Evangelicalism has a deconstruction crisis. I know they do based on the sheer number of articles, blog posts, podcasts, and sermons churned out by Evangelical taking heads, warning that deconstruction is okay as long as it keeps your ass in the pew and your tithe in the offering place.
Evangelical rapper Lecrae described deconstruction like this:
Deconstruction is not a bad thing if it leads to reconstruction. Sometimes you have to demolish a building that has mold and then build something else on that foundation. We’re not getting rid of the foundation. The foundation is Christ. But we’re building on that foundation and tearing down some things that were unnecessary.
Of course, Evangelical preachers wish deconstruction would go away altogether. They see it as a product of postmodernism, with its questions and doubts. They wish for a return to the good old days of the 1950s, but an increasing number of Evangelicals refuse to buy what preachers are selling. Deconstruction begins with seeking answers to unanswered questions. Evangelicals often turn to their pastors, parents, and fellow church members first, hoping to find answers to their questions. Instead, they are served up warmed-over rote answers, complete with appeals to the Bible. When these “answers” fail to assuage inquiring minds filled with questions, preachers often turn to fear, warning deconstructionists of the danger of wandering outside of the Evangelical bubble. Hell and judgment, being powerful motivations to conform, will sometimes put an end to deconstruction. PRAISE JESUS, another loss averted. Please make that check out to “First Baptist Church.”
An increasing number of Evangelicals ignore the paternalistic warnings of their pastors and continue seeking answers to their doubts and questions. These folks typically leave the fold, never to return. Tired of cheap, easy answers, they seek out people who will tell them the truth with no strings attached. I have helped countless people along their deconstruction journey. I don’t have an agenda. I am not interested in turning them into atheists. I don’t want their money. I just want to share my story and, if possible, answer whatever questions they might have. And if I can’t, I recommend books that might help him. My goal is to help facilitate their journey, knowing that the journey is far more important than the destination. Can any Evangelical preacher say the same thing?
Many Evangelical preachers can’t imagine a world where God, Jesus, or the Bible are called into question. Questions and doubts are from the Devil or signs of worldliness. Sure, it is okay to question whether Paul wrote the book of Hebrews, but, by God, we must not question the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible. There are certain foundational “truths” in Evangelicalism that must never, never be challenged or questioned. Deconstruction demands that no subject be off-limits. Post-modernity is coming for Evangelicalism, and unless they rethink their defense, deconstruction will only increase, both among the laity and the clergy.
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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‘…Evangelicals often turn to their pastors, parents, and fellow church members first, hoping to find answers to their questions….’ I couldn’t do that in my fundy family and church, around 2012-13 when my dissonances were overwhelming me. I just want to say, as I’ve said before, I don’t know where I’d be now if I hadn’t flukily found this blog and a couple of others on the old Patheos/NR site. So, many thanks again, Bruce, for the freedom and ‘new life I’m having, without faith……you’d almost think a sky fairy, some hidden power from on high had made me find these blogs as I needed them so very much….it was so completely random that I did…and x-tians believe every small or large thing in their lives happens for a divinely-controlled purpose. Ha ha!
Evangelicals ought to be afraid of deconstruction as those $$$ are exiting the building. I started deconstructing around age 16-17, on again off again, and was completely out of evangelicalism by age 24. In a world with internet, I probably would have deconstructed all the way a lot sooner as I spent over a decade in progressive Christianity, and nearly a decade ignoring religion entirely without grappling with the realization that I was an atheist. My 2 kids never made it into evangelicalism, and barely remember Christianity at all. They’re truly “nones”, nonreligious, atheists by default. So there are 2 more potential sources of $$$ that never made it thru the evangelical church door.
The majority of my husband’s 1st cousins have exited Catholicism, and my 4 adult nieces and nephew exited Catholicism as well. Lots of “nones” among the younger Gen X, Millenials, and older Gen Z in the family.
As far as going near another church again, THAT has definitely been ‘ deconstructed.’. And if I ever have a desire to do otherwise,it certainly will NOT be a typical, American- style church ! No more English-speaking church bodies,music, literature,etc. Them days are gone, along with my citizenship. I’ve had more than enough of ‘ the usual.’
I notice that more than one of those points of the Evangelical preachers’ views of reconstruction are about human desires to sin. “You just want to sin!” is such an easy trope to throw at us. And yet, the people I actually know who have escaped religion are generally kind, generous, helpful folks who have internalized Jesus’ instruction to love our neighbors. While I, at 63, am still married to the love of my life, since age 20–and I consider it extreme luck that we managed to find each other as undergrads–many of these so-called “sinning” people that Evangelicals sniff at, are people who were pressured by culture and biological clocks to marry before they’d discovered who they are, and became, or had spouses who became, unacceptable life partners. Oh, and other “sinners” finally admitted that they aren’t straight and/or cis.
I am reminded that in the early years of the Christian church, marriages were considered exclusively civil affairs. It was only after the Church discovered that they could use marriage as another way to control the populace, that it became a religious affair.
I also note that one of the points is suspicion of Paul. I infer that the man was a charismatic preacher and had the organizational ability to start churches, which must have meant finding and encouraging local preachers. If you think about it, it’s clear that he was an amazing force behind the establishment of Christianity outside Palestine, while simultaneously making enough of his own living to eat and sleep inside. In the 21st century, in the West, the man would’ve been a powerhouse CEO of a brilliant startup. But he was human, and someone suffering the inherent biases of his own culture. I honestly don’t think that Paul can be properly appreciated, except from outside Christianity. Here, we can understand his biases, and still be amazed at his organizational abilities and his dedication to a cause he sincerely believed in. I actually appreciate him a whole lot more than when I was a Christian. Not that he was always right–and sometimes very wrong–but wow, what he accomplished. Then, a couple of decades later, Constantine made Christianity a government-supported religion, and the sitch exploded.
It sounds like “Deconstruction” is a dog-whistle term for what Evangelicals fear, much like “woke” on the political right.
By the way, “deconstruction” does not merely mean “taking apart.” Rather, it means—at least in philosophy and literary studies—trying to understand how something was created in order to understand its inner workings. If Evangelicals actually do understand the term in that way, perhaps they fear it because it will lead people to discover “there’s no there there,” i.e., that the Bible is no more “divinely inspired” than a James Bond movie.
It’s an “acrostic”.. it is a poem that begins each line with the letter of the person or thing you are trying to understand