I had two very different experiences when I first attended seminary that shaped not just what I learned, but how I learned. The first happened when I spent the summer of 1995 in Cleveland working with inner-city youth on Cleveland’s East Side. It was easily the most transformative experience of my life and that was because I almost immediately recognized that I had very little if anything to “teach” the youth I was surrounded by. Instead, I spent my summer learning from the youth how to follow Jesus in an urban context. I learned so much that it changed my life.  

The second experience happened that fall in Chicago. I was part of the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education, or SCUPE. I lived on the north side, served in a church and participated in the classes. I honestly loved my time in Chicago, which has become one of my favorite cities in the world (Go Cubs!). And I can honestly say I learned a lot through the classes I took. At the same time, it was clear to me and the other students in SCUPE that our professors had only one goal: they wanted to deconstruct our faith. Now, as an affluent, sheltered suburban kid (I was only 27 years old at the time) I was definitely ready to deconstruct my faith and my strongly held opinions and allegiances. That is why I was there! But someone else demanding that my faith be changed more to their liking felt more than a little manipulative. 

Let me give an example of how deconstruction works for I sincerely believe that deconstructing our faith is indeed a work of sanctifying grace. While in Cleveland I figured out literally on my first day I was supposed to teach Bible study to inner city youth that the Jesus I knew and loved had greatly been shaped by the fact that I did not grow up surrounded by violence and poverty and so my idea of Jesus was so foreign with the youth. I needed to learn from them as they interpreted the biblical texts. I could give some historical context, but it was they who needed to do the challenging work of interpretation. 

The key part of this was I recognized that my construction of my faith at that time was not adequate for the reality I lived in so I had to literally rethink and re-act in new ways so that I would be able to live faithfully in this new context; so that I could better love God and love people. The context and the theological dissonance that that creates within us is what is most effective in allowing us to think and act through new paradigms as we discover our old ones fail us. 

But when people in positions of authority insist on specific values or practices to be deconstructed and replaced with new ones, this becomes manipulative and even, at times, cultish. I think many of us know of times when conservative evangelicals have tried to manipulate us or people we know to think or act in certain ways that fit into their theological or ideological frameworks. I remember an Assemblies of God pastor in Granbury, Texas who one time wanted to pray for me in front of the whole congregation. We were standing literally just a foot or so in front of the first pew and he was praying in tongues while pressing against my forehead, indicating he wanted me to “get slain” in the Spirit. “Gettin slain in the Spirit” is most often experienced by falling backwards. Now, I certainly appreciated him praying for me, but I wasn’t an idiot. I knew the front pew was literally inches behind me so, not believing he had the power to split the first two pews in half, I stayed upright. Plus, the whole thing felt a little performative to be honest. When he finally finished, he was obviously very disappointed I didn’t fall out so, once again right in front of the congregation, he pronounced that I was filled with demons of rebellion. 

Yeah dude, we are legion. 

Unfortunately, I have many stories of these kinds of shenanigans from evangelical leaders. A lot of times, like the story above, the examples are funny. However, also unfortunately, conservative evangelicals are not the only ones who try to force deconstruction onto others. I see liberals do this all too often. How many times have folks been shunned because they flounder when saying their own pronouns or remembering the pronouns of others? How many times have we silenced someone who is honestly wrestling with implementing practices or policies which center Black people, or, even more, which decenter White People? Sanctification is messy work and we liberals are not the most patient people in the world to say the least. 

We would all do well (and I count myself first in this number) to remember that people need space, the Spirit, and their curiosity more than they need our often paternalistic instruction. It is not my job to get people to agree with me and when I do think it’s my job I am doing as much to convince myself as I am persuading others. My part really centers on loving people, praying for the Spirit to move in their lives, and giving people space to deconstruct what they formerly knew as true while discovering deeper truths. Isn’t all of life really a process of unlearning anyway? And if it is, then the best thing we can do is to create safe spaces for the unlearning to happen.