After deconstructing, don’t “reconstruct”! Do this instead…

Have you stopped deconstructing? Did you get to a point where you just said you were done, or where you felt like you were done? Did you stop attending church to throw away all your John Piper and Tim Keller books and call it a day?

I’ve been seeing that a lot of people are deconstructing their church experience or the doctrines of a particular christian sect, and then they decide that they’re finished and whatever is left over is the basis of their new faith. Or, maybe there’s nothing left over and, so, they shift to atheism.

If you have only deconstructed your faith or the church, and aren’t going any further, I believe that you’re stopping too early.

Deconstructing your faith, your beliefs, is only the first part of the journey. (And I’m NOT going to talk about “reconstructing”!!)

I know that there can be a sense of “is this all it is?” after you take your big step away from evangelicalism. It’s normal to feel a huge rush of freedom and relief as you begin to live life on your own terms. I also know that it can be really easy to do all that hard work and then say, “My beliefs caused me to feel so much shame… I don’t want to feel shame, so I’ll just find a new set of beliefs!” At this point, many find comfort in the lovely, seemingly neutral practices of Buddhism. Others move into agnosticism or become atheists. Others move to a different denomination. They think they did the thing they were supposed to do: they let go of toxic beliefs and worldviews, so that’s it! Deconstruction of my faith – check!

“Unknowing” God and our faith is a massive step towards spiritual growth and maturity. However, we sell ourselves short if we stop there.

Just like we go through the process of “unknowing” God, we must also go through the process of “unknowing” ourselves. What’s strange is that the part where we drop our beliefs about God can feel like the bigger, more important thing because of how huge a role our faith has played in our lives. However, unknowing God is actually just the stepping stone to the more exciting journey of unknowing ourselves, which is still on this spiritual path. Why this is important, especially to those who are longing for some new hope or comfort, is because unknowing ourselves is actually a deep dive into a new encounter with the divine.

Here at ITF, I’m going to continue exploring this idea of “unknowing God.” If you’re ready to take this adventure deeper, follow me over at KnowTrustGrow where I’m supporting and guiding spiritual seekers through the next stage of “unknowing,” as they recover and discover their truest selves.