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Why do people deconstruct their faith?

Justin Spradlin • February 26, 2025

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Why Do People Deconstruct Their Faith?

 

The Crisis of Deconstruction


 

I still remember the first time I heard the word “deconstruction” tied to someone’s faith. It wasn’t just a casual doubt or a passing question. It was a full unraveling. A tearing down of everything they’d once stood for. I’d seen people wrestle with God before. I’d done it myself. But this felt different. It wasn’t a struggle to understand. It was a choice to dismantle.


 

That word keeps coming up now. Deconstruction. You hear it in churches, on podcasts, across social media. Some call it a journey of rethinking faith. They say they’re peeling back layers of tradition to find something purer. Others don’t stop there. They reject Christianity altogether. They walk away into atheism or progressive ideas or some hazy spirituality unmoored from Scripture. It’s not quiet either. It’s loud and public and pulling people along with it.


 

This isn’t new. People have questioned God since the Garden. The children of Israel grumbled in the wilderness. The Pharisees twisted truth for power. Doubts have always been part of the human story. But today it’s bigger. Social media spreads it fast. Culture presses harder against biblical values. The church, with all its flaws, faces a wave of distrust. Deconstruction isn’t just one person’s wrestle anymore. It’s a storm, and it’s shaking the foundations of many.


 

So why are people doing this? What pushes them to tear down their faith? And how do we respond when doubts creep in, whether in our own hearts or in those we care about? I’ve spent a long time thinking on this. I’ve watched it unfold among people I studied with, people I trusted. Let’s dig into it together. We’ll look at why deconstruction happens, how it differs from the godly questioning Scripture shows us, and how we can answer with wisdom and truth. This isn’t about easy answers. It’s about building faith on the rock that holds.

 

What is Deconstruction?


 

Deconstruction is a slippery term. It started outside the church with a philosopher named Jacques Derrida. He lived in the last century and said truth isn’t solid. He thought it shifts with our feelings and experiences. That idea grew into postmodernism, where truth becomes whatever we want it to be. It’s shaky ground for faith. But in Christian circles, deconstruction means something else. It’s taking apart what you believe about God, the Bible, and the church.


 

For some, it’s a pruning. They question traditions, certain rules that churches might hold. That’s not bad. The Bible tells us to prove all things and hold fast to what’s good. But for many, it goes deeper. They don’t just trim branches. They uproot everything. They doubt the Bible’s authority. They question if Jesus is God. They wonder if salvation really comes by grace through faith. They rethink sin and morality and the church’s role. Some say Christ isn’t the only way, welcoming every path to God. Others trade God’s commands for the world’s values. Too often, they walk away from the church and let faith slip through their fingers.


 

Years ago, a pastor I admired wrote a book that shaped me. His words dug deep into Scripture. They helped me see the beauty of God’s truth. I leaned on that book early in my ministry. But then he deconstructed. He publicly left the faith. It hit me hard. I couldn’t understand how someone who’d taught me so much could turn away. It made me wonder what pulls people so far.


 

Scripture shows us questioning isn’t wrong. Job sat in ashes and asked God why. David poured out his fears in the Psalms. Asaph wondered why the wicked prospered. Thomas needed to see Jesus’ scars. John the Baptist sent word from prison, asking if Jesus was the Messiah. These men wrestled. But they didn’t abandon God. They brought their doubts to Him. Faith isn’t blind. It’s not a leap into nothing. It’s a stand on solid truth. God invites us to seek and reason. Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.” Questions can strengthen faith when they lead us to God’s Word.


 

Deconstruction often doesn’t. It builds a new truth from culture or personal feelings. That’s the divide. Doubt that seeks God grows us. Doubt that rejects Him steals life.

 

Why Do People Deconstruct?


 

Every story differs. Each person carries their own reasons. But patterns show up when you look close. I’ve seen it in friends from Bible college who’ve left the faith. I’ve wrestled with it myself. Here are four big reasons people deconstruct, grounded in what I’ve watched and what Scripture reveals.


 

1. Hurt and Church Abuse
Pain cuts deep. For many, deconstruction starts with a wound from the church. I think of friends I studied with at Bible college. They loved Jesus back then. We’d stay up late debating theology, praying, dreaming of serving God. But years later, some walked away. One told me about a pastor who used Scripture to control. Another saw a leader fall into sin and cover it up. The hypocrisy broke their trust. They didn’t just leave the church. They left faith behind.
The Bible doesn’t hide this brokenness. King David, a man after God’s own heart, fell into adultery and murder. The Pharisees preached holiness but lived lies. Judas walked with Jesus and sold Him for silver. People fail. They always will. Psalm 118:8 says, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” When faith rests on humans, it crumbles. When it’s built on Christ, it stands. Hurt is real. It stings. But it doesn’t change God’s truth.


 

2. Cultural Pressure
The world pushes hard. Jesus said in John 15:19, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” That hatred bites today. Biblical beliefs get called narrow. Standing for God’s design in marriage or saying Jesus is the only way, like John 14:6 declares, brings scorn. The world craves gray. Scripture holds to absolutes.
We’ve heard stories of someone who moved to a big city after graduation. He faced pressure at work to soften his faith. He didn’t want to stand out. Slowly, he stopped talking about Jesus. He started echoing the world’s ideas. Culture pulled him away. Romans 12:2 says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” That’s a battle. Many deconstruct because it’s easier to blend in than stand firm.


 

3. Intellectual Doubts
Questions can shake us. Some hit this wall. They’d ask big things. Does science disprove Genesis? How can God be good when suffering fills the world? Is the Bible reliable? They didn’t always seek answers in Scripture. They turned to skeptics instead. Some can’t reconcile God’s judgment in the Old Testament with His love in the New. He left faith behind.
Look at Job. He lost everything. He asked why. God didn’t explain it all, but He showed up. Thomas doubted the resurrection. Jesus met him with proof. God isn’t scared of questions. Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord.” Answers exist. Men like C.S. Lewis wrestled doubts and found faith stronger. But deconstruction often skips the search and runs to unbelief.


 

4. Desire for Autonomy
At its core, deconstruction is about control. People want to rule themselves. It’s old as Eden. Satan asked Eve, “Yea, hath God said…?” in Genesis 3:1. He questioned God’s authority. That doubt still echoes. A Bible college friend didn’t like the Bible’s stance on sin. He wanted a faith that fit his life, not one that shaped it. He built something new and walked away.
Jesus said in John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Real freedom comes in bowing to God. Deconstruction trades that for a throne of self. It’s not liberty. It’s a trap.

 

The Right Way to Wrestle with Faith


 

Doubt isn’t evil. It’s what we do with it. Scripture shows us how to wrestle well. Job questioned God in pain. He stayed faithful. Asaph envied the wicked in Psalm 73. He found truth in God’s presence. Thomas needed proof of the resurrection. Jesus gave it. These men doubted but didn’t flee. They sought God.
I’ve seen this in the pastor whose book once helped me. Before he deconstructed, he wrote about digging into truth. That stuck with me. When doubts hit, I turn to Scripture, not the world. I lean on wise voices who know God’s Word. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally.” If you’re wrestling, don’t drift. Dig into the Bible. Study the saints who faced these storms. Pray. God can handle your questions.

 

Conclusion: A Call to Stand Firm


 

Deconstruction is real. It’s taken friends from my life. It shook me when that pastor I admired walked away. But doubt doesn’t have to destroy. We can build faith deeper. Jesus said in Matthew 7:24-25, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.”
Storms come. Culture shifts. Questions rise. Pain strikes. Faith rooted in Christ endures. Will yours? Dig into Him. He’s the rock that stands

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