Understanding Religious Deconstruction - Bible Class Discussion Guide

A Note for the Teacher
This guide is direct on purpose. Deconstruction is a serious subject and a soft, tentative class won't do it justice. But keep one line clearly in view: be sharp with the ideas and gentle with the people. Some in the room may have a child or grandchild who has walked away, and Glenn was careful to say that a good outcome is never guaranteed and that trauma and church hurt play a role no parent controls. Push the class hard on what deconstruction actually is and what it costs — but never let the room turn a grieving parent's loss into a case study. Get to the practical section. Prevention is the whole point.

Opening Prayer
Ask God for honest hearts, for courage to face hard questions instead of dodging them, and for the wisdom to prepare our children before the storm rather than during it.

Opening Question
Glenn said a faithful father, if he truly believed his child would never return to the Lord, would rather that child had died in the faith than lived to abandon it. That statement offends modern ears. Read Matthew 10:28. Is Glenn right — is losing your soul genuinely worse than losing your life? If you say yes, does the way you spend your time and concern reflect that you actually believe it?

Part One: Name It Correctly, or Lose the Argument Before It Starts
Glenn's first move was to say what deconstruction is not — because the word gets used loosely, and if we treat every honest question as apostasy, we drive away the very people we're trying to keep.
Read aloud: Acts 17:11 — the Bereans examined the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

Questions
1. Glenn drew a hard line: doubt, critical thinking, and asking hard questions are not deconstruction — Scripture actually commands the kind of examination the Bereans practiced. So here's the position to take: in our congregation, is a teenager who raises a hard question more likely to be treated like a Berean or like a threat? Defend your answer with what actually happens here, not what we'd like to think happens.
2. Here's Glenn's definition, and it's the whole ballgame: deconstruction is picking up an Etch A Sketch, shaking the whole thing blank, and assuming everything you were taught is false until you can personally justify it. Studying a doubt starts by trusting God and testing one idea against Scripture. Deconstruction starts by trusting yourself and putting God on trial. Which starting posture is honest inquiry, and which one has already decided the verdict before the trial begins?
3. Glenn tied all of this to postmodernism — the belief that there's no absolute truth, only what feels true to each person. Some people say that view is humble and open-minded. Glenn says it's quietly fatal to Christianity. Take a side: is "what's true for you may not be true for me" a humble position or a dishonest one? Why can't it survive contact with the claim that Jesus rose from the dead?
4. Thomas doubted and ended at "my Lord and my God." Judas doubted and ended at a rope. Same word, opposite destinations. What actually separated them — and which one is deconstruction modeled on, no matter how it dresses itself up?

Part Two: Same Questions, Opposite Endings
This is the heart of the sermon. Tom, Nate, and Jane were all raised in the church. They hit nearly identical challenges — evolution, homosexuality, hell, the reliability of Scripture. Two lost their faith. One kept it. The questions didn't decide the outcome. The answers did.
Read aloud: 1 Peter 3:15 — always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks a reason for the hope in you.

Questions
1. Tom brought his parents a real question about a gay friend he loved, and asked why it was sin. They said, "it's wrong — it's in the Bible." He asked where. They didn't know. Be honest and take the position: if a young person in your family asked you that same question tonight, could you open the Bible and actually show them — book, chapter, and reason — or would you be Tom's parents?
2. Jane faced the same chromosome argument, the same questions about homosexuality, the same doubts about whether Scripture can be trusted — and she came out with her faith stronger, because her parents took her to the evidence, her teacher went verse by verse, and her dad walked her through the manuscripts. Same questions as Tom. Opposite ending. So where is this battle actually won or lost — and how many years before the crisis does the winning start?
3. Nate wasn't a shaky teenager. He led singing. He preached sometimes. He was, by every visible measure, solid — and he deconstructed all the way into mocking the church on the blog he once used to defend it. Is there someone in our congregation we’re assuming is "fine" simply because they're active and visible? What steps should we take to ensure they don’t end up like Nate?
4. In all three stories, the person said their doubts out loud — to parents, to a preacher, in a Bible class. The response they got is what decided the direction they went. When someone raises a hard question in our congregation, what actually happens? And here's the sharper version: has this church ever answered a sincere question with "you just need more faith" — and do we understand that this answer is often the first push toward the door, not a defense of the faith?
5. Glenn said deconstruction is very often tied to something traumatic — a parent's affair, a brutal divorce, or "church hurt" from someone the person trusted. He didn't excuse the walk-away, but he didn't ignore the wound either. Take the harder half of this honestly: church hurt isn't done by "the culture." It's done by people in pews. Have we, in this room, ever been the wound in someone's story? What do we owe the people we've hurt?

Part Three: The Real Engine Underneath
Glenn listed five things deconstruction throws out — commitment to the church, restrictions on sexuality, restrictions on women in church leadership, the Bible as binding authority, and the arrival at any settled truth. But he said all five come from one root.

Questions
1. Here's Glenn's most cutting claim, and it deserves a straight answer: people almost never deconstruct because they did a deep, honest study of Scripture and reluctantly concluded Christianity is false. They deconstruct because they take their own preferences and experiences as the highest authority — and then find reasons. He compared it to idolatry: I build a god in my own image who will never ask of me anything I don't want to give. Do you agree that most deconstruction is preference first and reasoning second? Why is it easy to fall into that ideology?
2. Glenn quoted 2 Timothy 3:7 — "always learning and never able to arrive at the knowledge of the truth." Deconstructionists see themselves as forever on a journey, never at a destination, and they call that intellectual honesty. Glenn calls it a dead end. Which is it — and why would anyone prefer a search with no arrival to actually finding the truth?
3. Of the five things commonly thrown out, name the one you think is doing the most damage to young Christians right now — not the one that bothers you most, the one actually pulling people out. Defend the choice.
4. There's an uncomfortable implication in Glenn's argument: if deconstruction is really about rejecting outside authority, then the appeal of it isn't intelligence — it's autonomy. It feels smart, but underneath it's "no one gets to tell me what to do." How do you tell the difference in yourself between a real intellectual objection and a desire to not be told what to do?

