I remember my thirteenth birthday, July 8, 2005, like it was yesterday. A couple of years prior my dad sat me down and we had “the talk.” Then, on that memorable birthday, my parents were thrilled to give me my birthday present. I unwrapped the present and inside was a book and a ring. The book was Joshua Harris’ I Kissed Dating Goodbye, and the ring was a “True love waits” purity ring. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Harris’ book was a bestseller. Having read the book as an eighteen-year-old Christian, I was encouraged. When I read it as a thirteen-year-old unbeliever I found it dopy. I was surprised like many others when Joshua Harris came out in 2018 as an apostate. You see, Harris had deconstructed his faith.

     Harris would be the first of many Christians to deconstruct their faith. In the summer of 2012, I served as a youth minister at a church in East Texas. Where I often used music videos by Hawk Nelson, a Christian pop-punk band. In that same year, the lead singer of Hawk Nelson changed his name to John Steingard, and the band became explicitly Christian. That is the lyrics were more theological. However, shortly after John Harris deconstructed, John Steingard did as well. His hang-up was over the inerrancy of Scripture.

     Deconstruction begins with the question that Satan posed in the garden, “Did God really say…” This movement has spread like wildfire among evangelicals, and the youth are the primary target. How do we respond to this movement? That is the question that Alisa Childers and Tim Barnett seek to answer.

The Structure

     In the first pages of the book, Childers and Barnett define terms. When one thinks of construction they think of building, and rightfully so. The authors define deconstruction as a tearing down or destruction. She ties it to postmodernism. When one rejects the basic understanding of objective truth, they will naturally tear down the foundations of that truth, concluding that truth can be whatever I want it to be. It is the postmodern world view that has led to deconstructing Christians.

     Why we should care about this movement. If it’s not taking place in my church, then why does it matter at all? Childers and Barnett explain: We should care about this movement because it’s an attack on Christ’s bride, the Church.

     It’s the latter part of the book that stood out to this reader as most important. Some would consider the postmodern era as a post-Christian era. Even so, we need to know what we believe, why we believe it, and how to witness to those who don’t. Barnett and Childers take turns relating stories about how God used them to help friends and family that were in a stage of deconstruction. Thankfully the individuals to whom they witnessed grew stronger in their faith, but it took time, patience, and most importantly, love.

Personal Impact

     About a year ago, I began seeing signs of deconstruction in a friend in my home state of Texas. I was concerned, so I called him. The conversation was long, and I thought it was productive. As time progressed, I realized it wasn’t as fruitful a conversation as I had hoped. This friend would leave the pulpit he filled for eleven years, walk away from the faith, become an alcoholic and ruin his marriage all because the adversity that he faced was greater than he could overcome. Instead of “casting himself upon the rock of Christ and kissing the waves that cast him on the rock” as Spurgeon would say, he walked away from the only one that could sustain him.

     I was challenged to consider, what might have been if I were more intentional in allowing him to ask me questions, instead of assuming that as a faith minister, he knew the answers. What I gained from this book, is an understanding of the time, love and grace needed to minister to one who is deconstructing His faith. I pray that The Deconstructing of Christianity, move you to love those you know who are walking away from the faith.

Praying For Deconstructing Friends

     Many Christians will at some point know someone who is deconstructing from the faith and will eventually walk away. The only two weapons of warfare we have as believers are prayer and the word of God. Deconstruction is a battle, and it will only be won with Scripture and prayer.

            Childers and Barnett offer guidelines for prayer in the final chapter. I have separated them into four distinct prayers.

1. A prayer of thanksgiving. Thank the Lord that this person is a fellow image-bearer and that there is still breath in their lungs, which means there is still time.
2. A prayer for wisdom. It’s easy when speaking with one who is deconstructing to say too much at one time. Stick to their question and answer it. To do this, we need to seek wisdom (James 1:5-6).
3. A prayer for ourselves. That the Lord would keep us from being persuaded by those we are trying to help.
4. A prayer of repentance. If we aren’t deconstructing, why repent of a sin we aren’t committing? The answer is idolatry. Do you dwell on one who has walked away from the faith longer than you should have? Were you personally offended more than you were by the stain on Christ’s church? Even as I write this I need to repent of my idolatry.

Consider these prayers being moved to intercede those who are deconstructing.