“FASTEN YOUR SEATBELT AND TAKE THE RIDE”

Recently, someone was sharing his deconstruction process with me.

For him, it’s very terrifying.

At one point he said, “But I’m determined not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. I won’t give up my relationship with Jesus or my belief in God. I want to err on the side of caution.”

I hear that a lot.

I always respond by saying something like this: “Well, fasten your seatbelt!”

Because this is what I notice with people who are deconstructing.

1. First, they came to a place in their faith journey where they believed in a very gracious God who does not judge his children for asking questions, but in fact encourages them to go deeper.
2. Then they came to believe in a God who is not surprised by our rejection of him and who lives by the philosophy, “If you love something, let it go free.”
3. Finally, in one of the last steps in a thorough deconstruction, they no longer believe in that particular God who let us go.

Is this a progressive belief or agnosticism or atheism? I don’t know.

Because I believe all these “positions” are various personal interpretations of one Reality.

My concern is that we, each one, end up in a place we ourselves have found, where we are comfortable and where we have kept our integrity.

I call this spiritual independence.

And, in my opinion, the only way to arrive there is by fastening your seatbelt and taking the ride.