Hello Friends,
Happy Saturday - we made it to another weekend! Today I’m reflecting on Matt Chandler’s recent comments about “deconstruction” and am wondering what God thinks of our journey.
Hm.
Matt seems to think he has it all figured out, but … who knows. Here are some thoughts, I hope they help.
✌🏻 and more ☕️,
Glenn || PATREON / BUY ME A COFFEE
A clip recently surfaced of a big name Evangelical pastor shaming people who are deconstructing. I watched it and it was petty, uniformed, and a tragic example of how Evangelicals are groomed to view people outside of their immediate circle.
The pastor was arrogant.
High and mighty.
Smug.
Once Relevant Magazine wrote an article about it, though, and people began to push back on social media, he (naturally) released a statement a few days later where he tried to retract the sting of his words ... but the original version of his words in the sermon he preached made it abundantly clear what he thinks of people who are deconstructing their faith AND what he thinks God thinks of people who are deconstructing their faith.
Sigh.
And isn't that the slippery slope of Evangelicalism?
First you get hooked on hearing from God.
Then you get hooked on speaking for God.
Then you get hooked telling people what God is saying to them.
Then you can even get hooked on thinking you are God, working on God's behalf.
Double sigh.
(I criticize from experience, by the way - I lived the life for 20+ years, was educated in it, pastored in it ... so don't email me, I won't answer.)
I'm not even going to bother posting the clip of this pastor's message because if I go find it I'm going to make myself listen to it again (I can't help myself) and then I'm going to be mad all over again, HA! But one of the things he said in the clip is that these days "deconstructing is sexy", like it's the "sexy thing to do" ...
The in thing.
The cool thing.
The hip thing.
The cultural thing.
... it's all the rage, apparently, and if we truly have faith in Jesus and all the things, we'd have no reason to deconstruct to begin with.
Triple sigh.
Anyways, so I was thinking about all of this the other day along with the rest of the Progressive Christian Universe and I came across a Tweet by someone named Larissa Lee who posed the question, "what does God think of deconstruction?" and then answered it with Ezekiel 34.
Have you read Ezekiel 34?
It's a wild scene, here's a bit of it (from the Message version) ...
"God’s Message came to me: 'Son of man, prophesy against the shepherd-leaders of Israel. Yes, prophesy!
Tell those shepherds, ‘God, the Master, says: Doom to you shepherds of Israel, feeding your own mouths! Aren’t shepherds supposed to feed sheep? You drink the milk, you make clothes from the wool, you roast the lambs, but you don’t feed the sheep. You don’t build up the weak ones, don’t heal the sick, don’t doctor the injured, don’t go after the strays, don’t look for the lost. You bully and badger them. And now they’re scattered every which way because there was no shepherd—scattered and easy pickings for wolves and coyotes. Scattered—my sheep!—exposed and vulnerable across mountains and hills. My sheep scattered all over the world, and no one out looking for them!'
‘Therefore, shepherds, listen to the Message of God: 'As sure as I am the living God—Decree of God, the Master—because my sheep have been turned into mere prey, into easy meals for wolves because you shepherds ignored them and only fed yourselves, listen to what God has to say:
‘Watch out! I’m coming down on the shepherds and taking my sheep back. They’re fired as shepherds of my sheep. No more shepherds who just feed themselves! I’ll rescue my sheep from their greed. They’re not going to feed off my sheep any longer!"
Yes.
It seems that the sheep of Israel were doing some deconstructing of their own, doesn't it? And it seems that they were deconstructing because their shepherds couldn't get their act together and so rather than care for the flock and keep the flock together, they thought only of themselves and abused the flock, took advantage of the flock, bullied the flock, and scattered the flock.
And so ...
"Of course you're deconstructing", God says.
"Of course you're wandering away.
Of course you're out in the wilderness.
Of course!
You have been abused. You have been manipulated. You have been lied to. You have been bullied. They were harsh and cruel and unfair and judgmental. The shepherds that should have protected you in your vulnerable moments attacked you because of your questions, shamed you because of your doubts, and slandered you because of your uncertainty. They left you out in the cold, to wander alone ... separated from the rest of the flock.
They didn't 'build up the weak ones', 'didn't heal the sick', 'didn't doctor the injured', 'didn't go after the strays', 'didn't look for the lost'. They did nothing but 'bully' and 'badger'.
But I will come to you.
I will rescue you.
I will bandage all of the wounds.
I will restore you.
I - ME - I am your shepherd now.
And the shepherds who did this to you? Who made you feel this way? I will hold them responsible for their actions."
If you're on the deconstructing journey with the rest of us, know that God isn't mad at you or disappointed in you or preparing to throw your soul into the hottest corners of hell. She hasn't turned her back on you and they're not afraid to come into the wilderness of your questions and doubts and uncertainties to meet you wherever you are, feeling however you're feeling, wrestling with whatever you're wrestling with.
AND.
You don't need to worry about what your former shepherds and flock are saying about you. Let them talk, they must answer to The Shepherd.
... perhaps that's what God thinks of deconstruction.