Today's episode is a little deeper conversation. It might not be for everyone, but for some of you, it's really going to resonate. We're talking about something that's become a big conversation in Christian circles in recent years, deconstruction. Welcome to the Beautiful View Podcast, where we encourage you to look for opportunities in your life to see a beautiful view. I'm Candy. 

And I'm Paul. For some people, deconstructing has led them to walk away from faith entirely. For others, it's meant asking hard questions and rebuilding on a stronger foundation. 

Today we want to talk about how to ask hard questions without destroying your faith in the process. We're not theologians or experts here. No. Just people who love Jesus, who have wrestled with this subject, and have come out the other side of it stronger in our walk with the Lord. 

Yes. So sit back, relax, and let's find the beautiful view together today. 

So let's start with the big question. What exactly is deconstruction? Because this word has been thrown around a lot over the last five to 10 years, especially in Christian circles. 

Very popular. 

And not everyone really knows what it is. 

Yes, and depending on who you ask, you might get very different answers. For some people, the word deconstruction immediately raises alarm bells. They hear it and assume it means someone is abandoning their faith or walking away from church altogether. 

Right, but for a lot of people, including us, that's not actually what it means at all. 

At its core, deconstruction is really just the process of examining beliefs you've held for a long time and asking questions about them. 

Yeah. 

So I have an example. 

Okay. 

Right now, our truck is sitting out back there. stripped down. And I'm working on it because there was a hydraulic fluid leak and there was an engine oil leak over the winter time and it. 

Needed to- Made a big mess on the driveway. 

Big mess and it needs to be fixed. So there are pieces and boxes and Ziploc bags everywhere. Everywhere. 

It's a little unnerving actually. 

It is. And anytime that you work on a vehicle, you often have to strip out systems that are actually working just fine in order just to get Our faith practices and traditions can have the same effect. They might be good systems, but they're blocking us from seeing what actually needs attention. My aim is not to destroy the truck. 

Oh, thank goodness. 

Far from it. We've grown very attached to our old truck over the years and have spent a lot of time in it. 

Yes, we have. 

We just want it to work well. 

Yes, that would be good. I really like that analogy because it shows the goal is not destruction, it's repair. 

Yes. 

Most people who go through deconstruction aren't trying to abandon their faith. They're trying to understand it and to make it healthy again. Deconstruction is looking at the things that you've always believed about faith, about the church, about God, and asking, is this actually biblical or is this something I just accepted that I was taught? Right. 

And that's an important distinction because sometimes the things we were taught in church are absolutely grounded in scripture. 

Oh, yes, of course. 

In fact, I would hope all things that are taught are grounded in scripture. 

Yeah. 

But some of them might be denominational traditions, preferences, or even just cultural habits that have developed over time. 

Sure. And when someone starts sorting through those things, that's often what people refer to as deconstruction. 

The reason the word has become controversial in church circles is because in some cases, people do actually walk away from faith or from the church. And when that happens, it can make people nervous about the whole idea of questioning anything at all. 

It's almost like there's this fear if someone starts pulling on one thread, the whole sweater might unravel. 

That's a good way to put it. 

But the truth is, questioning faith isn't actually a new thing. People have wrestled with faith and asked hard questions for centuries. 

Yes. Even in the Bible, we see that happening. Look at David, the one who was referred to as a man after God's own heart. In the book of Psalms, you see David constantly asking God questions, wrestling with things that he didn't understand. 

And even the disciples had moments where they struggled to understand what Jesus was teaching. So questioning isn't necessarily the enemy of faith. 

In many cases, it can actually be a part of maturing in the faith. When you're younger or when you first come to faith, a lot of what you believe is based on what you've been taught by people that you trust. Sure. Parents, pastors, or teachers. 

But at some point, most people reach a stage where they ask, do I believe this because it's truth or because it's just what I've always been taught? And that's where the examining process starts. 

Yes. And sometimes that examination reveals that certain things we assumed were biblical were actually cultural. 

Yeah, things that weren't maybe necessarily wrong, but they weren't the same thing as the gospel. 

Yes. 

For some people growing up, including myself, there were certain rules about the church that felt like they were straight from the Bible. At least that's how they were presented. But later I realized those were more like traditions from the church culture that I grew up in. And that realization can feel a little bit disconcerting at first. 

