Emotionally mature teenagers in loving families do not run away from home. Likewise, spiritually mature Christians who are filled with God’s love do not run away from the Lord to deconstruct their faith.
Spiritual maturity manifests itself through deep biblical convictions and a consistent Christian life. Beliefs and practices are both equally important in the life of a mature Christian. And this is why the Apostle Paul instructed Timothy: “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16).
What would possess a 14-year-old girl to leave home and go live out on the streets? A number of factors could be at play, including emotional immaturity, or perhaps some type of abuse in the home. Otherwise, who in their right mind would exchange a loving home environment for the dangers of living on the streets?
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In similar fashion, professing Christians who choose to deconstruct their faith are exhibiting spiritual immaturity and perhaps reacting to some form of spiritual abuse they encountered from a handful of holier-than-thou religious types.
In addition, some spiritually immature believers are swayed by attacks against the authority and reliability of the Bible, whereas spiritually mature believers have put those questions to rest. In fact, it is impossible to grow spiritually if you do not have complete confidence that the Bible is God’s Word.
I asked a couple I was visiting with recently if they attended a church. She immediately responded, “I am deconstructing.” She described being very active in a church years ago, and that the main reason for her deconstruction is women’s rights. Today she identifies as an atheist who supports “body-autonomy,” and she claims that the Bible did not come from God.
Spiritually mature Christians, on the other hand, recognize and appreciate the reliability of Scripture, as well as the indisputable historical evidence related to women’s rights. A helpful resource by Amy Orr-Ewing from The C.S. Lewis Institute is titled, “Are Biblical Manuscripts Reliable?” and be sure to check out, “Ten Ways Jesus Has Changed the World for Women.
The woman who is deconstructing said, “I am done drinking the Kool-Aid.” Ironically, she now consumes poisonous ideologies and erroneous talking points that lack a factual or historical basis, unlike the perfect life and loving actions of Jesus.
Interestingly, women who love the Lord never assert that women are undervalued by Jesus. The fact of the matter is that Christ did just the opposite. When I made this point to the woman who is deconstructing, she said she believes Jesus was merely “a nice man.” Never mind the fact that Christ did not leave that possibility open to us.
Spiritual maturity produces rock solid faith. Growing Christians learn a simple fact over time: “I can trust the Lord even when my circumstances tempt me to think that God has abandoned me.” Many who choose to deconstruct their faith allow their disappointments and stressful emotional swings to drag them away from the Lord. Those who are not thoroughly grounded in biblical doctrine have a weak hold on the truth that is tenuous at best.
God works through His Word to help His children “become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:13-14).
Are you spiritually mature in your Christian faith and filled with the love of God? Are you convinced that Jesus lived a sinless life, died a holy death on the cross, and rose from the grave on the third day for your eternal salvation? Are you born again through faith in Jesus, or has the Christian message merely stirred your emotions?
If you are not rooted in the Gospel, then false teaching can decimate your shallow faith. You can only defeat lies by holding firmly to the truth and becoming spiritually mature. After all, an honest inquiry reveals that the arguments of false teachers regarding the Bible and Christ’s resurrection fall apart under investigation and scrutiny.
Spiritual maturity prevents Christian deconstruction by guarding a believer’s heart and mind against various attacks by the devil. God’s spiritual armor enables followers of Christ to stand up against the mentally seductive schemes of our spiritual adversary (see Ephesians 6:10-18). Satan seeks to distract and discourage professing believers through various half-truths and innumerable lies. “The (Holy) Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1).
One indicator of spiritual maturity is confidence in the Word of God. Satan works overtime to chip away at a professing Christian’s trust in the Bible. If you do not believe God’s Word, then you cannot trust God, period. Just as Adam and Eve gave into temptation after choosing to doubt what God told them, (see Genesis 3:1-13) people who choose to distrust the authority of Scripture are setting themselves up for spiritual defeat.
James Montgomery Boice (1938-2000) was a Christian theologian who said, “It is beyond doubt that Jesus highly esteemed the Old Testament and constantly submitted to it as to an authoritative revelation. He taught that the Scriptures bore a witness to Him, just as He bore a witness to them. Because they are the words of God, Jesus assumed their complete reliability, in whole and to the smallest part.”
Spiritual maturity is your only hedge of protection against false teaching, which seduces some people into walking away from the Savior who lovingly went to the cross for our eternal salvation. Sadly, those who deconstruct their faith choose spiritual adultery over allegiance to Christ. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12).
Dan Delzell is the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Papillion, Nebraska.
