THE CRISIS OF FAITH DECONSTRUCTION
We are living in an age where a strong current of non-religious and humanistic ideologies is prevailing and dominating within our culture. Society has evolved beyond the post-modern age and has exploded within the past few years into an all-out attack on Christian morals, values, and biblical authority. The time in which churches took a firm stand by preaching against the culture and correcting theology and biblical understanding has seemingly faded into the echoes of the past. The culture is increasing in hostility to the Christian worldview, and both young and old alike are calling doctrines that have stood for the past 2,000 years into question, leading many to walk away from the faith, question everything about Christianity, and begin the process known as deconstruction. The process of deconstructing one's faith has multiple entry points into the beginning stages; however, it starts when the church is no longer recognizable as distinct and separate from the culture surrounding her. Christians across the Evangelical landscape preach and teach that the chasm between Christian thought and secular culture is not as vast as we once believed. Instead of a great divide between Christian doctrine and secular thought, a drift has transpired over the past several decades in which the church has compromised and capitulated to that of the culture to make the teaching of Christ more palatable and less offensive.
Deconstructing one’s faith begins by calling everything they once heard or were taught into question and removing anything that is not valid until they are left with a basic foundation of Christian thought, and then rebuilding their beliefs with the direction they feel convinced on. This is healthy so long as deconstruction leads to a gospel reconstruction, yet that is not what transpires. Christian discernment is at an all-time low, and the influence of self-help books and other spiritual books has been the material in which many are attempting to rebuild their faith. However, the reconstruction that takes place with many who have or who are currently deconstructing is utterly void of biblical Christ exultation doctrine and is instead replaced with manufactured man-centered tradition. The phenomenon of deconstruction is nothing new, as this is a continuance of the first deconstruction ever recorded in human history between Eve and the serpent.
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, and not according to Christ. -Colossians 2:8
Genesis 3:1 records the discourse between Eve and the serpent, the first false teacher, approaching the first victim to fall prey to deconstruction and calling one’s beliefs into question. The serpent approaches Eve and poses a question to her which takes root in her mind, leading her to doubt what she had previously been taught, not to eat of the tree in the midst of the garden (Gen.3:3). She responds to the serpent who questioned the validity of the command Yahweh gave Adam and Eve to not eat of the tree, by stating the instruction she had been delivered to not eat of the tree. However, when the serpent pushes back on this belief, she holds and then recalls the command and belief into question, which then leads to her eventual decision to choose her desires over the commands of her Creator. This decision had enormous ramifications for not just her and her husband but for all mankind. The serpent in this section demonstrates to us the approach Satan uses to attack us by making the individual question the word of God.
The approach to how Satan attacks Christians hasn’t changed since this historical event, as we are continually warned throughout the Old Testament about false prophets and in the New Testament concerning false teachers. One such passage is in Colossians 2:8, where Paul addresses the believers at the church in Colossae concerning the danger that Christians face continually. Paul writes, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” Colossians 2:8 (LSB)
DISCERNMENT
Paul warns the church by beginning this sentence with a command to “see,” referring to an individual's state of readiness for imminent peril or a dangerous or hazardous situation. Paul is not referring to the organ of the eye looking out for physical danger but is indicating a state of alertness for a Christian in the realm of spiritual discernment or spiritual wisdom. Discernment for the Christian is synonymous with spiritual wisdom. It is critical for Christians to always be in a spiritual state of readiness as 1 Peter 5:8 describes Satan as roaming the earth like a lion looking for prey he can devour. Spiritual wisdom begins and ends with the fear of the Lord (Prov. 1:7; Ps. 111:10; Phil. 2:12-13), which produces knowledge in spiritual matters and wisdom towards Christian morality and humility before God. The opposite of spiritual wisdom and discernment is spiritual openness, which inevitably leads to death and destruction.
