Over the past few years, the deconstruction movement has been on the rise, and it’s driving people out of churches in droves. Deconstruction is essentially the practice of deconstructing or picking apart one’s beliefs until there’s nothing left to have faith in. Instead of sifting through their doctrines to determine what is biblical and what is not, deconstructionists tend to throw the baby out with the bathwater when they realize their church is teaching poor theology or simply teaching something they don’t personally agree with. They abandon the true faith and pursue an unbiblical form of Christianity (most often known as Progressive Christianity), follow another religious or spiritual practice, or choose to claim no religion at all. The number of churchgoers who are leaving the church because they cannot identify or affirm biblical Christianity is truly heartbreaking, and it’s a serious issue that churches all across the country ought to be addressing.

One thing that has baffled me about the deconstruction movement is how two people can grow up in the same family or grow up in the same church and end up with wildly different beliefs about Christianity. There is a very popular, well-known theologian in America who has pastored and authored books for decades. He has a son who has followed in his footsteps, becoming both a pastor and an author. But he has another son who has completely turned his back on Christianity and has even gained fame on TikTok for sharing his deconstructionist views.

When I reflect on this situation, I often think, “How could two boys who grew up in the same Christian home, who attended the same church grow into men who have two starkly different views on God and the Bible?” But there is a narrative in the Gospels that may shine some light on this and reveal that this contradiction of beliefs is not a new phenomenon amongst those who have sat under Christian teachings.