Can I put forward a proposal?

'Can I put forward a proposal?

The things we are calling “deconstruction” might actually be what Richard Lovelace called “dis-enculturation.”

What he meant was removing the cultural idolatry (conservative or progressive) from your faith.'

@john_starke from a thread on Twitter

I’m going to warn you; this may be deconstruction week on Sketchy Sermons. 😅 Remember the sitcoms in the 80’s would always have a drug or abuse episode and they’d advertise it like “This week on a very special episode of Family Ties…” It’s kinda like that except I have a bunch of deconstruction quotes and I’ll try to get to them all this week.

This week on a very special series of Sketchy Sermons; deconstruction! *cue theme song*

I personally wouldn’t label myself as deconstructing even though I think that term can be somewhat nebulous. There seems to be a drive to clearly define what “deconstruction” is on a macro scale in an effort to deal with it with one united argument but I’m really finding that to be problematic. I don’t think you can “deal” with deconstruction on any scale other than micro i.e. person to person. When someone tells me they are deconstructing, I really can’t say anything other than, “oh interesting, can you tell me more about it?”

I hate to be the “both sides” guy but it’s true. There are people who are just looking for reasons to leave the faith (I’ve been there) and there are people are trying to deepen their faith apart from cultural norms (been there too) and there are people who are trying to serve Jesus apart from the very bad experiences they’ve had at church and they (along with others) fall under this deconstruction umbrella.

Personally, every time I’ve gone down the road of making cultural issues into holiness issues (let me tell you about the time I went full vegan because it was Gods plan) I’ve found myself disappointed and disillusioned. Fortunately, I stayed with the faith through all that. Others aren’t so fortunate. Like Pastor Starke lays out in this thread; it’s likely that people will come out the other end of their questions and doubts with a faith that’s stronger than before. I don’t know why I wouldn’t encourage something like that?