Episode 021: Deconstructing Deconstruction: Finding an Invisible Jesus
Oct 29, 2024
Deconstruction has become a polarized term in the past few years. Added to the arsenal of pastors and church leaders, it’s most often used to to dismiss or demean those who have walked away from their church, or to stoke fear into the hearts and spirits of those asking hard questions.
What was once a word meant to invite conversation or to indicate an desire to learn more and grow deeper has been weaponized.
There is little that it sexy about deconstruction. It’s difficult work, and requires courage and humility. And according to research, most who are deconstructing aren’t walking away from their faith, they’re on the way to deepening and strengthening it.
In this conversation with Scot McKnight and Tommy Phillips, we discuss why so many have left the church in search of the Jesus they hear talked about but don’t see in their own churches. We talk about why theology is a cover for leaving, individuating and spiritual formation, and much more.
download Episode Transcript 📄
Quotes 💬
A lot of people’s experience with discovering that something that they were taught to be gospel truth, in other words, at the highest level, is not simply an unnerving experience, but it can become, it can become a shaking experience in their whole life, and they’re not sure what they believe any longer, and that that is a naked form of deconstruction that many people experience.
Most people don’t leave a church because of some theological difference. They blame leaving on a theological difference.
It is more costly to destroy the individuation process of a young adult than to prevent them from falling away, because they’ll be stunted and they’ll be disaffected Christians who sit there, depressed in the church and attend the church and it doesn’t make one bit of difference in their life.
Episode Resources and Links
- The Myth of a Christian Nation by Greg Boyd on Bookshop | Amazon
- Revelation for the Rest of Us by Scot McKnight & Cody Hatchett on Bookshop | on Amazon
Guest Spotlight
Scot has been a professor of NT for more than four decades. He is the author of more than 90 books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed as well as A Church Called TOV.
Tommy Preson Phillips is a pastor at Watermark Church in Tampa, FL. He is also a songwriter and recording artist with his band Preson Phillips. He holds an MA in NT from Northern Seminary.
Scot: Website | Instagram | Twitter/X | Threads
Tommy: Substack | Instagram | Threads | Preson Phillips band
Get your copy of Invisible Jesus on Amazon | on Bookshop
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