Deconstruction: What Does It Mean and How Do You Do It?

Check out the first two posts in the series below:

Deconstruction: First, a Worldview

Deconstruction: A Quick Church History

The tricky thing about defining deconstruction is that we often can’t define it. This term can be used in many different ways, which can create misunderstandings and confusion.

Typically, deconstruction refers to some type of process of re-examining the faith you grew up with, often concluding with rejecting it. Alisa Childers and Tim Barnett write,

“To call something a movement would imply a group of people moving together, united around common principles and sharing the same goal. Deconstruction is a bit like movement in the way people find community, share stories, and tend to reject the same set of beliefs they now deem harmful. But because deconstruction can lead to so many different destinations, with some people landing in agnosticism, some in progressive Christianity, some in secular humanism, and some in a more self-styled spirituality, it’s more like an explosion, blasting out in all different directions. There’s also been an explosion in how the word is used. If you ask ten different people to define deconstruction, you might get eleven different definitions. That’s because there is no agreed-upon, authoritative, univocal understanding of what it means.” (The Deconstruction of Christianity)

The term deconstruction is very fluid in how it is typically used. This is a problem because if I talk to someone else who might be deconstructing, I could have a completely different understanding of the term than they do. If this is the case, we aren’t able to talk and understand each other. Words, terms, and definitions are crucial! =

In my opinion, it’s helpful to look at some other terms that offer more clarity to whatever process that we might use “deconstruction” to mean:

Detangle

This word was used by Jinger Duggar Vulvo in her book Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear. in the book, Vulvo recounts her legalistic upbringing that was strongly influenced by Bill Gothard’s Institute for Basic Life Principles. Many would consider her story of finding the truth and discarding the lies she had been taught to be some form of deconstruction. Vulvo uses the term detangle to describe the process of examining and removing truth from lie, using the Bible as a standard. It is always a good thing to ensure what we believe and follow is true from God’s Word!

Dismantle

This word, used by Carl Trueman, describes a process of complete rejection and upheaval of everything associated with what one formerly believed. This is what typically happens in the deconstruction process. The deconstruction process rejects everything and starts over from scratch—rather than having some type of “reconstruction” process. While most people deconstructing probably wouldn’t use this word, usually it accurately describes what they mean by the word deconstruction.

Reform

Alisa Childers recommends using the word reform rather than deconstruct. This term means to amend or improve by change of faults or removal of faults or abuses. You might recall Martin Luther and the start of the Reformation, where Luther attempted to reform the church by pointing out the many areas of unbiblical teaching that the church was teaching to the people. Childers and Tim Barnett write, “When Christians find themselves struggling with questions about their faith, a better practice is reformation, not deconstruction. Remember, we defined deconstruction as a process of rethinking your faith without requiring Scripture as a standard. By contrast, reformation is the process of correcting mistaken beliefs to make them align with Scripture. The key distinction is the role God’s Word plays in the process.” (The Deconstruction of Christianity) Indeed, when Luther practiced reformation, he was not deconstructing; he was bringing the church back to the truth of the Bible while calling out faults and abuses.

Words are important and they have meaning. When we use the term “deconstruct” we need to know what we mean by it, and we need to know what others mean when they use the word. When I use the word deconstruction, I’m referring to the “dismantling” idea because I believe that’s how it is typically used in today’s culture. However, for Christians genuinely struggling with doubt and questions, I recommend using a term like detangle or reform to describe that process.

How To Deconstruct

Now that we’ve broken down different definitions of deconstruction, let’s talk about the actual process of deconstruction. The book “The Deconstruction of Christianity” writes, “Every act of deconstruction contains three basic components: 1) a process of deconstruction, 2) a belief being deconstructed, and 3) a person deconstructing.”

The process of deconstruction could be as formal as hiring a deconstruction coach; these coaches will help you (for a fee) but typically have no objective goal for your end result. For example, your deconstruction could take you literally anywhere. Usually, the process of deconstruction involves social media and the internet. Ideas spread like fire and you can be exposed to many different and even dangerous worldviews in a matter of minutes. It is very easy to become immersed in these ideas.

The belief being deconstructed is sometimes overlooked, but an important part of the deconstruction process. We must ask what is it that is being deconstructed? Is it real Christianity? In seeking to understand the belief being deconstructed, we need to be careful that we do not assume anything. It’s a good idea to ask questions to better understand and clarify what the belief is, and why it needs to be deconstructed. If unbiblical, perhaps the belief does need to be deconstructed (or detangled, or reformed!).

And finally, there is a person involved in deconstruction. Every person is different. You cannot forget that this is a real person with experiences, ideas, thoughts and a worldview. It is not a “situation” or “project” to be fixed. We must treat people like people and genuinely attempt to understand and care for them.

In my conversations and observations of people who deconstruct, there are three things that stand out that I am calling red flags in the deconstruction process:

Departure from Objective Truth

Have you heard someone use the term “live my truth” or “live your truth”? Postmodernism has had such a strong influence on our culture that the idea of subjective truth is no longer an ironic statement. When leaving objective truth, words themselves have no meaning. The authors of The Deconstruction of Christianity write, “Deconstruction in the technical sense might be seen to find inspiration in Nietzche’s comment that humans will never be free of God until they are free of grammar.” To deny objective truth is to deny reality, and to deny reality means denying reason, morality, and even biology. This is a dangerous slippery slope that we must be mindful of and observant in those who are deconstructing.

Reject the Authority of Scripture

Deconstruction culture encourages its participants to reject authority in general. Why should anyone else control or tell you what to do? However, to reject the authority of Scripture means leaving a standard of truth for living. To reject God’s authority means that you must replace God with something else, which most likely is going to end up being yourself. Is that really so bad? Yes! We cannot handle God-level responsibilities. We are finite and sinful, so anything replacing the authority of Scripture will falter, hurt ourselves and others, and ultimately end in destruction.

Embracing Freedom?

Many who deconstruct seem happy in their end result, whatever that might be. From an outsiders perspective, they seem to be living a great life and embracing a newfound freedom of self. Childers and Barnett say, “It’s not difficult to understand the sense of freedom that might be felt if one were to cast off the bounds of moral restraint or reject the rule and reign of an infinite being. It could feel very much like freedom to change from am mindset of obedience to one of personal autonomy. The reality. however, is that in deconstruction, one trades being a servant of Christ for being a slave to sin. It can feel like freedom at first because we love our sin, but it’s a path that leads to destruction.” (The Deconstruction of Christianity) There can be no true freedom apart from that which is offered by Jesus Christ. Those who have rejected the truth, rejected Scripture, and embraced their own path can never know true freedom. A temporary sense of pleasure and relief from the removal of authority will actually end up in feeling lost and hopeless.

Deconstruction is a complicated process. It looks differently for each person, just as it is defined differently by each person. As we seek to love others, we must not only listen to them but be aware of possible pitfalls and dangers that they may be embracing in the process of deconstruction. Later on in our series, we will discuss some practical ways to help those deconstructing, but in the next post we will look at the place doubt and questions have in the life of a Christian.