But it can also be really healthy if it leads you back to asking, what does scripture actually say? 

Exactly. Because at the end of the day, the goal isn't to tear everything down and leave it that way. No. We're not necessarily throwing the baby out with the bathwater. No. The goal is to make sure that the foundation of your faith is actually built on truth. So I know what triggered this process for us, and we're not going to go too deep into the weeds on that today. But what do you think actually triggers deconstruction? 

Well, I think there are a lot of things. Sometimes it's interpersonal conflict within the church that hurts us. Sometimes it's seeing hypocrisy in leadership. Other times people start reading church history or studying scripture more deeply and realize that some of the things they grew up believing might not be as clear-cut as they thought. 

Yeah, and sometimes people think they're deconstructing their faith when what they're actually doing is untangling their faith from church culture. 

Yes. 

I feel like that's exactly what we did. When we left Church World back in 2015, there was a lot of untangling that needed to happen. 

Yeah, we were teasing out the tangles. 

That's a good way to put it. That's such an important distinction, faith versus church culture. 

Yes. 

Because there are things that are absolutely foundational to the Christian faith, the gospel, who Jesus is, and the authority of Scripture. 

And please notice that we We will always go back to these foundations with what we're talking about today. 

Yeah. 

Then there are other things that churches have developed over time that aren't necessarily wrong, but they're just not the same thing as the gospel. 

Yeah, things like worship style, church traditions, denominational preferences, sometimes even expectations about how church should look. 

Yes. And when people start questioning these things, it can feel uncomfortable, especially if they grew up thinking that was the only way to do church. 

I think most people who have walked with God for any length of time eventually come across questions like these. 

Yes, and asking those questions doesn't mean someone is losing their faith. If anything, it can actually mean the opposite. 

Yeah. 

It can mean that they care deeply enough about their faith to really examine it and make sure that what they they believe is grounded in truth. 

That was absolutely the case for me. And in fact, that process can actually strengthen someone's relationship with God. 

So maybe a helpful way to look at it is the difference between healthy deconstruction and destructive deconstruction. 

Yeah, so healthy deconstruction asks questions but keeps searching for truth. It's willing to go back to scripture to seek wise counsel and rebuild from a strong foundation. On the other hand, destructive deconstruction sometimes throws everything out without taking the time to rebuild anything in its place. It would be like you taking the truck apart and leaving it that way so that we can never drive it again. 

Yeah, like we technically still own a truck, but it's just in like a pile of Ziploc bags and boxes in the shop. The goal of healthy deconstruction isn't tearing everything down without arriving at anything at all. It's making sure that we get back to a solid foundation, the foundation of Jesus. Then we make sure that what is rebuilt is built on that foundation. 

So let's talk about the practical side of this. If someone is in this place right now, maybe they're wrestling with questions about their faith or things they were taught growing up, or maybe they were even hurt by the church. Let's talk about some ways to actually walk through this in a healthy way. 

I think the first thing I would say is this. don't be afraid of the questions. Sometimes people feel guilty for even asking them. Like questioning something means their faith is weak. The truth is the truth. It will stand some questioning. 

Yeah, I think that's a really good point. I think some people just think they're doing something wrong just by wondering. 

I can tell you that on an intellectual level, if I had never asked questions about the faith tradition that I grew up in, I would still be a part of my family's religion today. For generations, my family have been Jehovah's Witnesses. My curiosity about the true nature of Jesus and the actual meaning and value of what he did at the cross led to a series of questions and eventually to my surrender to Christ. My life would have looked a lot different had I not asked those questions. 

Absolutely. Yes, it would. I love your story. And as we mentioned earlier, King David constantly cried out to God in scripture, asking why things were happening, expressing confusion, wrestling with what he was experiencing. One scripture that comes to my mind is Psalm 13, 1-2, where David says, how long, Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts? 

That's from someone who clearly loves God, but is still struggling with real concerns. God didn't reject David for asking those questions. 

