Discipling Disbelief & Deconstruction

Biblical illiteracy is the root of our Christian division.

A whole generation was raised to not question anything, ESPECIALLY what we read in Scripture.

So we listened to catch faith rather than chasing God ourselves. We believed blindly those who spoon-fed us “the Word” and read “reverently” without a lick of foundational understanding.

Until those who taught us to believe turned out to be human: broken and flawed, and no more holy than the very skin we live in.

So we sought truth for ourselves, but we were never taught to dig deep wells for the words of the Lord to flourish within.
We began to dig, or what this wave of culture is calling it, deconstruct.
We began to doubt, but some condemned it as disbelief.
We began to ask, but some called us deceivers.
We began to fight for truth, but some claimed we were just trying to tear down the church.

Without the tools and support to understand God’s Word on our own, that digging has turned to longing and grief. We long for the love of Jesus to be tangible here on earth and grieve how the church has missed the mark too many times.

For some, grief leads to doubt, and doubt can lead to a hardened heart and disbelief.

But disbelief doesn’t have to be the end of your story.
Disbelief doesn’t mean God gave up on you.
Disbelief doesn’t mean you no longer have a way home.

When the disciples disbelieved in the resurrection, Jesus met them where they were. In His presence, they were softened, cared for, and reproached for not believing their fellow disciples' testimonies, but they were offered a second chance to believe.

Deconstruction is not a faith death sentence.
Disbelief doesn’t immediately count you out.
Love will chase you, and when you’re ready to experience the presence of God, belief finds room in your heart and mind.

As disciple-makers, we must learn to make space for deconstruction, doubt, and disbelief. Because Jesus modeled how to go after the one and let love and presence transform someone’s disbelief into belief. That is the call on our lives as we "go and make disciples of all nations."

It starts with teaching people not just what we know about God but how they can know the same revealed nature of God through the Word. You may be asking yourself and your pastor and small group what this generation of deconstructors needs to find their way back to God—it's really simpler than you think.

We just need God—not a pastor who tells us what we should know about God, not a church that demands righteousness look a way other than God defined it, not a rulebook for how to vote if we want to be a "real Christian" and certainly not condemnation for how we dress, think, or act.

If God revealed his nature, desires, and purposes in Scripture, then what we need now more than ever is for people to point us to the good word of the Lord and show us how to understand faith for ourselves. Then we can come together in community to make God's kingdom known on earth as it is in Heaven.

We must be equipped to dig for truth on our own in order to know God, love God, receive His love, and rediscover the belief that was hiding under the guise of doubt and deconstruction all along.