luther, the great reformer of the 16th century, is put forward as a classic example of deconstruction in the more distant past (e.g., Huckabee 2022). This completely misreads Luther.
In Luther’s existential crisis, he was not doubting faith. He was doubting himself.
It was only after this crisis had been resolved that he set out to deconstruct. But he did not deconstruct the Christian faith; he deconstructed the errors of the Medieval church. And as he was doing this, he was ablaze with faith – no doubt in sight. This has nothing in common with modern-day conceptions of deconstruction.
But Let’s Face It: Why Are People Leaving?
However, there is a problem, and we should face it. I started with the large number of young adults leaving the church. That is not happening because a few individuals call for the deconstruction of faith. It is happening because people look at the church or evangelicals and don’t like what they see. And they have a point.
David Kinnaman has studied what non-Christians think about Christianity (Kinnaman & Lyons 2007) and why young adults are leaving the church (Kinnaman & Hawkins 2011; see also Nieuwhof 2022 for a quick but highly informative read with its own take on the why).
It is not a pretty picture, but we should pay attention. A few of the outcomes of these studies:
1. Against. As evangelicals we are mostly known for what we are against, which outsiders, rightly or wrongly, assume to include:
- Gays and gay marriage
- Science and evolution
- Women in leadership (or perhaps women in general; and
feminism!) - Abortion
- Initiatives against climate change or even the claim
of climate change itself
I realise there is an element of caricature in this. By no means all evangelicals deny climate change and even fewer reject science, for instance. But too many of us do. And more importantly, it is unclear what we are for.
2. Attitude. Our perceived attitude does not make faith any more attractive. For instance, outsiders see us as:
- Hypocritical
- Overly political (at least in the United States)
- Judgemental
- Authoritarian
- Shallow and unwilling to engage with difficult
questions (instead countering with pat answers and ‘punishing’ those who step
out of line)
Again, in part this is caricature and stereotype – but far too often it is more than a little true.
3. Abuse. I am not sure if any single factor is doing more harm than sexual abuse and attempts to cover it up – and it is not just a Roman Catholic problem (see Shellnutt 2019 and Du Mez 2021: 275-94).
No wonder we are seen as hypocritical.
4. Anger. In case you think evangelical faith in the public square is marked by qualities like joy, peace, and love, think again.
Recently, my wife and I were reading a biography together. At one point, the person in question said the wrong thing (by conservative evangelical standards). The outburst of anger was hard to believe. Anger by the thousands.
As I finished reading the chapter, we looked at each other somewhat stunned. Then she said: “I am ashamed to be a Christian”. It must be the saddest thing I have ever heard her say.
Yes, Jesus was sometimes angry. How often? And with whom? (Hint: not with the outsiders.)
No wonder we are seen as judgemental.
5. No link between work and faith. Young adults entering professional life find the church offers no help and fail to find relevance in faith for the working place. One reason: they are left without a concept of vocation, of ‘ordinary work’ as a calling and ministry on a par with church and missionary work. Whatever discipleship training they are offered, this aspect is often not included – a serious omission. In addition, little help is given to discover one’s gifting and purpose in life, another omission.
6. Aggressive masculinity. Another sobering read, by the way, is Jesus and John Wayne (Du Mez 2021). To be sure, the book has a bias. It claims on the cover that white evangelicals “fractured a nation”. But it usually takes two parties for fracture to happen. Those white evangelicals are reacting to something. Du Mez fails to inquire what that ‘something’, the other side of the problem, might be.
Still, it is a painful and elaborate documentation of how large sections of American evangelicalism have gone wrong. It has embraced an essentially macho ideal of masculinity (John Wayne), strong authoritarian leadership, and male headship.
Peace and joy in the Holy Spirit? Na, too tame…
Hey! The ”Open Generation” is very interested in Jesus. Let’s not give them John Wayne!
