Many who were raised in the church are going through a deeply difficult period of deconstructing and reconstructing their faith right now. I am part of that category. Being a perpetual student of faith is vitally important to me.

One of the biggest fears of those who see someone deconstructing is to assume they are “abandoning truth” or “being shaped by the world.”

It is important for others to understand that for those who are deconstructing and reconstructing their faith, faith is the goal. You don’t take the time to deconstruct something that you want to abandon. Support and understanding are needed rather than assumptions and fear.

It is not the Bible or Christianity we are questioning. It is the tradition, cultural worldview, and dogma in which we have received the Bible and Christianity that is often at the center of our deconstruction and reconstruction.

For many right now, we aren’t trying to abandon Christianity. We are trying to reclaim Christianity from fundamentalism, nationalism, and all other forms of controlling others.

This is a difficult, heartbreaking, and grievous process, not something approached with flippancy. It truly is an identity crisis.

The question for us as the church is, will we be comfortable with the tensions people are trying to reconcile right now? Do we want people deconstructing their faith inside or outside the church?

Deconstruction is going to happen for many, no matter what. We must do it together as a compassionate community rather than isolated on our own.

I continue to hope and pray for space in the church for people to feel free to express their doubts and for us to not know all the answers and have that be okay. In that way, we can walk towards the truth of Christ together.