Latest / Clear Path Christianity / Leaving Error WITHOUT Leaving Christ || CPC Podcast Ep. 8
Transcript
- Cole Crone: one of the sort of buzzwords around Christianity and particularly American Christianity sort of of late is this deconstruction. what is We're constantly hearing about people their faith. ⁓ so and so deconstructed this figure in the Christian music industry has deconstructed and deconverted, or the guys from Good Mythic Morning have deconstructed and ⁓ deconverted. there's lot of talk on this particular topic. as who has, in a sense, ⁓ and I think by the definition, am someone who has deconstructed, but not someone who has deconverted. I thought I would of tell ⁓ this part of my because there was a point for me where I had to ⁓ question everything that I ⁓ at every level from worldview level to just basic day-to-day life kinds of questions but ⁓ in this process, ⁓ my question was never, should I leave Christianity? I have been leaving because I never was a Christian, but at the time I wasn't thinking, do I need to be looking for something outside of? Christianity. I was already convinced that Christianity made the most sense of the world as I understood it, as I perceived it, as I was experiencing it. The evidence for Christianity was than convincing. In fact, it was overwhelming to me. But that just showed me that I wasn't in a Christian church. So rather than asking, should I abandon Christianity, I ⁓ asking the question, is The thing that I'm a part of is the thing that I'm actually believing is that actually Christianity. key ⁓ for me this episode ⁓ is say I leave Christianity. Rather, I left a distorted version of Christianity. And right here at the outset, I want to speak to a particular type of individual. you are someone who has left a religious organization that was a distorted version of Christianity, my hope here is you will see my story and think, well, I will this Christianity thing. another chance because what I had wasn't really Christianity. And so let's start by talking about deconstruction. What is deconstruction? It's a massively loaded but in the context of religion, it is talking about the idea of questioning beliefs and dismantling inherited faith structures. It's exactly what's on the tin, taking something apart, looking at the composite parts and thinking, do I need all of these? Are all of these essential? And for a lot of people, The answer is no, lose this particular teaching or that particular practice or whatever it is, and some people just say, I don't need any these things. And those are the folks who deconvert. there's kind of two possible paths here, Deconstruction that leads to and testing and results in a... deeper commitment to biblical truth is one option. And deconstruction that leads to skepticism, rejection of authority, and or relativism is the other option, I want to, ⁓ want to try put forth ⁓ option A ⁓ over what I believe to be an unlivable alternative in option B. why happens? are a ⁓ cornucopia of reasons, but the that I see as ⁓ most prevalent as I look into this topic are these common triggers, hypocrisy and abuse. And that can be either ⁓ in leadership or in particular styles of ⁓ Christianity or just in groups that aren't groups like where I came from that aren't even really Christianity at all. But it can also be in just the individuals, right? We hear a lot about church hurt these days where ⁓ an is harmed by another individual and the leadership doesn't do enough about it or the leadership doesn't have a strong enough stance on a particular social issue. Those sorts of things. ⁓ things you see as either hypocritical or abusive and deconstruction happens. ⁓ You what are believed to be doctrinal inconsistencies. we care a lot about abortion, but we don't really care a lot about the plight of the immigrant. Maybe you see that as a doctrinal inconsistency and that leads you to deconstruct. Control or manipulation, obviously that's not good and is gonna lead people to question things. Unanswered questions, I find is a big one. And for some reason it seems to be the case that a lot of these kick off concerning the Bible's depiction of creation and how that reconciles with... what we believe to be the best scientific evidence. of guys from Good Mythical Morning, that's like his whole story. coming to accept evolution and coming to accept things that he was raised believing were just incompatible with the biblical account. so that kind of started him along the path ⁓ of his deconversion. And I'm not commenting on any of those things here. I'm just... saying that that was a particular issue for him and I find that that's the case with others as well. And then you have ⁓ times of crisis and or suffering, Something terrible happens in your life, it causes you to question all kinds of things, namely, God, how did this happen? ⁓ Why you let this happen to me? Those sorts of things. And as a result, we're questioning everything, deconstruction happens. From my perspective, I do not believe that deconstruction is in any way inherently rebellious a practice really at all. Again, I'm someone who ⁓ did and on the other of it found true freedom in Christ. And so I'm not gonna ⁓ try to dissuade from taking ⁓ things apart. and deciding what is and isn't essential. but the problem is that it's a response to being misled, and that's on us, as the church. two pieces of biblical data that I want to point to before we move forward. One is the Bible teaches us to examine teachings. One of the passages that I bring up constantly on this podcast is Acts 17, 11, of the Bereans, this is an obvious one, They're praised for questioning the teachings of Paul against the Scriptures, Or you have ⁓ call from the Paul of 2 Corinthians 13.5 to examine ⁓ yourself, So we're supposed be truth-seeking and examining doctrine, examining teaching. examining ourselves, our own hearts, our own postures, our own beliefs and dispositions, and then comparing to what we know to be true. So these are good things, That lead to some kind of deconstruction. Now, to me there are a few common pitfalls, and that's the next point that I want to look at, and this seems to be where many go wrong. And I'm not talking about specifically who have ⁓ left historical, creedal Christianity just gone into nothingness, ⁓ but people have ⁓ quote-unquote deconstructed ⁓ groups that even biblical, historical, creedal Christianity ⁓ and then subsequently fallen nothingness. there's common pitfalls sort of across the board One just throwing everything. So this person might say like, if ⁓ this aspect of my religion proven wrong, then it must all be wrong. That's a logical That doesn't follow. because your particular group had an error, That you were unaware of doesn't mean that your group is entirely in error, Those are two different things. The second thing that I see a lot is equating ⁓ bad to a ⁓ system. So in other words, a bad church or a bad church experience does not necessarily mean that Christianity is a false religion or worldview. It just means that you were in a bad church or you had a bad church experience. For you then to extrapolate and make a blanket statement about an entire worldview that's 2,000 years old, is giving your own opinion, I think, far too much weight. And so we need to be careful jumping to those sorts of conclusions. The third thing I see is replacing authority, whatever that damaging authority or that damaging authoritarian structure was, with just self. Because ⁓ you go from, I've from this system that had this truth that I don't like to now I decide what is true. Now I decide what's truth. that just means you're god your own universe. So you aren't really concerned with what is ⁓ true. You're only concerned with what you want to true at that point. And so I, worry that because you're going to become another cult leader. And the last one is ⁓ never ⁓ reconstructing anything. Deconstruction is beneficial you then ⁓ reconstruct something. ⁓ Who just blows something and then ⁓ never puts anything back in its place? makes no sense. like imagine if they hadn't built anything where the World Trade Centers were and was just this big hole in the ground. You'd be like, ⁓ well, are going to put anything here? this was a tragedy that these ⁓ buildings fell down and that all people lost their lives. But are we, are we making this worse by just leaving this awful hole but that's what a lot of people do. they deconstruct and they never really reconstruct anything. and they just live in this perpetual place of doubt, And so there's just never anything there. There's never any grounding for them ever again, in some cases. And I want to avoid that. And I think this biblical anchor that I return to time and time and time again, this bit of biblical wisdom keeps me, at least, despite all of the lies and deceit that I've had to wade through, This is ⁓ a passage I to time time and time again. ⁓ It's from Ephesians 4.14. The apostle Paul this, That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. The Apostle Paul telling that this ⁓ constant ⁓ that's a child's game. ⁓ A mature ⁓ grounds on truth. if you deconstruct decide there is no such thing as truth anymore, well then you are going to be this very thing. A person that is a child that is tossed to and fro and deceived by trickery of men and cunning craftiness and these sorts of things. And I don't want that for anybody. And you shouldn't want that for yourself. the biggest ⁓ missing to is this reconstruction process. Don't just nuke your worldview and then just ⁓ sit ⁓ in the Surely we need to be more surgical in our precision removing this bit or that bit, So a key ⁓ point that want to make here