How To Reconstruct Your Faith
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A few months ago, the area I live in was ravaged by two storms. Over fifteen inches of rain fell in a twenty-four-hour period, soaking the ground and causing creeks, streams, and rivers to begin to rise. Before we could catch our breath, Hurricane Helene bore down on the mountain towns of Western North Carolina, bringing another ten to fifteen inches of rain along with winds of 40-60 mph.
The devastation from flooding, mudslides, and wind was unprecedented, exceeding the levels of the 1916 flood in this area. Roads were completely washed out, homes were destroyed, people were stranded with no shelter, power was out for months in some areas, and even city water distribution systems were demolished.
Although we've had eight months to recover, there is still much evidence of the destruction across our area. Some places will never be the same. Various businesses remain closed, and some will never reopen. There are still downed trees and piles of cut brush to address; roads are still under repair, with many detours. It is estimated that 125,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, affecting 200,000 people, and the “rebuild” will take eight to ten years.
Hurricane Helene caused what has been designated as a once-in-a-thousand-year flood event, but there’s another kind of storm brewing across our world that’s happening every day. Its damage isn’t as rapid, but its effects are becoming increasingly visible, just like those huge piles of tree debris and torn-up asphalt scattered across Western North Carolina. It’s a spiritual storm known as “deconstruction.”
Deconstruction refers to the dismantling of one’s spiritual faith. Healthy deconstruction can involve reassessing false teaching or bad theology that has seeped into one’s faith and caused it to weaken. But unhealthy deconstruction can lead a person to reject the core tenets of the Christian faith, in favor of a “religion” that meets one’s felt needs, preferences, or assumptions about God.
Unlike the flood waters of a hurricane, it starts slowly, often triggered by emotional hurts that cause one to begin to question what they’ve been taught as truth. Alisa Childers and Tim Barnett, in their book, The Deconstruction of Christianity, define deconstruction in this way: “Faith deconstruction is a postmodern process of rethinking your faith without regarding Scripture as a standard.”
This article offers encouragement and wisdom to those who have traveled the path of unhealthy deconstruction and found it less than satisfying. You’ve begun to realize that you’ve discarded a few too many truths, and what was promised to provide freedom, self-determination, and autonomy from the constraints of the Christian faith has only led to emptiness.
Where do you start rebuilding? How can you put the pieces back together? What constitutes authentic, biblical faith in Christ, and what can we leave in the brush pile?
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Rebuilding Begins by Assessing Our Foundation
“Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6:47-49).
The Christian faith is built on the words of Christ as found in Scripture. Jesus used a vivid word picture to describe what happens when we abandon His words and try to build our faith on other unreliable ideas. To rebuild our faith, we must do as He says: dig deep and lay a foundation.
Writing to the believers in Corinth who were struggling with their faith and commitment, Paul said, “No man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). Later, in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul shows us where God reveals that foundation.
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:19-21).
The apostles and the prophets refer to the Old Testament Scriptures that prophesied about Jesus (through the prophets) and the New Testament Scriptures (through the apostles) that reveal Jesus, including His birth, life, death, resurrection, and all the doctrines concerning salvation and life in Christ. All of Scripture points to and reveals the cornerstone, Christ Jesus.
Authentic Christian faith begins with acknowledging that Scripture is true, reliable, trustworthy, and authoritative. The Bible explains the gospel, which is the good news of Jesus Christ. The first block of our foundation is to examine our hearts to see if we are truly saved. Have we repented of our sin and asked God to forgive us? Do we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to earth through a virgin birth without sin, lived a perfect, sinless life, and died on the cross as an innocent sacrifice for the sins of the world? Do we believe God raised Him from the grave and that He now sits at the right hand of the throne of God?
“That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).
“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5).
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Rebuilding Requires Getting Rid of What Is Broken
When the crew arrives to rebuild a home that has been damaged or destroyed by floodwaters, they must first undertake a major cleanup. Volunteers are often asked to do a “mud out,” which is exactly what it sounds like. They go in with shovels and begin to remove everything that doesn’t belong.
Rebuilding our faith requires evaluating what is untrue and letting go of what lacks significance. First, any false belief that clearly contradicts Scripture must be set aside. Very often, this may be one of the reasons a person chooses to walk away from their faith. They have let culture dictate what is acceptable or unacceptable on various issues instead of relying on God’s viewpoint.
