The term “deconstruction” is, sadly, very popular in main line Christian churches and on social media. Like so many words in the English language, each of us tends to define it differently. For some, it means leaving the Christian faith entirely (details here). For others, it means maintaining certain Christian beliefs while rejecting others. Finally, it can be a roadmap to strengthening one’s faith or destroying it (details here).

Webster defines Deconstruction as, “the analytic examination of something (such as a theory), often in order to reveal its inadequacy.”

Wikipedia defines Faith Deconstruction as, “a process during which religious believers reexamine and question their beliefs.”

The problem with deconstruction is not the questioning or reexamination of our beliefs to bring more insight and clarity to our faith… it is that often the motivation for its initiation is counter to the Lord’s desire for sanctification. Often those that begin to travel on this path never find themselves reconstructing their faith in a way that is salvific (saving). They deny the unity of the Bible as the source for God’s commands, preferring instead to focus on “loving one’s neighbor” and rejecting those aspects of core theology that do not meet their human, preconceived notions of right and wrong.

Once one rejects God’s autonomous ability to be our righteous judge, by definition they reject the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross as Lord of our lives. All believers must express a willingness to not only accept Christ as Savior, but also as Lord; as presented in the Bible, a divine work of God intended as an instruction manual for the Christian life. This terminal form of deconstruction, without a saving reconstruction, becomes Deconversion.

“Deconversion means giving up Christianity in exchange for a different religion, spiritualism, or no religion, such as atheism or agnosticism. Those who deconvert from Christianity reject core tenets of orthodox Christian faith, typically distance themselves from Christian community, and often, though not always, reject religion altogether” (details here).

Of course this brings up the question of perseverance of the Saints. Said more clearly, are those who deconstruct all the way to deconversion, never saved in the first place or have they really lost their salvation in the process? This is a timeless argument for theologians to grapple with.