“I DON’T BELIEVE THIS STUFF ANYMORE” 1 Cor. 1:18
FBCF – 9/10/23
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Here are some names I want throw out to you:
- Derek Webb (Caedmon’s Call – now a drag queen who calls himself “Flamy Grant”)
- Kevin Max (DC Talk)
- John Steingard (Hawk Nelson)
- Michael & Lisa Gungor
- Joshua Harris (former pastor of megachurch, author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye – 2018 disavowed the book – 2019 – walked away from his wife & his faith – no longer considered himself a Christian & was recanting his teachings)
- Abraham Piper (son of pastor John Piper)
Just b/c someone is a celebrity, or has a large social media following, or has a national or international platform doesn’t mean that they are an expert or an authority on a matter. And yet, many people have been & are being greatly influenced by these “former” Christian artists & pastors as they deconstruct their faith.
So much change & upheaval in the last few years. One crisis after another – pandemic, supply chain issues, political (upcoming Presidential election has huge ramifications in every area of our lives), economic issues, global unrest, criminal activity in the most unbelievable ways, explosion of social media influence in our lives - & they’re all interconnected in so many ways. We don’t know who to believe anymore. We are now questioning everything – things we’ve never had to question before. Sociologists- “DESTABILIZING at every level of society away from the norm which will a create a new normal”…
That’s where this issue of DECONSTRUCTION comes in. Pastor friend, Brady Canright: “We are seeing a DECONSTRUCTION of norms, beliefs, knowledge, & values & a RECONSTRUCTION of those things into a new framework.”
And FAITH is one area where deconstruction is growing, seemingly by leaps & bounds.
Start new series today – “DEEP-Construction” – play on word “deconstruction.” Take next 7 wks to wrestle w/ the issues of deconstruction & hard questions of our faith: questions about suffering, the Bible, doubt, & other issues. End the series w/ a Q&A time on Sun AM, Oct. 29 – Dr. Wayne VanHorn & I will try to answer some of YOUR questions that you struggle with. Write them down & turn them in to me – anonymously if you’d like. We will try to answer as many as we can on that Sun morning.
Def. of DECONSTRUCTION: “Depending on who’s using the word, deconstruction can be a complete demolition of Christian belief, a critical re-appraisal of one’s faith tradition, or an honest acknowledgment of doubt and questions.” (https://careynieuwhof.com/five-real-reasons-young-people-are-deconstructing-their-faith/)
“Christian deconstruction is the process by which a Christian critically reevaluates the tenets and doctrines of traditional Christianity and emerges with a different perspective on their faith.”
According to Brian Zahnd in his book When Everything Catches Fire, deconstruction is “a crisis of Christian faith that leads to either a reevaluation of Christianity or sometimes a total abandonment of Christianity.” (Ibid.)
This is not inherently a bad thing that should be condemned outright or avoided altogether. Asking hard questions – questioning the status quo when the status quo is not biblical – pushing back on hypocrisy & lack of integrity in institutions that are supposed to be bastions of upright, moral behavior – these are all good things.
One writer said this: When DeConstruction is OK: When it
- Dismantles Unnecessary Practices
- Disengages from False Teaching
- Disrupts Complacent Christianity (https://sermons.logos.com/sermons/725488-03-29-2021-deconstructing-christianity...)
APPLICATION: Deconstruction is not a wrong thing as long as you reconstruct the right way.
EXPLANATION – 1 Corinthians 1:18, 27-28; 2:2
Let’s lay some groundwork. Lot of similarities between the culture of Corinth & the culture of today.
- Corinth known for sexual immorality
- Corinth known for religious diversity
- Corinth known for corruption in all arenas of society
- “…Paul’s Corinth was at once the New York, Los Angeles, & Las Vegas of the ancient world.” (Gordon Fee)
- Another commentator describes Corinth as “Intellectually alert, materially prosperous, but morally corrupt.” (Leon Morris)
The Apostle Paul dove into this desperately needy, desperately wicked culture & planted a church. What better way to show & share the love of Christ & the life-changing Good News of Jesus w/ these people than to plant a church right in the middle of them!
Unfortunately, the church floundered & struggled under the influence of all the divergent views of the culture. Got mired in all sorts of controversies related to aberrant religious beliefs, contamination related to sexual perversion, & compromise related to idolatry. When you get all of these powerful, Satanic influences converging in one place, there is the very real danger that Christians will give in to temptation & wander away from the faith, or that they will abandon their faith & be permanently shipwrecked. We are definitely seeing that happen in our day.
