I often hear people speak of the deconstruction of their Christian faith as spiritual evolution. When I hear that title given to it, I wonder, what if it is actually spiritual devolution?
Why do we always think that any movement is forward? Or that going forward is always progress? Or that we are always nearing the correct destination?
What if we are actually just getting more lost?
Why is it that simple faith, clear convictions, unwavering obedience to Jesus’ commands, and white-hot passion for him is the embarrassment? What if this is the real embarrassment: the palatable, shape-shifting, powerless Jesus that we call thinking clearly?
What if fifteen-year-old you was closer to the centre than you think?
Maybe it is worth deconstructing our deconstruction sometimes, instead of just assuming we took down the right building and built a better one.
Maybe not all growth is good growth, and not all movement leads you home.