First of all, in my essays and responses to others, I try not to be accusatory or get personal. I have had to develop a Disclaimer for Facebook because of that very problem. With my wife and in a woman pen pal maybe women are more apt to take things personally rather than academically. Nevertheless, I try to be mindful and encouraging folks to remember or to understand possibly for the first time, the lessons of Jesus and the apostles written in the Bible. So, I apologize for any offense taken.
Yet, I am determined to persuade as well as encourage the cultivation of the Faith as in Jude 1:3 "Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people."
That doesn't make me an apostle, but I am intent on sharing what the Holy Spirit is sharing with me. Where the seed falls and how it grows is far and away above my pay grade. I try to be very careful in handling God's Word. Also, my purpose is to rightly divide the Word of Truth through etymological study of Greek and Hebrew and English Dictionaries, since many of the concepts derived from the Bible developed from archaic vernaculars and the Dark ages of ancient European fears and fantasies.
Anyways, when anyone mentions Faith Deconstruction, alarm bells go off in my head. Perhaps I pull the trigger too quickly. Nevertheless, how people understand words complicates the whole discussion of its methodology. It was good of you to delineate your perspective, because other than what I was reading from Backyard Church (which was how I tried to answer your specific question), I was not aware of other definitions.
So, I would say is that my understanding is more or less a combination of your #1 & #2. Notwithstanding, there may be a potential problem in my mind with your #3. Now, I do not want to repeat anything that would prompt a reprimand from you. So, let me preface my comment by assuring you that my response to Miss Carrie was to only one part of her compilation, and I have every intent to read the others. Again, when my wife "goes on" about something, I get impatient, interrupt, and say, "Honey, I get it, I get it." (I do have something like an Attention Deficit problem reading ,writing, or listening…sorry.) I admit that my response could have easily been taken as a knee jerk reaction. Online there are many, and I strive to respond rather than react, but sometimes, no matter how hard we try…
I understand why Jesus used so many parables so often.
Now, on to #3. Yes, renewing of the mind is a wise Biblical pursuit. It is vital. It is a necessity. May I attempt to put it in the context of the verse 2 Corinthians 5:17? New Living Translation, "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"
I am into gardening, and my experience in this field may help me explaining the procedural problem I am concerned with. It is who and what ground we are tilling in the deconstructing process. Is it only a self-motivated intellectual process attempting at renewing one's Faith by self effort? Whatever is planted and watered may turn out to be an invasive species, not exactly having the results we had hoped. In addition, it may be more difficult to weed out than we had anticipated. The problem is worse than no vegetation at all.
Therefore my one question becomes tripartite:
Who is the Gardener?
What kind of Seed is being sown?
What is the Soil's condition? (Ph, NPK, tilth, light exposure, etc.)
Maybe there is confusion due to how one defines "faith." We both can probably reference Hebrews 11:1-6. Yet, this passage is more appropriate relating to my worries: Ephesians 2:8-9, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."
I figure "Faith" can be defined in three ways.
Are we talking about Denominations? What church we belong to?
Are we talking about a Persuasion like its use in Colonial times?
Are we talking about faith like a verb rather than as a noun?
What my point is, if we are doing either deconstruction or construction, who is the muscle working to complete the project and who is making all the decisions of what to tear down and what to build? Is it just a remodel, or is it some phase of a new creation? Am I simply going about tilling old ground or am I adding nutrients, tillage, and using healthy seed?
I hope this assuages your concerns and may prompt further discussions. Thank you for your time and efforts.
Amy Grant - Old Man's Rubble (Official Music Video)
