Snippet: A Sinful Church

snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.

Here’s another take on people “deconstructing” their Christian/evangelical faith. This one is from Tish Harrison Warren:

“The church is a Christ-made institution, but it is also a sinful institution. It always needs reform. If a person’s frustration with the church arises from the biblical vision of community, that’s not deconstruction. It’s calling the church back to the gospel. …What a sinful church needs is not deconstruction but deep construction.”

How much healthier would the church be if so many that are currently deconstructing their faith because of disappointment in other believers were, instead, reforming or deeply constructing the church?

And how much more hopeful would they be? In my experience with many who are deconstructing their faith, their horizon of hope and thought shrinks and, with it, the infinite is often lost. Life becomes a finite game.

Check out the article here: “The Church Needs Reformation, Not Deconstruction: A short guide to the exvangelical movement.”

Photo by jesse orrico on Unsplash

Snippet: Learning to Lament, Saving our Faith

snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.

Here’s Joshua Ryan Butler on faith “deconstruction” after being hurt by the church or Christians:

“Church hurt is real. But deconstruction is a false cure. The gospel’s remedy is lament. …The solution to bad community isn’t abandoning community; it’s good community. A healthy treatment plan will eventually involve rebuilding a good church community with good boundaries and good leaders. No community’s perfect, but trust can be rebuilt on the other side of lament.”

His article addresses three additional causes of what many are calling “deconstruction.”

Unfortunately, the church hasn’t been very good at helping people understand and process these kinds of deep disappointments and on how to lament.

The Bible and the Psalms in particular are filled with laments.

I certainly still have a lot to learn about lamenting, especially as a church community. After the killing of George Floyd we did an entire service of lament, but we could learn to practice “micro-laments” on a more frequent basis.

Check out the article here: “4 Causes of Deconstruction.”

Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash.