Sermon Tone Analysis

I was asked to speak about “spiritual deconstruction.”

It’s a word that has only recently entered into the vocabulary of Christians.

Have you heard this word?

Let me explain it.

Essentially, deconstruction is when a person who was raised with Christian beliefs begins to critically examine his own beliefs, but then further than merely examining them, he or she begins to tear away the layers of belief until finally they no longer identify as a Christian.

Some more famous ones in the last couple years include Joshua Harris, author of the old bestseller I Kissed Dating Goodbye, former pastor and theologian.

Just last year he divorced his wife and announced he no longer identifies as a Christian.

Famous youtubers Rhett and Link, who before their rise to internet fame were not only Christians, but had done missionary service and had worked for Campus Crusades for Christ.

They have denounced the gospel, and no longer think Christianity is true.

And for every big name deconstruction, or deconversion, there are a hundred deconstruction stories that get to attention.

They are your family members, your children, your friends, your neighbors.

Personally, I’ve known many people who have deconstructed.

When I was in high school, my older brother walked away from the faith we were raised in.

I remember him taking me to lunch and him telling me it was only a matter of time before I figured out it was all a sham, and that I would soon walk away too.

My own brother in law, raised in church, went to a solid Bible college, then to a conservative seminary, who served on pastoral staff, and then, gradually his whole worldview collapsed and was replaced with something so radically opposed to everything he had been taught.

Why is this?

The problem is not that people are losing their salvation.

True salvation cannot be lost.

The problem is False conversions: it’s when someone thinks they’re saved, believes they know Christ, believes they’re right with God, believes they’re going to heaven, but the assurance they have is false.

They are not actually reconciled to God.

And eventually they realize the shell is not worth keeping.

The Bible teaches that false conversions are more common than you might think.

In the parable of the soils, two of the seeds planted seem to sprout before withering and dying, representing people who appear to trust Jesus and before abandoning him. 1 Tim 4:1: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons…” 1 John 2 “they went out from us because they were not of us.”

The most frightening passage regarding this problem is found in Matthew 7:24-27.

Here we have people who have thought they knew Christ, thought they served Christ, but at the end of the day they were not right with God.

I mean, if you think about it, every single person fits into one of these four categories.

You’re either 1) Saved and you know it.

2) Saved and you struggle with doubt, 3) Unsaved and you know you’re not saved.

4) Unsaved but you think you are.

I bet, in a room this size there are probably some of you who are in group 4: You’re not right with God, but you think you are.

And it could be that you are around Christianity, around churches, and can speak Christianese, but there is no spiritual life within you.

Are you like that?

Are you like that mythical person who has no existence alone?

He’s at the party.

He’s with the crowd.

But as soon as the last person leaves, he vanishes into thin air.

He doesn’t exist alone.

And I think there are some people who are that way spiritually.

As soon as they’re all alone their relationship with God vanishes.

No concern for God, his glory.

A Christian veneer without a pulsating Christian heart?

What can we do to prevent that?

Now, part of my job as a pastor is to think about what the Bible says a church should do to help its members persevere in the faith.

And I’m thankful God has spoken to this issue.

Turn to the book of Hebrews.

The author of Hebrews was writing to encourage people not to leave Christianity and go back to their old ways under the Old Covenant.

Many of his readers would have professed Christ, but were wondering - maybe we should go back to the law?

In other words, you could say that these particular people were being tempted to “deconstruct” their Christian faith and return to their old habits.

And so there are several ways this letter applies to the issue of deconstruction today.

I’m gonna cherry pick from this book and we’re going to discover 5 urgent things we need to begin doing know if we want to avoid falling away.

Stop drifting from the gospel

Hebrews 2:1.

Chapter 2 comes after chapter 1.

According to 1:3 “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”

After that, we see his superiority to angels - as the divine son of God who died in the place of sinners.

“Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”

In other words, do you know the best way to drift?

Do nothing.

Think of it this way: You already live in a current.

You have the trends of the world, which are moving away from God.

You have the schemes of the enemy, which are moving you away from God.

And you have the natural inclinations of your own sin, which pull you away.

All you have to do to drift is nothing.

To put it another way, if you’re not devoted, you're drifting.

I remember going to the Colorado River one summer and swimming in one of the deeper sections where the current wasn’t really fast.

I remember just going out to the middle, just swimming around, exploring.

And when I looked up to see where I got in, I noticed I was 50 feet from where I walked in.

I drifted.

I didn’t have to choose to swim with the current.

I was already in the current.

“Pay close attention to what you’ve heard.”

The gospel.

Or you’ll drift.

I wonder: do you know the gospel?

If I paused the message right now, asked you to turn to your neighbor, and explain the gospel in 60 seconds - could you?

This is the most important reality in the universe, it’s the absolute center of Christianity, and yet it continually gets buried into irrelevance by lesser issues!

If you don’t know the gospel - you actually don’t have a relationship with God!

Here it is: God is the holy creator of the universe.

He rules as king in perfect righteousness.

He created us in his image to glorify him.

But we have all sinned, we are all guilty, and our guilt renders us deserving of his righteous wrath.

We can do nothing to save ourselves.

We are stained so deeply with the stain of sin, we cannot wash ourselves clean.

If we will be saved, it must be God’s choice to save, because we cannot save ourselves.

And the good news is that God, out of sheer mercy, sent his own son, Jesus Christ to live a perfect life, die upon the cross, and rise from the dead.

Jesus’ death and resurrection means sinners can be saved.

How? Everyone who turns from self-salvation and trusts in Jesus will participate in the greatest exchange: they will give their sins to Christ and he will pay for them on the cross, and in return they will receive Jesus’ perfect righteousness.

If you want to avoid deconstruction, pay close attention to this.

Master the gospel.

Meditate on the gospel.

Maybe you pay attention to sports - you’ve got your fantasy team lined up.

Maybe you pay attention to politics - you’re being driven crazy by everything on the news.

Maybe you pay attention to stocks, to your career, to your friendships.

What about the gospel?

If you’re not, you’ll be like me in the Colorado River, you won't even realize you’re going anywhere until you realize one day you’re miles from where you started.

It’s been said, “The Devil is more likely to dull your affections over a decade than to destroy your soul in a day.”

Oh, how patient he is.

How subtle.

How cunning.