You know, I remember feeling that tension very personally when we lost our baby girl, Lily. That was one of the biggest moments of wrestling with my faith. And people have asked me many, many times, after experiencing a loss like that, how can you still believe that God is good? And honestly, for a season, I was asking God some of those same questions, the same kind of questions that David asked in the Psalms. How long, Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts? There was a period where that actually reflected my heart. But in the middle of that grief, God revealed something to me that brought an incredible sense of peace. He reminded me that he knew exactly how I felt. He watched his own son die. And somehow realizing that, God understands that kind of pain, changed something for me. Instead of those, where are you, God, verses, He kept bringing one scripture to my heart, Psalm 34, 18. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. That verse reminded me that God wasn't distant from my pain. He was actually close to it. His presence, His comfort, His compassion, they were right there in the middle of my grief. And when I read that verse, that's exactly what I felt, that I wasn't alone. 

I think this is at the core of what we're talking about. There are moments in our lives where reality just breaks in, disrupts our plans and our preconceptions. And these are times where we get to see what actually matters. 

Yeah, we actually just had this conversation with our friend Jim in our last episode. He went from the joy of welcoming A newborn baby into the world to losing his father 48 hours later. These things can be really difficult to process. They can truly rock your faith and make you question everything. 

Our friends and family were very supportive when we lost Lily. And our church family was so loving too. But it wasn't the preaching or traditions or words that really made a difference. when in any funeral, it's like you never know what to say. It's so hard to find the words to say because half the time the person who's grieving doesn't even hear them. But it was our faith in the reality and the presence of God and seeing that same faith in the lives of those close to us that really helped us. When everyone went home and the front door was closed and all we had was each other, there was God. 

Yes. 

He is all-knowing and he is love. He was the only one who was above and beneath and through and in every second of that time. He knew us and he saw us and he sustained us. Even if we did not know how to deal with what had happened. 

So as we talk about situations like this that can cause us to doubt everything we've been taught, it's important to remember to bring those questions to God instead of running away from Him. That's such an important distinction. It's okay to be upset. It's okay to be angry, to question why things happen. All of those things are okay to bring to God. 

James actually encourages that. In James 1, verse 5, he says, if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all, without finding fault. 

Yes. 

I love that phrase, without finding fault. God isn't sitting there waiting to scold us for asking questions. In fact, He invites us to seek wisdom from Him. 

Yeah, another really important step is going back to Scripture itself. That's one of the very... first things that I started doing when we began our deconstruction process. I started reading my Bible over and over again, front to back, chronologically, thematically, however it came. I read, I studied, I learned, prayed over it, cried over it, and grew in wisdom and truth. Because here's the deal. Sometimes, when people start questioning things, they realize that some of what they believed wasn't necessarily rooted in the Bible, and I wanted to make sure. that everything that I thought I believed was rooted in truth. 

Scripture actually encourages us to test what we're taught. In Acts 17, verse 11, it talks about the Bereans. It says they were noble because they examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul was teaching was true. 

Good for them. Think about that. They were literally fact-checking the Apostle Paul. And scripture praises them for it. 

Yes, it does. So examining what you are taught and comparing it to the scriptures isn't rebellion. It's actually biblical. 

I think that will be a huge realization for some. I also think it's important for people to give themselves time. Sometimes when we begin questioning things, we feel like we have to immediately resolve everything and find an answer to every question immediately. I feel that, but honestly, It took me probably three to four years before I had found resolve. It was a process of learning, studying, praying, and slowly rebuilding a stronger understanding of my faith and what I believed. 

So I believe that maybe some of you are asking, so where did you land on after going through that process of deconstruction? 

That's fair, probably so. 

The first thing I would say is that a life of faith is a very dynamic process. The core belief in the nature of Christ and the salvation that he purchased for us remains the same. But then there's the world in which we live and our level of maturity, that changes over time. The practice of the church is also changing. Some of the ways Sunday services are practiced today would be unimaginable to Christians 100 years ago, let alone the early church of 2,000 years ago. Can you imagine? 

Yeah, in the early church, the cultural expectation was so different. In that time, women were supposed to stay quiet. They were, yeah, that's hard. They were typically uneducated. And in Corinthians, it actually instructs women to remain silent in churches and to ask their husbands at home if they want to learn something. 

Oh my goodness. 

It states that it's shameful for women to speak in the church. Today, our culture has changed and there are many ministries where educated and qualified women have leadership roles. 