in this section is ⁓ deconstruction ⁓ without some of ⁓ reconstruction is going to just leave you in a confused array of disjointed pieces. that may sound and a lot of high profile influencers might be telling you that that's a really great way to live because you can, ⁓ you you live your own terms and you do your own thing and you know, this you do you kind of ⁓ hyper subjectivity that live in in this. ridiculous postmodern world in which we find ourselves I go back to the biblical wisdom of the Apostle Paul that that's a child's game. Let's let's get into the big leagues. Let's not T-ball, go MLB that's the piece that I'm looking at here. there are at three different steps to this reconstruction process. And the first step is to ask worldview level questions. Don't fall into this trap of looking ⁓ inward. Observe the world views on display. ⁓ Observe all see and ask yourself which one of these makes most sense of reality as I it, as I observe it. ⁓ Listen to others. ⁓ Who has the best arguments? Whose claims make the most sense? ⁓ and subjectivity the thing? Has that worked historically? What has Christianity or ⁓ Islam Buddhism ⁓ done the greater world? yourself ⁓ of questions, Here just some other ⁓ examples that I think we need to be asking from very early ⁓ on in our development into but that too few of us actually ask. What if there ⁓ is a God? If there a God, what kind of implications would that have on my life? maybe you were raised believing that there was a God, but you were also raised believing all kinds of other ⁓ nonsense doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Well, yeah, fine, throw that junk out. But have asked that fundamental question? What if there is a God? Second, if there is a God, what if that God has spoken? sort of implications would that have? How might that have been recorded and preserved? Which ⁓ worldview makes the most sense of that idea? ⁓ if you start getting ⁓ and closer to maybe you've decided there is a God and maybe you decided that if there is a God, that God would have made some attempt to communicate to us. Well, what if you go a step further? What if that God actually became a man and took on suffering ⁓ all of What if true? that be ⁓ the greatest act of that a human being has ever done? And each step you have to play out all of the implications of the various answers, Step number if you're finding that Christianity, for example, If you've moved from step one and you're finding, wait a minute, this Jesus character has actually got a lot of appeal, No other God took on flesh and... ⁓ took responsibility for the sins and the brokenness and the calamity of this world and embodied it other God has actually entered into our suffering such that they can actually understand our plight as humans. other God on offer has done that. ⁓ if you're finding that Christianity makes the most sense of the world, there are three things that I would advise you to do. First, go back to Scripture. Forget everything you were taught by the group that you have decided isn't worth being a part of anymore, You've deconstructed. Fine. Leave that group behind and go back to the Scriptures. What do the Scriptures actually teach and how well did your group actually represent those teachings? Because your group might not even ⁓ have a real valid expression of Christianity in the first place, That's what I found. The second step, discover historic Christianity. What Christianity like for 2,000 years? This thing didn't just come out of nowhere, like maybe from a group that started like my group and you know, like the 19th century. And no wonder it has all these weird views that didn't exist for the 1900 years prior, of course, Like no duh. this Christianity thing's been around for 2000 So whatever you're gonna believe about Christianity should look somewhat like what the... Christian faith has looked like for 2,000 years. So if you were a part of a group that had all of these innovations, yeah, you made the right call getting out of that. But don't throw the baby out of the bathwater. Go back to the scriptures. Look at what historical Christianity has always been begin to ask, do those things make the most sense of the scriptures? And finally, really, really, really, really learn the gospel. Learn the gospel and its implications. What does it really mean that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us? What does it really mean that the disciples beheld His glory? What does it mean that He was made sin who knew no sin? What if these things are true? What this gospel what if this ⁓ is true? ⁓ We call good news. What if it really is? What if really is news? What implications would that have on your life? third, ⁓ ⁓ a crucial third step, find a local ⁓ community where you can take the things that you've ⁓ and ascertained and gathered from steps one