Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
-Psalm 127:1
As children my sister and I loved Lego sets and played with them all the time. It was exciting getting a new kit and working together to assemble it. We might have assembled them incorrectly at times, but we could always pull the bricks apart and consult the instruction guide. Most of the sets were virtually impossible to assemble without following the instructions very, very carefully.
“I’m decontrstructing my faith,” is a phrase which has become fairly cliche. It seems to be a process many are going through right now. It really is critical for everyone to examine each individual “brick” in the structure of their Christian faith structure, taking it apart if something is incorrectly placed.
If you find the need to deconstruct your faith, that can be a positive thing. However it’s also necessary to consult the “guide book” to make sure it’s properly reconstructed.
When a person realizes that their faith is causing problems (i.e. causing them anxiety or hurting their relationships with others) they may make the decision to leave Christianity altogether. It needs to be taken into consideration that they may have internalized beliefs which are simply not true.
Though I may have chortled, I still found this meme rather painful. It was intended to be funny, but it hit a little too close to home for me:
The tragic irony is that these the things mentioned in this image which many have found so burdensome are things which the Bible SPECIFICALLY tells us not to worry about.
I know I talk about this a lot, but there are so many of my peers who grew up in religious families who now carry heavy emotional baggage, and many of them think that’s all there is to Christianity. Many parents have been so worried about their children getting into trouble that they’ve expended all their energy into teaching them rules and have never gotten around to teaching them about grace. (Maybe the parents themselves didn’t understand the concept of grace.)
The Bible says our salvation is 100% secure if we believe Jesus paid for our sins. (John 10:28, 2 Cor 5:17, Heb 6:18-20) He really loves us, wants us to succeed and has already forgiven our sins before we’ve even so much as thought about them.
This life we have is temporary and we have eternity to look forward to. We’re not supposed to fear our circumstances, demonic stuff or even mistakes we may make because God truly loves us and is always there for us, like a faithful friend or nurturing parent.
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Romans 8:31-39
“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
‘For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
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Returning to the Lego metaphor: just because a set doesn’t look right doesn’t mean the model kit is faulty. When I build a Lego set I may very easily connect pieces incorrectly, or perhaps I lost some pieces along the way.
I would encourage any believer feeling discouraged or hopeless to examine the scripture and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to them anything they may have missed. All of us are on a spiritual journey and none of us will ever stop learning.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
-James 1:5
Anna Sojourning 