Deconstruction Zone

Over the past few years my theology has been undergoing major deconstruction. I'm no philosopher, but the little philosophy I have been exposed to through my theological pursuit, has shed invaluable light into how I understand things. My college experience and the years following my studies has, in a nutshell, been successful in complicating everything. Everything. I have lost the ability to give simple answers. I am not sure any simple answers exist. This, at least elementarily, is deconstruction. It's an acknowledgement of all the underpinnings that uphold our beliefs. Deconstruction essentially reveals the vast network of scaffolding holding up our understanding of truth. Take away that scaffolding, or if a piece or two goes bad (ie. is revealed as "false" or "misunderstood") suddenly there is major upheval above.

I am currently in a major period of deconstruction in my theology. I don't know that I am in crisis mode, but I think it is pretty serious. I am in no place to complete a "doctrinal quetionarre," - I'd probably leave alot blank. Indeed, much of what I was taught in my formative years of faith, I have come to doubt. This leaves a void. If not this . . . then what? I have spent a lot of time with the "if not this" part, but have failed to purue the "then what" side sufficiently.

In the coming weeks, and who knows, maybe months, I intend to set out blogging relfections from this deconstruction period in my faith. Perhaps the above explanation or link doesn't offer much help for you trying to grapple what I'm referring to here. Let me try this example as a beginning.

I grew up in a small Church of Christ in northwestern Ohio. I have so many stories from this dysfunctional church that I ought to start a dysfunctional Defiance Church of Christ blog (I bet the domain is open through blogspot), but anyway. One of the "doctinal formulations" that was ingrained in me there had to do with the extent of salvation. I was taught directly and indirectly, that salvation was merited only to those who worshipped the correct way (read: sung unaccompanied with instruments, partook communion weekly, in an orderly service), had received the correct baptismal immersion for forgiveness of sins of those beyond the "age of accountability", and, I probably could add a host of additional tenets. Essentially, in my pubescent mind being formed in faith at this church, salvation, as I understood it, was limited to members within Churches of Christ.

Let us begin the deconstruction (Note: by commenting on deconstruction here I am not claiming that the process is over; quite the contrary, the process is ongoing):

It began before I even left Defiance. My mom and others that I was close to in my faith development helped me wrestle with God's grace and the understanding we had of salvation. We believed that salvation came to those who did things this way, but couldn't God's grace transcend that? Our rataionale went: couldn't a group of believers in God forsaken Europe uncover a Bible, study it and come to the same (right) conclusions. The door suddenly crept open, slightly.

I remember my freshman year of college going to a Promise Keeper's Rally in Indianapolis, IN with a pastor of a Christian Church (you know, the instrument worshipping ones?) We had a great conversation from Defance to Indianapolis and back. This was the first experience of many I began having of those from "other" churches who displayed the same experiences that I had of the fruits of the spirit . . . wait a second, how could they display these fruits without the Spirit? The door swung open through my experience.

Now we have Jewish friends who display the fruits of the Spirit, I have met Indian Buddhists who exude fruits of the Spirit . . . and suddenly the door is about to fly off the hinges . . . deconstruction strictly through experience is a scarey thing

But there are other modes as well . . .
The exclusivist model of salvation seems more and more illogical and inconsistent with a rational reading of Scripture, especially in understanding the Old Testament. Melchizedek shows up as a priest . . . outside of the bounds of God's called out nation/lineage, Ishmael and Hagar bolt from the biblical narrative under the protection of God, Jonah cries salvation to Nineveh, a city outside Israel, and on and on the picture is getting bigger and bigger in the text.

An honest study of God's grace leaves serious problems with the restrictive understanding of salvation I was taught early on. If God has displayed himself in all creation as Paul said he did in Romans 1, why would God condemn the Native Americans for finding the Great Spirit in their Native American land? Seems to run counter to the understanding of grace presented in the text.

I'll address this in detail later when I come to the topic, but for now, I just wanted to give an idea of the approach I'll take in the coming weeks. Comments will be appreciated as I do this, because one of my fundamental ideas that continues to be reaffirmed to me is the importance of community and this is something we're made to do in the midst of conversation and discussion. So let this discussion commence.