Alternatively, they may have assumed the Bible teaches something because others claimed it as truth but have never examined Scripture for themselves to investigate exactly what it says. An example might be legalism, where many things are forbidden by the church that Scripture never commands.
Additionally, past hurts must be released to begin building anew. It’s common to hear of instances where someone has been hurt by the church or someone who claims to follow Christ. We must be willing to build our faith on the Person of Jesus Christ, not the performance of His followers. Jesus Himself will never let us down or disappoint us; He will always tell us the truth.
The only way to discern what should be discarded and what should remain is to start with Scripture itself. God has preserved His Word and made it available to us so that we can know Him personally. If we seek truth, He will reveal it to us.
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Rebuilding Requires Intentionality
I have a friend who has observed that some people are what she calls “John 3:16 Christians.” This familiar Scripture is the simplest presentation of the gospel: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” The gospel is a gift, and it truly is as simple as repent, believe, and receive — so simple that a child can come to faith.
Yet many Christians never learn how to continue building on the foundation of the gospel. They remain immature and biblically illiterate, with a weak faith that does not progress beyond the simplest elements of faith. They live on milk and stay “babies” in Christ (Hebrews 5:12-13).
Rebuilding requires us to be “built up” in our faith. Peter calls us “living stones” being built upon the cornerstone, Jesus (1 Peter 2:4-6). Paul wrote along the same lines to the believers in Colossae:
“Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude” (Colossians 2:6-7).
After we’ve discarded what doesn’t belong in authentic, biblical faith, we must establish the core essentials of our belief system. We must examine Scripture to see what it teaches about God the Father, Jesus the Son, the Holy Spirit, sin, creation, salvation, and the church. These are just a few of the basics, but we’ll never rebuild a strong, persevering faith unless we settle our doubts and put down solid roots in the basic theology of Christianity. When we have questions, when culture challenges us on what to believe, we can seek the answers in Scripture and add them as another block in our rebuilt faith.
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Rebuilding Requires Us to Live in the Faith We’re Building
How can you tell when you truly believe something? It’s not just about articulating it or explaining it to others; it’s about being willing to act on it. I believe the parachute will allow me to land safely, but I won't convince you that I believe it unless I’m willing to jump out of the plane.
If you truly want to rebuild your faith, you must implement it. It can’t just be theory; we must put it into practice. This means we are willing to obey God’s word even when it is countercultural. We are willing to trust His character when we do not understand. We are committed to investing the time to learn and study His word. We are willing to hold ourselves accountable to others in the faith by being part of a local church that teaches and challenges us in our walk.
There will hopefully be many people who can rebuild their homes that were severely damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Helene. I imagine it will take time, money, and considerable labor to remove what is broken and rebuild. Yet how foolish it would be to try to rebuild, but never intend to live in it! We would question the person who drove up to their new home and said, “Well that’s beautiful, and I’m sure it’s a wonderful home, but I think I’ll just stay out here in the tent I set up in my yard.” But that’s exactly what we do when God shows us what true faith is, yet we’re unwilling to “live” in it.
Don’t abandon the relationship God desires to enjoy with you. Do the hard work of rebuilding what you’ve deconstructed. Dig deep and lay a new foundation. Get rid of the debris caused by the storms of life and get intentional about growing in your faith. Don’t just talk about it; live it. I can promise you that an authentic Christian faith rooted in Scripture will last for eternity.
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Author Sheila Alewine is a pastor’s wife, mother, and grandmother of five. She and her husband lead Around The Corner Ministries, which serves to equip Christ-followers to share the gospel where they live, work and play. She has written seven devotionals including Just Pray: God’s Not Done With You Yet, Grace & Glory: 50 Days in the Purpose & Plan of God, and her newest one, Give Me A Faith Like That, as well as Going Around The Corner, a Bible study for small groups who desire to reach their communities for Christ. Their ministry also offers disciple-making resources like One-To-One Disciple-Making in partnership with Multiplication Ministries. Sheila has a passion for God’s Word and shares what God is teaching her on her blog, The Way of The Word. Connect with her on her blog, Facebook, and Instagram.