and two and ⁓ test them out. Take them to other people who are living this ⁓ life. and really try them out. You keep asking questions. You get into a community Test your answers to your scripture and historic Christianity and gospel questions. Go somewhere where you can do those things, But keep asking questions. Keep studying the evidence, And ⁓ do something really radical. Are you ready? This is the really radical part. Give your life to the people that you find. I mean that literally. Lay down your life for the people that you find in that community. See how it feels. See if ⁓ ⁓ kind of hole in the recesses ⁓ your mind and spirit. See if something in there ignites. Experience what it ⁓ actually feels like give your life to someone else. You never know unless you try it. But I have found that in that ⁓ much of I've always been looking for has been there. Has been in that. so based everything that I've said, let me it a little bit personal, I deconstructed without abandoning faith. these are a few that ⁓ if in a group and you're thinking ⁓ about, you've started the deconstruction process let me kind of walk you through how I did this and how I ended up not abandoning faith. I ended up keeping faith intact despite the fact that I deconstructed. ⁓ I ⁓ questioned beliefs, I begin to ask, what is essential to this ⁓ thing that in, that I've been raised in? What is essential to this? I begin to ask, what is essential to this ⁓ thing that in, that I've been raised in? What is essential to this? And are those things actually essential to Christianity? And are those things actually essential to Christianity? Is faith healing essential to Christianity? Is people leave the group essential to Christianity? Is it essential to Christianity that I not have friends out or associations of any kind really outside the group? Is faith healing essential to Christianity? Is people leave the group essential to Christianity? Is it essential to Christianity that I not have friends out or associations of any kind really outside the group? Like the answer is no, no, no, And so I just removed those things. Like the answer is no, no, no, And so I just removed those things. Now, of course, I moved so many things that my questions started to ruffle feathers. And of course, that's why I ended up leaving. But the thing that triggered the questions was this feeling that I wasn't seeing the whole picture. this feeling that there had to be more to this Christianity thing. There had to be more, a better explanation for the world around me than what I was getting where I was. One thing that was very problematic is that I was afraid to ask questions. ⁓ it isn't just that there were things that were not essential to Christianity that were baked into this group that I was a part of. It was that I was actually afraid to ask questions because that wasn't okay. Nobody was asking questions. either because they didn't care or because they had had a bad experience with a family member or a friend when they did ask the wrong question. now as I look back on it, I think, ⁓ would I be if I hadn't asked questions? ⁓ would happen if I didn't ask those questions? And I thought that a little bit, like, I'm afraid to ask questions, but what if I don't? And this is all a lie. I thought that a little bit before I left, but I think a lot more about that now. And I want to encourage you If you're in this kind of deconstruction process and thinking maybe I'm not even in a Christian group altogether, you should be asking that question. What happens if I don't inquire? What happens if I suppress all of these feelings that I'm having? Like maybe I'm not actually in a real group. Maybe this whole Christianity thing is a hoax, because I'm in this group that has all these crazy practices. What happens if you don't ask those questions? Now again, the key point for me is that I wasn't ⁓ deconstructing truth. I was simply deconstructing the error. And that's what I'd like to encourage you to do. You can keep truth and the idea of truth intact while you remove the error. can do both. I know because I did. So if you are questioning your faith, I would urge you against two things. Please do not stop asking questions. Ever. I'm still asking ⁓ lots of questions. Every I'm asking lots of questions. But the second thing I want to urge you is do not abandon the idea of truth. Your experience being lied to, being deceived, being hurt, being ostracized, excommunicated, whatever it is, while painful, know there probably isn't anybody out there who understands that better than I do. But however painful that is, To abandon the idea of truth is going to be far worse. So my final encouragement here, go to scripture. Really study historic Christianity. And finally, seek healthy, accountable community. and give your life to those people. You never know until you try.