Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of

unchanging truth.

The Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.

Variations of the word deconstruction have been used to describe everything from deconversions, like of Kevin Max,

formerly of DC Talk, and Joshua Harris of Ike his dating goodbye, to soul searching, for example, of

Derek Webb, to theological revisioning, such as with Jin Hatmaker and Rob Bell.

When used descriptively, the word deconstruction can be helpful, describing what's become common features

of evangelical celebrityism.

Increasingly, however, this word deconstruction

is being used prescriptively.

It's something that comes recommended to those,

especially young people, who are questioning the faith that they grew up with as if it's

a courageous thing to do. That approach however to applaud and even recommend

deconstruction is unhelpful. It can even be dangerous. It's one thing to describe the doubting, the questioning,

and ultimately the shifting of faith commitments as deconstruction. It's another to prescribe

it as the means of coming to terms with Christianity's unpopular truth claims or the baggage of a Christian upbringing.

Simply put, the word just carries far too much worldview baggage to be used like that.

Scripture, especially in the Psalms, offers plenty of space for doubting and questioning,

and even better, it describes how God meets us in our questions and in our doubts.

Doubting need not mean deconversion, and we should be very careful, of course, about how political

allegiances or other elements of our Western culture can become corruptively bundled with

our Christian identities.

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