Daily Pastoral #20

Reconstructed Christians have so much to share with the world about faith.

God has broken down our false idols. This means we can relate to a ton (!) of people¹ who are sitting in the scorched rubble of their own faith right now (or have never been given a specific faith tradition). We’ve been there. 

But it’s hard. We’ve incurred a lot of religious wounds along the way. These wounds spark cynicism and bitterness in us. It’s so easy to retreat behind these wounds, especially when we’re challenged.

The good news is that we’ve been REconstructed. Though the useless relics have been burned up in the dumpster fire, what is true, good, and healthy can never be deconstructed. In our reconstruction, God in Christ has restored to us the treasure from the fire. And it is spotless. 

So how do we share the treasure with people without them thinking it’s another harmful relic? 

I think our task now is to allow ourselves to fall back in love. To realize that the thing we’re mad at (and they’re mad at) isn’t actually the real thing at all. 

I pray that God does this work in us. I pray that God can absorb my old wounds and rekindle warmth around the faith. This is the new fire. Not the fire that destroys, but the fire that invites others to sit around, roast a marshmallow, share some whiskey, and be human together. 

Amen.

1. https://www.npr.org/2022/09/17/1123508069/religion-christianity-muslim-atheist-agnostic-church-lds-pew