In 1993, the song, If I Ever Lose My Faith In You, appeared on the Grammy nominated album, Ten Summoner’s Tales by legendary rock artist, Sting, formerly of The Police. The song hit #17 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and #5 on the Mainstream Rock carts, and ended up winning the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal that year.
In September 2020, the hard rock band, Disturbed, also covered the song.
The song is about losing faith in politics, technology, science, progress, media and religion, but relentlessly holding on to the only faith that matters.
Sting never clarified the object of the faith he described in the song. In fact, he regularly resisted defining it, believing that people could and would interpret the song differently depending on their perspective and circumstances in life.
In this series of blogs, I want to talk about the issues of faith and doubt, of losing faith and caving into doubt. The purpose of this blog series is not to throw stones at people struggling with faith, but to build bridges and to share hope.
Deconstruction and Losing Faith
From pastors to Christian leaders, authors, musicians and worship leaders — over the past weeks, months and years, we’ve seen a growing number of Christians publicly walk away from their faith, often announcing on social media. In fact, the word “deconstruction” has become a buzzword in 2020 and 2021.
Generally speaking, deconstruction is the dismantling of anything that has been constructed. For instance, in architecture, it’s the deconstruction or demolishing of one room or building to make room for another.
But, for our purposes and this blog, we’ll describe deconstruction like this:
“Deconstruction is the process of systematically dissecting, dismantling and sometimes even rejecting the beliefs you were raised with.”
This can include the deconstruction of things like truth, sexuality, political ideology, or our understanding of gender, race and more. But in this blog series, we’re going to share specifically about the deconstruction of faith.
Deconstructing
TRUTH
SEXUALITY
POLITICAL IDEOLOGY
GENDER
RACE, and,
FAITH.
From Josh Harris of the famed, I Kissed Dating Goodbye book, to Jonathan Steingard, the front-man for Christian rock band, Hawk Nelson, to K-Max, 1/3 of the Christian super group, DC Talk, to Michael Gungor of the band, Gungor, to Abraham Piper, son of world-renown pastor, John Piper, to Aaron Rodgers, beloved quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. A number of prominent to somewhat prominent people, who once called themselves Christians, have either walked away from the faith entirely or embraced a “progressive” form of Christianity.
In some ways, it has become trendy to deconstruct. Google “deconstructing faith” and you’ll discover a cottage industry of books, websites, blogs and podcasts focused on nothing but deconstruction stories. Adding your story to the growing list of stories will immediately be met with approval and applause from those in the deconstruction movement, or anger and shame by many in the church.
Holding on to faith…
Building a faith that is rock-solid, steady and secure
may be more difficult than ever in a world
where everything seems to be deconstructing.
Right at the beginning, it’s important to point out that not all deconstruction is bad.
Not all Deconstruction is Bad
For instance, according to A.J. Swoboda in his excellent book, After Doubt, the Sermon on the Mount is a treatise by Jesus where he deconstructs the rigid religious system of his day that was built on the tedious traditions of men, and he replaced it with a message of God’s radical love, incredible justice and extravagant mercy and grace. At least six times in Matthew 5 alone, Jesus says, “You’ve heard it said…but I say…” (Matt 5:21-22, 27-28, 31-32, 33-34, 38-39, 43-44).[1]
The argument could be made that deconstruction is exactly what Martin Luther did when he posted his 95 Theses on the door of Wittenberg Cathedral. He “deconstructed” what was then, Catholicism, and “reconstructed” what we call Protestantism today.
The writer of Ecclesiastes even points out in Chapter 3:1, 3 that, “There is a time for everything.. 3 …a time to tear down and a time to build…” —Ecc 3:1, 3 NIV
“There is a time for everything..
3 …a time to tear down and a time to build…” —Ecc 3:1, 3 NIV
Again, not all deconstruction is bad. In fact, a healthy pattern in life seems to involve a constant commitment to:
- Construction — intentionally building your beliefs and values.
- Deconstruction — challenging those beliefs and values — putting them under scrutiny — by bringing them under the authority of God’s Word. Then,
- Reconstruction — re-emerging with a renewed commitment to the eternal truth of God’s Word. [2]
Sometimes it’s important to deconstruct bad theology so that you can build a robust and strong faith.
“To struggle with one’s faith is often the surest sign we actually have one.”
—A.J. Swoboda
I love the following caution from A.J. Swoboda.
“Deconstruction is a double-edged sword. It can edify our faith by helping us critically rethink wrong beliefs. But it can also go too far and bring our faith to nothing. Any belief we uncritically received at some point that remains hostile or opposed to the biblical message of Jesus Christ needs to be deconstructed. But the minute deconstruction undermines the gospel, our faith, or the Bible, we’ve deconstructed too much. There’s a world of difference between deconstructing wrong beliefs and deconstructing the faith, just as there’s a difference between remodeling a room in our home and tearing down the house. Distinguishing between the two is essential: one is intellectual repentance and the other faith abandonment. One is healthy deconstruction; the other is faith destruction.” —A.J. Swoboda, After Doubt [3]
A Personal Story of Deconstruction
I was raised in what’s called a “classical Pentecostal Church.” I have so many fond memories of being raised in that church. It’s where I came to know Jesus. It’s where I followed Him in water baptism. It’s where I met the girl who would eventually become my wife. It’s where my faith was primarily shaped and formed. I owe so many things to that church.
But the church wasn’t perfect. Far from it. If you know anything at all about Pentecostalism, you know that the Pentecostal tradition, especially when I was a young man, was steeped in legalism. In fact, our church was much more vocal about what we were against, than what we were actually for.
For decades, I developed and practiced a harsh, judgmental and legalistic approach to God, Christianity and people, that affected everything about my life — especially the way I related to my wife and children.
