I clearly have a lot to say on this topic. In fact, there is plenty I have left unsaid. But, one thing is for sure. 

I am passionate about this. 

Why? Because I believe it is one of the most neglected parts of western Christianity and I think we are suffering for it. 

I am sure you have noticed a shift in the culture. The deconstruction movement has swept through like a wildfire. 

Your friends. Your mentors. Your children. Your parents….. walking away. 

How does this happen? It is multifaceted and would require hours of discussion. 

However, I do not think it can be denied that a majority of these individuals aren’t walking away because Jesus isn’t beautiful…but because they never got to know Him as He desires to be known. 

Call me naive….but I firmly believe that, for most of these individuals, if they could walk into a room and encounter Jesus in human form, talk with Him, ask Him their questions, tell Him the issues they take with their religion and the church, pour out their pain….the majority would leave refreshed and restored. 

You may be quick to disagree with me, citing verses like “enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many” (Matthew 7:13). 

But, let’s think about this a bit more carefully. Verses like Matthew 7:13 have been true for centuries. What is unique about this deconstruction movement? 

We aren’t only seeing people walk away who were never truly saved or have a stubborn desire to remain in sin. They have always been among us and don’t get me wrong, they matter too. 

But, we are seeing Christians, Christ followers, walk away from the church. Why? 

My husband and I have had these conversations with our peers who have walked away and so many of them express that they have no issue with Jesus but that He has been clouded by the religious efforts to add on to the gospel. 

When the Bible is used as a weapon of control it makes it exceedingly difficult for the Christian to pursue Truth. When we twist the Scripture we taint the Savior’s beauty. 

So what then? When the Word of God has been the tool of abuse in the lives of the abused believer, what else can tether their heart to their Creator? 

The Spirit! It was always the Spirit. 

We are the temple now. He dwells in us. He is Comforter, Guide, and Teacher. 

Please hear me. The Word is necessary and ought to be an integral part of the sanctification of the believer. 

But, there is a personal aspect to our faith that other religions cannot offer. There is something we have been given in addition to the Scripture that makes it come alive—the Spirit! 

No other major religion on earth offers such a gift. 

It grieves me that Christians can live a life of service to Christ without ever hearing from the Spirit on a personal level. I do not believe this was the intention. 

The person of the Trinity that is the intended to be the closest to us, is the one we hear the last about. Why?

Fear? We have not been given that spirit! 

The devil? Resist him!

I do not claim to have all the answers or have it all figured out. All I have is a testimony. All I have is the testimonies of those around me with a similar life experience. 

Let me leave you with this example. 

My husband shared a story with me that is a beautiful illustration of the importance of the Spirit. 

Growing up in a legalistic religious environment his entire life, my husband had seen some horrid things carried out in the name of God. He had seen lost and hurting souls pushed further into the darkness by those who would use their religion as a club rather than a life jacket. 

When he was a teenager, he had become hardened to the religious individuals around him and was battling deep rage. 

He was playing football on a secular league at the time and his friends were not Christ followers. 

One day he was invited to a party and was sitting outside the house on the curb, contemplating the many things that were angering him—battling the desire to reject his values and dive into sin. 

A friend of his came to sit with him and offered him alcohol, invited him to come inside and mess around with the girls who thought he was cute, and drown his pain in vices. 

As he explained to me….he was tempted to say yes. He was definitely at a weak and low point as a believer. 

But there was something inside of him, a voice maybe, that told Him…. “That’s not for you”. 

He told his friend, “this might sound crazy because I really want to say yes, but, that stuff just isn’t for me, man”. 

With a tear in his eye, my husband told me it took him over a decade to realize the Spirit was protecting Him even then and speaking to His tortured soul. 

Friends, it matters! It matters a great deal. My husband had been told on several occasions before that He could not hear the voice of the Lord and was taught to doubt his innocent efforts to do so. 

But God! He pursues and never fails us! 

Woe to them who teach His sheep that they cannot hear the voice of the Shepherd! The Shepherd will continue to speak—it’s up to us to listen. 

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” John 10:27