THE STRENGTH OF THE GOSPEL – 1:18 – On the one hand, to some people, the preaching of the cross is “folly” – “foolishness” – absurdity, madness, silliness, stupidity.
- “The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction…” (MSG)
- There have always been & will always be those who think the Gospel is a senseless, foolish belief system & way of life.
- Some of those I mentioned at the beginning of the message are in that category. They used to believe it, or at least gave the indication that they believed it. But now, it is foolishness to them. Or they’ve found other things that seem to make more sense to them.
- Some of them used to called themselves “evangelical Christians.” Now they recoil against that term & refer to themselves as “exvangelical.”
- Wikipedia – “Exvangelical is a social movement of people who have left evangelicalism, especially white evangelical churches in the United States, for atheism, agnosticism, progressive Christianity, or any other religious belief, or lack thereof.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exvangelical)
- “An exvangelical is a sojourner, a person who came from one place and headed to another—a place, he hopes, more true, good, and beautiful than the one of his youth.” (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/moving-beyond-exvangelicalism/)
- Neil – ran into him at Newks – didn’t know him well but went to church w/ him at former church – invited him to Easter program at church – didn’t realized he had renounced his faith & considers himself at atheist now – next thing I know, he’s blogging about me inviting him to this program that glorifies killing a man on a cross. At first, ticked me off. Then made me sad. So he’s now on my weekly prayer list & pray for him every Thu.
- “Exvangelicals” consider what I’m doing now – the preaching of the Gospel - & what so many of us believe right now – the truth of the Gospel – to be folly – foolishness, absurdity, madness, silliness, stupidity. Don’t let that make you mad. Don’t let that lead you to see them as enemies (our struggle is not against flesh & blood). Let that lead you to have a broken heart for them in their spiritual darkness & confusion. Let that lead you to love them. Let that lead you to pray for them. THAT is the strength of the Gospel. V. 18 – “…but for those who are being saved it is the power of God.” “…but for those on the way of salvation, it makes perfect sense.” (MSG) – It is the power of God. It gives peace of God that passes understanding. It brings the presence of God. It gives us the purpose of God for living our lives for His glory.
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD – 1:27-29 – Look at those verses closely:
- “BUT GOD…” – Any time you see word “but”, need to pay attention. Shift in perspective. Shift in emphasis. Shift in importance.
- “GOD” – named 4 times in these 3 verses:
o “…God chose…” – v. 27a
o “…God chose…” – v. 27b
o “God chose…” – v. 28
o “…no human being might boast in the presence of God” – v. 29
There have always been & always will be those who think the sovereignty of God is ridiculous. For many who have or are deconstructing their faith, the sovereignty of God is a big sticking point. Their worldly wisdom & intellectual prowess leads them away from a life of faith & belief in a God whose thoughts & ways are higher & greater than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Love what one commentator said:
“God loves to rebuke the idolatry of human wisdom, and He often does it by choosing and using the foolish things of the world. God isn’t saying that it is better to be foolish or uneducated. Rather, He is saying that the world’s wisdom and education does not bring us salvation in Jesus Christ.
“That no flesh should glory in His presence”: This is the end result. No one will stand before God and declare, “I figured You out” or “You did it just like I thought You should.” God’s ways are greater and higher, and nothing of the flesh will glory in His presence.” (https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-corinthians-1/)
The sovereignty of God will always & ultimately trump the wisdom of man. That’s not a pompous, arrogant statement – It’s a statement of life-changing truth!
THE SINGULAR MESSAGE OF THE CROSS – 2:2
There have always been & always will be those who think the message of the cross is ludicrous & outdated. In the world’s eyes, those of us who have decided to “know nothing among you except Jesus Christ & Him crucified” are old-fashioned, narrow-minded, & out-of-touch w/ the real world.
And yet, we believe & stand on the TRUTH that the singular message of the cross cuts through all of the competing voices of the world that scream for our attention. We aren’t trying to impress people w/ our intellect or “lofty speech & wisdom” (v. 1). We want people to be impressed with Jesus. We want them to be impressed w/ the “demonstration of the Spirit.” We want them to be impressed w/ GOD’S power, not our power – which is really no power at all.
And the way they will be impressed w/ Jesus, w/ the demonstration of the Spirit, & w/ God’s power is when they see it in our lives & hear it in our words. Even if they continue to deconstruct – even if they continue in the ways & thoughts of an exvangelical – even if they never come back & reconstruct their lives on the truth of God’s Word – you & I must STILL preach & live the singular message of the cross. It's the ONLY message that will change ANYONE’S life! It’s the message that leads to REconstruction after DEconstruction.