Christians are not afforded the luxury of a “day off” or “letting the guard down” at any time during our small stay here on this earth as a lion in the wild waits in the tall grass for his prey to turn their back so too does Satan look for the vulnerable areas and situations in our lives for us to turn our back from our enemy allowing him an opportunity to spring his ambush and take us a spiritual hostage. Paul identifies his warning about remaining in a state of alertness so that “no one takes you captive,” which is the goal and objective of our spiritual foe. How we are taken captive when we allow our guard to go down is through “philosophy and empty deception.” The philosophy and empty deception Paul refers to are erroneous teachings, and the empty deception depicts the material being presented, which may appear to consist of substance; however, at its core, it is empty.
In Paul’s era, empty deceit was done through false teachers who would travel around and speak with authority and boldness, leading individuals to believe that because of the conviction and passion of the orator, there must be truth within their message. Nothing has changed when we zoom out from Paul and look at the situation of false teachers today. The number of false teachers and false teaching is almost incalculable as books, podcasts, social media influencers, and blogs are swirling around, forming a cacophony of a movement as these false ideological systems are picking people off one by one, like a pride of lions attacking their prey systematically, and one by one. If an individual is not in a state of readiness and is not practicing discernment and questioning if what is being taught is found in Scripture, then they will be added to the list of spiritual casualties that grow daily.
HOW TO IDENTIFY FALSE TEACHING
False teaching and teachers can be identified through the content and focus of their teaching message. Paul identifies that the teaching will be erroneous and empty in content; however, it is nearly impossible to identify for many who do not practice the art of discernment. However, Paul provides additional insight into the root and focus of false teaching, which is found in the tradition of men. “Tradition of men” refers to individuals who relegate what the Bible says and replace it with personal interpretation and feelings concerning a particular doctrine or command. In the context of this passage, it is teaching or tradition being taught to you by someone else who is merely passing along information without revealing where the information came from or if it is even accurate. In the Legacy Standard Bible, the word “according to” is used three times to describe the mode of false teaching. This word in Greek is a preposition that describes and indicates relationships between words in a clause. In the context of Colossians 2:8, we see these three uses of the word “according.” However, the first two are used in the phrase to describe the state of affairs of false teaching, and the third is used to contrast the standard to which the teaching should meet but doesn’t.
Therefore, we can surmise that Paul provides an understanding to identify false teaching because it will be “according to the tradition of men” and “according to the elementary principles of the world.” Leading to the conclusion that since it is according to worldly knowledge and teaching, it is not “according to Christ.” The phrase “elementary principles of the world” does not refer to the definition of elementary as basic elements of a subject, as the words elementary and principles in Greek are one word that refers to the transcendent evil powers that are in control of mankind and their knowledge on earth. Paul elaborates on this in Galatians 4:3, So also we, while we were children, were enslaved under the elemental things of the world. He also uses it later on in this same chapter in Colossians 2:20: if you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees. To put it succinctly, the source of false teaching comes from Satan, and this teaching is captivating, but at its root, it is evil, empty, and centered on man and not on Christ. To identify false teaching, one only has to look at who or what is being honored in what is being proclaimed. Man? Self? Or is it pointing to and honoring Christ and the work He accomplished?
There is an abundance of false teaching raging on social media outlets such as Instagram and YouTube, which is extremely dangerous if one does not scrutinize what is being said and what isn’t. False teaching is not always overt and subtle in its content or presentation. It is deceptive in content and words and destructive and deadly in its intent. The teaching and teachers disguise themselves as representatives of truth, which Paul highlights in 2 Corinthians 11:13-14: For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Satan, the source of the teaching, is disguised as an angel of light, as are his messengers and the content they teach. The men that Satan employs are false apostles and deceitful workers who operate in disguise to lead men and women into darkness and ultimately to their eternal demise.
Conclusion
The problem of deconstructing one’s faith is an item that is found in Genesis and continues into our era today. However, Christians are provided with a means of discerning and recognizing false teaching to ensure that we do not become deceived or complicit with the continual circulation of false teaching. Throughout the Bible, there are countless warnings and commands to look out for and be aware of false teachers, and for Christians to not heed these warnings comes with a tremendous cost that we should be unwilling to pay. The need for Christians to accurately handle the Word of truth is an item that cannot be overlooked or undervalued (2 Tim. 2:15). Men and women must be diligent in their study, interpretation, and application of God’s Word so that each of them can present themselves to God for approval of the work they have done while they are on this earth during their life span.