The Gospel of Deconstruction …

The sermon was powerful to Ned. The scripture taught landed with impact on both his mind and heart. The Holy Spirit concluded the experience by gripping him with overwhelming conviction. Ned realized how sin had ravaged his life, and finally he knew things must change.

Fortunately, the pastor listed three points in his sermon on how change can happen. In addition to that, the church Ned attends offers a number of classes and groups to help further change, and counseling is also available.

Ned left the service that morning committed to doing what he thought must be done: deconstructing his broken life, and rebuilding a better one.

Welcome to the Gospel of Deconstruction …

There are a lot of Neds out there who have similar experiences. The pastor may have preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but Ned only heard and felt the need for his life to change. With that realization, it only made sense to Ned that he needed to deconstruct himself, get rid of the “bad parts,” and remake himself into someone “better.”

Ned’s church unwittingly feeds his deconstruction efforts by supplying him with a variety of outlets for working on creating change in his life.

Months later, Ned is frustrated, feeling like a failure and full of a new, deeper sense of guilt. His remake hasn’t turned out any better than the original version.

Through all Ned’s efforts, no one helped him understand that his attempt to effect change in his life will largely be ineffective until he has life! The change God calls us to isn’t deconstruction, but regeneration!

“He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit,” Titus 3:5.

Ned’s contribution to changing who he was would be that of maturing as a child of God once he had a new birth and a new life in Christ. Until then, Ned would only be trying to breathe new life into a spiritually dead man … something Christ alone can do.

Churches are full of people who both practice and preach the Gospel of Deconstruction. Great focus is placed on the need for change, and anyone can identify with that need. But God is the primary Change Maker. His intent is not to deconstruct us, and reassemble us as a “Ned 2.0,” but to put to death and bury the old person, and give us a new birth into a new life.

” … anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17b.

Are you attempting to deconstruct your life in a futile effort to build something better? Or have you let God wash away your sins and, through a new birth, give you a new life that you can actually contribute to changing through a maturing process?

Scotty