Elemental Season 1 - Day 29

When we deconstruct our faith, it is certainly not always a loss of faith. Rather, it is a reconfiguring and reworking of some of those universal understandings. It is also an opportunity to look at the bigger picture, where God resides, and see if our worldview matches with that of God’s as far as we can know it. 

It is also an opportunity to take a look at your faith and the assumptions that have come along with your faith development. You will get the chance to divide what is “church” and what is “faith” and see where those things coincide.

All that we have thought of as coming from the church is not always the best and most beneficial for our faith. Often, when people talk of deconstructing their faith they are really talking about deconstructing their relationship with the church and how that has affected their understanding of the things of God. While I do believe that churches are important, I also understand the damage they can do to people’s lives if we are not careful. 

A question I have asked in other series guides is the question of who/what do you believe in. That question of the object of your faith is super important. Sometimes, when we process the deconstruction of what we believe we begin to realize that we don’t actually believe in the things that we thought we did. In other words, sometimes we have let the church, or doctrine, or others do our believing for us. When this happens we sometimes can get angry at God for things that God is not responsible for, for things that God never said, and for laws and rules that God has not placed on your life. 

To exegete your spiritual history can be painful, but it can also be eye-opening. To realize that you don’t know where certain ideas and thoughts come from, and then to delve deeper into their origin in your life is sometimes breathtaking in its scope of our misunderstanding of God. 

That is not to say that everyone who deconstructs their faith lands back in a healthier place when it comes to religion and their spiritual journey and understanding. Sometimes people are confronted with truths that are so difficult, and trauma that is so damaging, they feel they have to leave. While this is tragic, I don’t believe that God is done with them, and when it is appropriate or feasible, God will either bring them back, bring them to a healthier place, or allow them to choose their own destiny. But remember, just because we sometimes stop believing, does not mean that God stops believing in us! 

1. What truths do you need to confront about your understanding of God? 
2. Have you ever lost someone to unbelief after they examined their faith? 
3. How can we create places where people can ask questions and still feel safe?