Yes. 

Even in my lifetime, I've watched the church services change. My experience growing up was very, what can we say? Conservative. Conservative. Yep. So you had three songs to start the service. You sang the first, second, last verse of every song. 

Yes, ma'am. 

Between song two and three. You had someone come up to give the announcements. And then just before the pastor came to give the sermon, if there was to be a song special, that's where that was. And oftentimes the offering was taken up during that time. And then at the end of the service, you once again had another hymn from the hymnal, first, second, and last verse for the invitation. 

For whatever reason. 

And that's just how we did it. That was that poor third verse. Today, you know, The places where we choose to worship, the worship is a little bit more contemporary, which I love the old songs too, but I love a mix. And the schedule is not quite as rigid. Of course, much of that depends on the denominational culture of where you attend to. 

Yes, and I mean, I came over from being a British Baptist to being a Baptist in the south of the USA. 

Yeah, right in the middle of the Bible Belt. 

Right in the middle of the Bible Belt. And a song special to me was so weird. It was kind of like the church version of American Idol or something. It was just so odd. And you've just seen these changes happen in your lifetime. 

Yeah, I mean, I can't even imagine going back, like you said, 100 years or even 2,000 years ago. Like our culture has changed so much. So of course the church has changed. 

Yeah, a huge contrast. But through all of these cultural changes, the mission and the kingdom of God has remained the same. 

Absolutely. 

And I think that's where we landed, with a renewed focus on the people God has placed around us. Those with a shared faith and those who don't share our faith. We have to live life in community and on mission. I've shared this many times before, but one of the first things that I did when we moved into this house, Bellevue, Iowa, was to restore the lamppost out front. 

Oh, yes. 

In fact, I dug a trench to put in an underground cable to light the lamp and got halfway through it and the ground froze. 

Ground froze, yes. 

So it made it very different. 

That's a real thing up here that never was a consideration. 

So unusual. But I think the purpose of that that was to remind us that we're to be a light in the neighborhood that we're a part of. 

Absolutely. I love the lamppost and the light. Every evening when it comes on, it's just a little reminder for us. I especially love walking home from work and seeing it kind of flicker because we have the little flame bulbs in it. And it's just, yeah, it's very sweet. 

The thing that became a problem for me is that whatever church organization we were a part of became the focus. Whatever efforts the church was pursuing was our mission too. I put a lot of pressure on myself because I came to believe that my devotion to God It was measured by what I was able to do to help advance the latest project that was set before us by the leadership of the church. If we just got this right, then the people would arrive through the doors, kind of like, if you build it, they will come. 

Yeah, it got to the point that the production side of things became a little G God. It was what was fixated on, what took our time, our thoughts, and our energy to the point where we had very little to give to anything aside from it. 

Yeah. These days, we do attend a church service most Sunday mornings. But now it's simply a place of refreshing. Not the mission field, but a place where we get to take a break from the mission field and just receive. A place where we gather with other followers to see each other and to hear words of faith in sermon and song. As followers of Jesus, it is so important for each of us to have a recognizable mission that is our individual response to his commission. That might be in your workplace, your community, or even a podcast. 

There you go. We both give a lot of ourselves through the week. So Sunday mornings have become a time for us to kind of refill our cups. I know that idea can kind of get some pushback in some circles. People talk about the dangers of consumer church, and that's a fair conversation. 

It's a very real thing. 

But when you're trying to live out your faith every single day, when you're being the church throughout the week, you also need moments where you can be poured into. And honestly, this shift in thinking was part of our deconstruction process too. We started rethinking what it actually means to do church. We realized church isn't just something that you go to. It's not just a building or a Sunday event. The church is the people, the body of Christ. And once we really understood that, it changed our whole perspective. Sundays stop feeling like the only place faith happens, and more like a place where the church gathers to encourage, to refuel, and then to go back out and live on mission the rest of the week. 

Yeah, and I think it's important to emphasize that this is where we have landed. 

Sure. 

We all have different gifts, talents, and callings when it comes to the part we play in the body of Christ. We're not all thumb toes. Results may vary. 

