Some may think that I am a deconstructionist, trying to DECONSTRUCT the church. Honestly, I didn’t even know about this term until recently.
Over the years, this blog has gone through many changes —really. It’s not really about turning the world upside down, but more about a journey I am going through personally.
To be clear, I am not going through a crisis of faith. I am more firmly rooted in Jesus and His love for me and His Body than I have ever been. I am, however, more aware than ever that the system man has made of the church is in need of reform.
I have only recently learned of the deconstructionist movement. Like many things that buck the system, people begin to say things about others because they aren’t willing to listen to their point of view.
While I don’t believe I would call myself a DECONSTRUCTIONIST, I do see why De-churching could be seen as being part of this movement. And, possibly it is. I won’t totally rule this out since I am just now really beginning to learn about it.
At this point, I can agree with many of the things I have read. I believe many of those in the deconstructionist movement have been hurt and wounded by the church and have turned away because of the hypocrisy of the church system.
I do not fall into that category. While I have certainly been hurt by “church people,” I am more concerned with the system of the church that man has made. It is that system that has elevated some individuals to positions of leadership and delegated others to positions of spectators.
It has created a hierarchical ladder that many want to climb to gain recognition and power. Give me the microphone, please.
Because of that power structure, many have been hurt. It has elevated some to positions where they felt entitled to power and authority that neither Jesus nor the scriptures grant. It causes some to hurt others because they are entitled.
At the same time, it led others to hurt one another and create divisions as they strove for authority and power. They were willing to step on whoever got in their way, and many were hurt along the way.
I had a friend who told me every frog wanted to be the top frog on the lily pad, even if it was in a mud puddle. It was still their puddle.
In other words, you can have the same hierarchical abusive structure in a mega church where elite pastors are domineering and controlling, as well as in a small congregation of 25 people where Mother Jones is the boss, and you better not sit in her seat.
None of this is Jesus. None of this is His plan, and it needs to be reformed.
Does it need deconstructing? Some of it, absolutely YES. Some of the junk in the church system needs to go away altogether. Power-hungry leaders, positions, titles, business cards, authority structures, church mothers, fathers, deacons, and many other things need to go away.
Sadly, in much of the church system, Jesus is no longer the head. Pastors are the heads, with everyone else being put in their place. Church services are focused on the man or woman of God giving their weekly sermonar of opinion and manipulation.
Certainly, not all are this way, but I am having an extremely hard time finding one that isn’t.
1 Corinthians 14:26 says that when we gather, EVERYONE is to have something to say.
When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.
1 Corinthians 14:26 NIV
But when was the last time this was allowed? No discussion. No questions. No correction. No one is allowed to do anything but sit in a chair, listen, and donate.
Is the believer really being built up in our church system? The church organization may be increased, but I believe the individual believer is more likely to be stifled than edified through the “Have vs. Have not” system of churchianity.
If the body of Christ actually functioned the way Jesus designed it, we would probably have a much sounder theology. Instead of having over 45,000 denominational splits, millions of church splits, all with varying opinions of what we think the Bible says, we might actually be Jesus in this world instead of being a church.
I’m not trying to destroy the church — I’m longing to see it restored to what Jesus intended it to be. My heart isn’t for rebellion; it’s for renewal. I don’t want to tear down faith — I want to strip away the man-made layers that have hidden the simplicity and power of Christ’s Body.
If that’s called “deconstruction,” so be it — but I see it more as rediscovery. Rediscovering Jesus as the true Head. Rediscovering what it means to gather as brothers and sisters instead of spectators and performers. Rediscovering a faith that breathes love, humility, and shared life.
