There have been a number of well-known Christian personalities in recent years who have said they were “deconstructing” their faith which has meant a variety of things from radical rethinking their Christian faith to people ceasing being Christian. What went wrong? How do Christians grapple with the ripple effects of the current deconstruction movement? New Testament scholar N.T Wright will answer questions around deconstruction of faith and atheism.
Are altar calls too simplistic?
The gospel of Jesus Christ is a profound message that can significantly alter the trajectory of one’s life. Yet has the power of life-transformation been diluted by presenting the gospel too simplistically to teenagers and pre-teens by packaging it as a ticket to heaven.
One “Ask N.T Wright Anything” podcast listener questions the approach of altar calls given during summer Bible school camps where children are invited to ask Jesus to forgive their sins so they can be saved. The listener asks: “Should we as parents and Sunday school teachers continue to explain salvation so simplistically to our children?… I want children to be saved but not by a formula.”
N.T. Wright responds by sharing his own upbringing where he also attended in his teenage years, camps run by Scripture Union where altar calls were routinely given after listening to a series of bible talks. Tom reflects that he knows many lifelong Christians who came to faith through these bible camps. For Tom, his faith was nurtured growing up in a church going, bible reading Anglican household and recalls having powerful encounters with Jesus long before praying a salvation prayer at a Bible camp. That said, N.T. Wright agrees that presenting the gospel to a teenager or pre-teen during this stage of life, especially if they come from a non-Christian household, should be treated with care. He observes:
“Preteenagers and teens are very vulnerable especially if the people speaking are adults they really like and trust. That’s both a good thing and a dangerous thing.“
While there’s nothing wrong with there being a moment of decision, to embrace a new way of living, that doesn’t need to follow a formula. N.T Wright has been involved in university campus ministry and also suggests that this may be a better stage to explore faith with young people as they are on the cusp of adulthood and don’t have the same turbulence of adolescence facing them.
God doesn’t wait until we get it all right, says N.T. Wright uses all things as His Holy Spirit works on hearts. He also notes the famous conversation between C.S. Lewis and a reporter who asked when he made a decision to follow Jesus, to which the author replied:
“It wasn’t my decision, God closed on me and I was decided upon.”
Finding a theological home
Not everyone who is in the process of deconstructing their faith is leaving Christianity.
A listener from Southern California is one of those people and asks where people can find a theological home who may reject some of the traditions of evangelicalism but are open to exploring the liturgy and hold to the core ideas of the evangelical movement.
N.T Wright responds by noting that the idea of deconstruction has infiltrated into more popular consciousness having started as a French philosophical, postmodern movement originating with Jacques Derrida. While deconstruction has become a buzzword, originally it was understood to be a way of reading texts that traditional narratives are questioned by exploring the underlying social dynamics for when a text is written. N.T. Wright notes a helpful way to understand the meaning of how deconstruction is used today:
“Deconstruction now just means dismantling some of the superstructure I’ve been given as a child because it doesn’t really make sense.”
N.T. Wright warns it is important while deconstructing your childhood beliefs to “not throw the baby out with the bathwater,” which Wright helps people to do as they work through their theological questions.
In response to finding a theological home while going through the deconstruction process, N.T. Wright laments that he would find it challenging finding a church in the USA as his own denominational home, the Episcopal/ Anglican church has been in turmoil the last 25 to 30 years. In terms of liturgy, Wright encourages listeners to explore a Christian liturgical approach to worship as it offers a ‘bridge between two worlds.”
“How are you going to structure your prayers? Do you have the spiritual energy to pray fully as you want to pray?”
In N.T. Wright’s view, finding a church that uses good liturgy wisely and well can be a gift for life.
Addressing a friend who has become an atheist
Another listener was recently in an argument with a friend who has left the Christian faith and embraced atheism. The listener asks “What is morality anyway and does it mean anything when you are not religious?”
N.T. Wright says this question has been asked since the Ancient Greeks in 2500 BC where philosophers inquired whether a non-religious person could claim a moral framework?” Ancient Epicureanism can be viewed as the grandparent of modern secularism where they developed a morality out of enlightened self-interest, even though they did not believe in the gods of the time. They sought to find a calm, detached happiness and this philosophy can be found to be followed by many in the world today.” N.T. Wright cautions about the practicality of Epicureanism when living in a world with suffering and brokenness:
“But in practice it doesn’t work terribly well as ancient and modern Epicureans have found.”
N.T. Wright observes that all the great religions have a morality bound with their religion. What you believe and how you behave are intertwined. N.T. Wright identifies that for many people they have grown up with a straightjacket faith and leave, sometimes people find a resolution after and others don’t although they want to find a way back to faith. N.T. offers wise advice for viewers who find themselves in this predicament:
“Don’t throw out the whole thing. Keep Jesus in the middle. Ask yourself and ask Jesus ‘What does it look like for me to follow you today?’”
He continues, that those searching in their faith should ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. That may feel like a narrow place compared to all the superstructure you were used to having to support your faith. But as N.T. Wright notes, it should all be about Jesus and if it wasn’t then it wasn’t worth anything to begin with.
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About N.T Wright
Tom Wright is one of the world’s leading New Testament scholars and the author of many academic and lay level books including Surprised by Hope, The Day The Revolution Began and Paul: A Biography. He was the former Anglican Bishop of Durham.