Thumb toes. That's what Tyler used to call his big toes when he was little. That's funny. And that's exactly right. You know what? If you are a Sunday school teacher and that's what God has called you to do, that's fantastic. Keep doing it. We need Sunday school teachers. The body of Christ is made-up of many different parts, and it takes every single one of them working together to accomplish the mission of Christ. 

First Thessalonians 5, verse 21 says, test everything, and then to hold fast to what is good. 

That verse is such a good description of healthy faith. It doesn't say blindly accept everything, but it also doesn't say throw everything out. It says, examine it, test it, and then hold on to what is true. You know, when we talk about questioning and wrestling with faith, one story from the Bible always comes to mind, the story of Thomas. 

Oh, yes. The disciple who often gets labeled doubting Thomas. Thomas is the one we remember for doubting. But the truth is, every disciple struggled to understand what was happening at that time. 

Exactly. And honestly, I sometimes think Thomas gets unfairly labeled with a bad reputation because... 

Poor guy. 

If you look at the story in John 20, Thomas had just watched his teacher and friend be crucified. Just let that soak in a little bit. He'd just witnessed that. The other disciples are saying, we've seen the Lord. And Thomas basically says, I need to see it for myself. Yeah. 

In John 20, verse 25, Thomas says, unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. 

And some people read that and think Thomas was faithless. But what I see is someone being honest about where he was at. He wasn't pretending to believe something he was struggling with. He was being real. And what's really interesting is how Jesus responds. 

Jesus doesn't shame Thomas. He doesn't rebuke him for asking questions. Instead, when Jesus appears again, He invites Thomas to come closer. 

In John 20, 27, Jesus says, put your finger here, see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. That moment is just incredible to me. 

And what happens next is powerful. Thomas responds in John 20, verse 28, my Lord and my God. That's one of the strongest declarations of faith we see from any of the disciples. Truth was standing right in front of him. 

The one who gets remembered for doubting actually ends up making one of the clearest statements about who Jesus is. And that's where I think there's a really important lesson for people who are wrestling with questions. 

Yes, because Thomas didn't stay in doubt forever. His questions eventually led him to a deeper understanding of who Jesus really was. He recognized him. And sometimes that's what happens in our faith journeys too. 

Sometimes we walk through seasons where we ask hard questions, where we pray, study, and wrestle with things that we don't fully understand. But when we keep seeking truth, when we stay anchored to Christ and keep pursuing Him through the process, we often find that the faith on the other side is stronger than the faith we started with. 

And that is the beautiful view. The beautiful view isn't usually found at the start of the trail. Often you arrive at it after making the effort to climb through the hard questions. 

Thank you for joining us today. Our hope is always to inspire and encourage our listeners. So if you're in a season of questions right now, don't assume that means that your faith is falling apart. It might just mean that God is leading you toward a deeper and more personal faith than you had before. 

When you get back to the foundation of Christ, what you rebuild on that foundation will be stronger than what it was before. 

Our challenge for you this week is simple. Don't settle for surface-level faith. If there's something you've always believed but never really examined, take some time this week to dig deeper and figure out why you believe that. 

Look at what the scriptures say. Pray about it. Ask God for wisdom, because faith that has been examined and tested often becomes stronger and more resilient than faith that's never been questioned. 

And if this episode encouraged you today, we would love for you to share it with someone else who might enjoy it. And as always, thank you for being a part of this community. We're grateful you're here and honored to walk this journey with you. 

If you like what we do here at the Beautiful View Podcast, you can show your appreciation by becoming a supporting member for only 5 $5 a month. Your support helps cover our production costs, and the link for you to sign up is in our show notes. 

Also, be sure to follow the Beautiful View podcast on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok. Those links are also in our show notes. 

So at the end of each episode, we like to find out what the next one will be about. So what's it going to be next time? 

Next time we are going to be talking about the in-between seasons of life. 

Okay. 

With Easter coming up, we're going to be looking at some biblical examples of seasons of waiting and how that connects to the waiting seasons we all experience today. So if you've ever found yourself waiting on what God's doing next in your life, this episode is for you. 

I feel like we're constantly living in the in-between. I can't wait for this one. 

Okay, me either. Thank you once again for joining us today. We hope you have a great day and remember to always keep an eye open for opportunities in life to see a beautiful view. Have a good one.