It has literally taken years — and an agonizing amount of blood, sweat and tears — to deconstruct the legalism of my youth and to learn to accept and live in the amazing love of God, the extravagant grace of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, and the reality that I don’t have to work to become a child of God. Because of Jesus and all that He has done in dying for my sin and in my place, I AM A CHILD OF GOD!
I went through a process of deconstruction. It didn’t cause me to abandon my faith, but it gave me the ability and tools to let go of bad theology and replace it with the truth of God’s Word.
Once more, not all deconstruction is bad!
There is a healthy way to deconstruct that can lead to a renewal of faith and a return to your first love (Rev 2:4). Unfortunately, there are more than a thousand ways to deconstruct that are dangerous, detrimental and even deadly to your faith and life with God.
As I’ve already mentioned, there’s a cottage industry of books, websites, blogs and podcasts that seem to exist for no other reason than to rip people away from the love of Christ! Beware!
Cling to Your Faith!
This may be why, way before the arrival of websites, podcasts, books and social media feeds that seem to applaud any and every act of deconstruction as some kind of sign of maturity, self-awareness and self-improvement, Paul shared this warning with his son in the faith, Timothy, in the letter we call 1 Tim 1:19-20.
Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked. 20 Hymenaeus and Alexander are two examples. —1 Tim 1:19-20a NLT
The reference to a shipwrecked faith is a reference to spiritual catastrophe. It’s happening all around us. People with a faith that was once vibrant, strong and secure are now left with the remnants and debris of that faith — faith that is now a complete wreck and in absolute shambles.
Paul even lists two men specifically in his warning to Timothy, because he’s aware that Timothy will know these guys and know their stories. He wants his spiritual son to reflect on what happens when faith gets shipwrecked.
Paul challenges his spiritual protégé, “Cling to your faith…” The writer of Hebrews would say it like this, “…let us hold firmly to what we believe…” (Heb 4:14).
Both challenges are strong and indicate that this is not a moment when we can afford to be apathetic or casual when it comes to our faith. To maintain a vibrant faith in a world that seems fixated and focused on destroying, demolishing, dismantling and completely obliterating Christian faith will require more vigilance, persistence and perseverance than we even feel capable of. But God promises to provide the strength and grace necessary (2 Cor 12:9-11).
Psalm 11 — A Psalm of Trust + Confidence
Faith’s response to fear’s advice
A question appears in Psalm 11 that reflects how a growing number of people feel in 2021. It shows up in Verse 3.
“When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
— Psalm 11:3 NIV
Have you felt like that during the last 24 months? Have you felt like the very foundations you built your life on are falling apart?
It’s important to point out that the panic that launched the question in Psalm 11:3 didn’t come from David. The question actually came from some of David’s well-meaning friends. In fact, it was only part of their advice.
In Psalm 11:2-3, in a moment of crisis, a group of David’s friends and advisers looked at him and said, “Run to the mountain. Get out of Dodge. This is your only option. You have some powerful enemies and they’re closing ranks. The foundations are being destroyed. Everything you built your life on is collapsing. You had better run while you can.”
A Psalm of Trust
Fortunately, there’s a series of Psalms in the Bible that theologians call “Psalms of Trust” or “Psalms of Confidence” (Ex., Ps 4, 9, 16, 23, 27, 62, 125 and 131). These are psalms that were written by people whose backs were against the wall, whose world had been completely turned upside down and who felt like their world and personal lives were completely deconstructing.
But in the middle of their pain and loss, they discovered WHO and WHAT they could really count on when everything else around them was collapsing. Somehow, while everything around them was deconstructing, their faith remained rock-solid, steady and strong. That’s the kind of faith described in Psalm 11. It contains faith’s response to fear’s advice.
The Psalm was written by David. We’re not really certain when David composed it. Scholars say that there are only two possibilities. Either David wrote the psalm when he was on the run from King Saul, or when his life was being threatened by His own son, Absalom. I’ll opt for the latter possibility in this blog.
A couple of facts about the psalm:
- Psalm 11 was composed during a time of national crisis.
Things weren’t going well for David’s kingdom. By this point in his life, due to some horrible decisions on his part, David had lost a significant amount of respect and moral authority as a leader. He had a growing number of critics. His number one critic happened to be his son.
Politically, David was on the ropes. Absalom, was leading an all-out insurrection against his Dad, bent on two goals: 1) humiliate his old man, and, 2) murder his old man.
Things had gotten so bad that it appeared to many of David’s closest friends, chief counselors and advisers as if the very foundations of his kingdom were on the verge of crumbling and collapsing. David’s kingdom was in crisis.
- Psalm 11 was composed during a time of personal crisis.
Not only was David’s kingdom in jeopardy, his very personal life was also hanging in the balance. Professional pain is one thing. But add personal, relational and emotional pain to the mix, and it can all bring you to the brink of despair.
Here’s the point, David wrote Psalm 11 when every aspect of his life – personally, domestically and politically – was unraveling at the seams. In a very real way, He was “deconstructing.” But in Psalm 11, he shares FOUR TRUTHS we should remember when we feel like we’re deconstructing.
We’ll begin exploring those FOUR TRUTHS in the next blog. For now, let’s close this entry by reading the entire psalm.
In the Lord I take refuge. [In the Lord I put my trust.]
How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain.
2 For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
4 The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them.
5 The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.
7 For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face.
—Psalm 11 NIV
[1] A.J. Swoboda, After Doubt, p 39, Kindle Edition.
[2] This grid, pattern or theological journey has been proposed by both more conservative writers like A.J. Swoboda and more progressive writers like Richard Rohr.
[3] Swoboda, A. J.. After Doubt (p. 26). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.