Why I Will Yet Be an Evangelical
Despite all this, I will continue to identify as an evangelical. There is no way I will give up this word; it is far too beautiful. I will not relinquish it to angry distortions in contemporary evangelicalism.
Think about it: what is at the centre of evangelical? It is evangel, the gospel. Can we do better than putting the gospel at the centre of our lives? Is there a better way to live or a greater word to describe ourselves?
Yes, there is. I can think of one: Christian. After all, what is at the centre of this word? It is Christ. Cannot top that. But evangelical is not far behind. I am holding on to this word: I am an evangelical Christian.
Response to Doubt
But how can we respond to those in doubt? In closing, a few suggestions (if you want more, read David Kinnaman!).
1. Listen. You are not expected to ‘fix’ the problem or offer a solution. A sympathetic ear is more helpful.
2. Be ready to say, I don’t know, or I am not certain. Faith is not the absence of doubt, much less certainty on every point of doctrine. Don’t give pat or superficial answers.
3. Encourage them to read Julian of Norwich. Why? Because she was a woman, the first woman to write a book in the English language, and because she wrote a long time ago, in a different world, yet with a distinct, Christian voice. Okay, it does not have to be Julian of Norwich. The point is, we all need Christian voices from outside our little circle. The Christian tradition is rich and deeply rooted in history. No one should reject it based on a narrow version of it. Don’t walk away from the faith without looking beyond your own faction.
4. Above all, live a congruent life. I picked up this word from Eugene Peterson, for whom congruence was a lifelong pursuit. Congruence means that what we are on the outside matches what we are on the inside. It means that what we say and what we do accords with who we are.
In other words, it means that as evangelical Christians, we do indeed live the evangel and follow Christ.
Sounds like a radical idea. And who knows, it might prove more attractive than anger.
Afterthought
The phrase ‘deconstructing faith’ feels a bit like a marketing ploy. It is somewhat vague, certainly broad, and it sounds hip: it makes you an interesting person, or so it suggests. But it is essentially bad language: unsharp and inexact. Plus: We are not told to deconstruct, say, sexual or spiritual abuse or the evangelical tradition but faith. Faith is at least a neutral if not a positive word. Who wants to deconstruct faith? Is that a worthy goal? Again, the language is imprecise.
Attribution
Khadyev, Ruslan. 2019 <https://unsplash.com/photos/12Aqz3b3fxE> CC0
Maiconfz. 2015 <https://pixabay.com/de/photos/bibel-buchen-christian-heilig-1108074/>
Rawlinson, Kerry. 2020 <https://unsplash.com/photos/k8uW_jDFFKw> CC0
References
Du Mez, Kristin Kobes. 2021. Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation (New York, NY: Liveright Publishing Corporation)
Huckabee, Tyler. 2022. ‘Skillet’s John Cooper: It’s Time to “Declare War Against This Deconstruction Christian Movement”’, RELEVANT <https://relevantmagazine.com/current/skillets-john-cooper-its-time-to-declare-war-against-this-deconstruction-christian-movement/> [accessed 1 March 2023]
Kinnaman, David, and Aly Hawkins. 2011. You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church– and Rethinking Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books)
Kinnaman, David, and Gabe Lyons. 2007. Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity – and Why It Matters (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books)
Nieuwhof, Carey. 2022. ‘Five Real Reasons Young People Are Deconstructing Their Faith’, CareyNieuwhof.Com <https://careynieuwhof.com/five-real-reasons-young-people-are-deconstructing-their-faith/> [accessed 1 March 2023]
‘The Open Generation’. [n.d.]. Barna Group <https://www.barna.com/the-open-generation/> [accessed 1 March 2023]
Shellnutt, Kate. 2019. ‘1 in 10 Young Protestants Have Left a Church Over Abuse’, News & Reporting <https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/may/lifeway-protestant-abuse-survey-young-christians-leave-chur.html> [accessed 1 March 2023]
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