Deconstruct, Restore, or Reform? How Historic Christianity Played a Role In My Faith

In our faith journeys, we each have moments of doubt, moments of clarity, and moments where we realize we were just wrong about something. When we find ourselves in these seasons of uncertainty, where we realize we don’t actually know what is true, we come to a point where we have to make a decision.

Do I just ignore my concerns? Pretend everything is ok? Or do I do something about it? And if I decide to do something about it what does that mean? How do I deal with these struggles?

Deconstruction is the buzzword within Christianity right now. People are deconstructing from every aspect of Christianity, evangelicalism, fundamentalism, toxic church cultures, toxic leaders, and legalism. 

But what is deconstruction? The word is an academic term for the systematic pulling apart of the belief system you were raised in. It’s what happens when the questions you’ve pushed down your whole life finally bubble over the surface, and you’re forced to stare honestly at your doubts. The infallibility of the Bible. The omniscience of God. The finality of hell.

To deconstruct from your faith doesn't necessarily mean that you get rid of your faith. It is just one way of examining what you believe to see if it is actually true. Another way of dealing with faith is something called restorationism.

Restorationism seeks to restore the beliefs and practices of the early church that were lost throughout history. The early Pentecostal movement was founded on this idea. They believed the gift of the Holy Spirit was being poured out again just like in the book of Acts. This led them to believe that God was restoring the church back to what it was supposed to be.

One other way of dealing with this is through Reformation. Reformation is the action or process of reforming an institution or practice. It is a way to correct or improve the theology of the church. Martin Luther challenged the teachings of the Catholic church, eventually nailing his 95 theses to the doors of the church.

All three of these ideas and philosophies seem connected and at the same time seek different outcomes. In Deconstruction, the goal is to get rid of the stuff that doesn't conform to your understanding of Christianity. In Restorationism, the goal is to bring back the things that they feel the church has lost. and in Reformation, the goal is to correct the errors that have slowly distorted the truth of God's Word. 

As someone who has a background in a Restorationist movement, I admit that at times I've gone through each and every one of these methods. Times where I felt the need to deconstruct, times when I felt the need to try to restore, and times when I simply reformed things in my own theology. But what I want to focus on in this blog is not which one is necessarily right (although you might pick up on where I lean by the time you finish reading this). My goal is to show what I was missing in my journey that I have now learned to covet as a believer.

Coming out of the Oneness Pentecostal Movement, I was not very well versed in the history of Christianity. This is not a shot at my former organization, it is understandable that a movement that denies the Trinity and denies most of the core tenants of Orthodox Christianity wouldn't be very interested in the history of a movement they believe was corrupted.

Nevertheless, as I began to reshape my faith, and learn about all the different kinds of Christianity, I began to take a deep interest in Church History. I was blown away when I realized we had writings from men like Ignatius and Polycarp, who were disciples of the Apostle John. We had writings from Clement of Rome who is believed by some, including Origen of Alexandria (AD 185-284) and Eusebius of Caesarea ( AD 260-340), to be the Clement that Paul addressed in Philippians 4:3.

I realized, these men rubbed shoulders and learned from the Apostles who gave us Scripture and these men themselves wrote letters, that while not inspired like the Scriptures, give us insight into the way the early church thought about issues.

I began to understand why we had the Creeds and Confessions of the church, for years I thought they were just traditions that people held on to but now I see that they were combating heresies and developed the Creeds on the truth found in the Word of God. 

Arius, an Alexandrian presbyter formed a position early in the 4th century that stated that Jesus was not divine but a created being. This idea sparked controversy in 318 when Arius openly taught his heretical teachings that denied the full divinity of the Son. Athanasius, the rival of Arius who opposed this idea and wrote against these teachings, stood for the Orthodox understanding of God and Jesus.

This controversy led to the Council of Nicaea, which is often mistakenly accused of being the council that developed the doctrine of the Trinity. The reality is, this council was to address the teachings of the Arians who denied the complete deity of Christ. The council banished Arius and labeled his teachings as heresy, from this the council created a creed, a declaration, and a summary of the Christian faith.

The original Nicene Creed was adopted in AD 325 and was revised in 381. It reads,

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all ages, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father; by whom all things were made:

Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man;

And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;

And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures;

And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father;

And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke by the Prophets;

And we believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins.

We look for the Resurrection of the dead,

And the Life of the age to come. Amen.

So we can look to Church history and see that the Creeds we have weren't just formed by men looking to create a new theology but they were created to give a summary of Biblical Orthodox Christianity. It helps keep us connected to the historic faith that was passed down through the generations. 

Why is this relevant to a discussion on faith and doubt? Because we tend to put ourselves in a vacuum, we tend to think that we are smarter than past generations, that we have questions that nobody has ever thought to ask before, but the reality is we have two thousand years of information, two thousand years of debates, arguments, and discussions about the Bible, the Faith, Who God is, and everything in between.

Are there issues we deal with today that weren't addressed by the early church? Of Course, but we have their writings, we have the Scriptures, we can look to the Creeds and the Confessions of the church throughout history and see if what we are being taught in our churches on Sunday morning fits.

Most of the people that I know that are deconstructing have a similar story. Either they weren't given a safe place to ask questions or to have doubts, or they were in a toxic environment with a toxic leader or in a church that was legalistic or had major issues. 

We have to allow people to ask questions, how will we ever come to the point in our faith that we are confident? When we have more than just blind faith in our theology and we ground ourselves with understanding. That can't happen when you question someone's motives or spiritual life just because they have questions or doubts. 

Also, the institution of the American Church has had its fair share of issues. From predatory pastors, unhealthy cultures, and flawed systems, we have seen the hurt that this can have on people.

I often hear people say, the church didn't hurt you, people did. I get the sentiment, but it is tone-deaf. The reason people leave the church when they are hurt by people is that the Bible is pretty clear that the church isn't a building or an institution. The church is a collection of believers. The Body of Christ is us! Everyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus is a part of the body of Christ which is the church.

This means that we are responsible to cultivate and protect relationships. If we don't, if we fail to protect people, they will run to someone who will.

I contend that true Biblical Christianity hasn't been lost. It doesn't need to be restored again. I don't believe there are things that have connected to Christianity that need to be thrown away or deconstructed. I believe that there are issues that need to be addressed and I think the best way to do that is to reform or improve the state of the church.

We have such a rich history of authentic Orthodox Christianity, we don't have to settle for anything less. Often we can't see what the church is supposed to look like because all we can see are the counterfeits and the distorted examples. We need to remember what the church is, and most importantly, what the church is not. It is not meant to be a social club, a political party, or a culturally and socially accepted institution. The church is supposed to be a kingdom-oriented, Christ-centered group of believers who proclaim the good news of a resurrected savior. 

Although I've gone through such a change in my theology over the past two years, I can't say that I am deconstructing or have deconstructed, I can't say that I have found something that was lost and in need of restoration. What I have found has been here the whole time. I found the historic Orthodox, catholic, Apostolic church. Founded in the Scriptures and kept by the power of God's Spirit even to this day.