Part Four: The Other Deconstruction
Glenn ended with a twist: he invited people to deconstruct — in the opposite direction. Tear down the man-made and the extra-biblical, and go back to primitive New Testament Christianity.
Read aloud: Jude 3 — contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

Questions
1. Glenn spent the whole sermon warning against deconstruction and then ended by inviting it. Both tear something down. So state the dividing line in one sentence: what makes one deconstruction faithful and the other one shipwreck (1 Timothy 1:19)?
2. Every issue in this sermon — sexuality, hell, evolution, women's roles, the church — ultimately comes back to one question: is the Bible the inspired, authoritative Word of God, or isn't it? Glenn stakes everything there. Is he right that this is the real dividing line, and that once you settle it honestly, most of the other questions resolve? Or is that too simple?

Making It Practical: In Your Home
Glenn didn't leave this vague. He gave marching orders. This is where the class stops analyzing and starts committing.

The Tom test. Glenn's central charge: when a child asks something hard, never take the lazy exit of "just trust God" or "have more faith." That exit is where Tom's story started. Pick one question your child or grandchild is likely to ask — Why is homosexuality sin? Why does God allow suffering? How do we know the Bible is reliable? Didn't we evolve? — and commit to actually learning the answer this month, before they ask. Which question, and by when? Better yet, do the research on all of the questions and be prepared to give answers. Remember, Scripture has never been afraid of questions.
Family Bible time, starting now. Glenn was blunt: Sunday morning is not enough. The faith has to be planted deeper, at home, regularly. If you have children or grandchildren in your life, what is the honest reason you're not already doing this — no time, don't know how, never started? Name it, then name the first step.
Know where to go. The parents in Jane's story weren't scholars. They just knew Apologetics Press and Christian Courier existed and used them. Have you ever actually read an apologetics resource on a hard topic? If not, that's the gap between Tom's parents and Jane's. Close it this week.
Reach the one who's slipping. Someone you know is quietly pulling away right now. Glenn's warning is sobering: once people are fully into deconstruction, they usually don't come back — which means the time to reach them is now, while they're still asking. Who is it, and what will you do this week besides worry?

Making It Practical: In Our Congregation
Discuss together and bring the strongest ideas to the elders and teachers as real proposals.

Do we make it safe to ask? Glenn's congregation has run a monthly Q&A for over twenty years — an open box, hard questions, honest answers. Do we have anything like it? If a member's teenager has a real doubt, is there anywhere in this congregation they can take it without feeling like a troublemaker? If not, that's a gap we're choosing to leave open. They will end up asking the questions anyway, but to a false teacher.
Are we equipping before the crisis, or reacting after? By the time someone is actively deconstructing, they usually don't return. That means the entire strategy has to be prevention — teenagers, young adults, and new converts equipped with real answers before the pressure hits. Name one concrete thing this congregation could start doing to equip people ahead of time instead of scrambling once someone is already halfway out.
Are we the wound or the refuge? So much deconstruction traces back to church hurt. Take this one seriously as a body: is our congregation the kind of place that inflicts that hurt or heals it? Name one honest area where we could be driving people away without realizing it.

Personal Commitment
Write one down. Put a date on it.
* The hard question I will learn to answer this month: ____________
* The child or grandchild whose questions I will prepare to start taking seriously — starting when: ____________
* The apologetics resource I will actually read this week: ____________
* The person slipping away that I will reach out to: ____________

Closing Prayer
* Thank God that the faith holds up under honest examination — that we are not asked to believe blindly.
* Ask forgiveness for every time we've waved off a real question with a hollow answer.
* Pray for the young people among us facing pressures we never faced at their age.
* Pray for those who have already walked away — that a door stays open, and that someone is ready with an answer when they crack it.
* Ask God for the diligence to prepare the next generation before the storm, not during it.

Next Week
Open by asking: Did you learn the answer to the question you chose? Do you feel more convicted in your beliefs than you did before you studied the subject?

5-Day Devotional: Anchored in Truth

Day 1: The Foundation of Faith
Reading: 2 Timothy 1:13-14; Jude 3

Devotional: Paul urged Timothy to "hold fast the pattern of sound words" because our faith rests on objective truth, not subjective feelings. In a world encouraging us to deconstruct everything we believe, we must remember that the gospel was "once for all delivered unto the saints." This doesn't mean we shouldn't ask questions—God welcomes honest inquiry. But there's a difference between examining our faith to strengthen it and dismantling it entirely. Like the Bereans, we should search the Scriptures daily, not to find reasons to disbelieve, but to confirm what is true. Today, commit to building your faith on the unchanging foundation of God's Word, not on shifting cultural opinions.

Day 2: Love and Law United
Reading: Psalm 19:7-11; John 14:15-21

Devotional: God's commands are not oppressive restrictions but expressions of His perfect love. The psalmist declares God's judgments are "sweeter than honey" and "more desirable than gold." When we view divine law as opposed to divine love, we misunderstand both. Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments"—love and obedience are inseparable. Every boundary God establishes protects us from harm and leads us toward abundant life. When we struggle with God's standards on sexuality, relationships, or any other area, we must remember that His rules flow from His character of perfect love and wisdom. Trust that the God who cannot lie has designed His commands for your ultimate good and greatest joy.

Day 3: Answering Doubt with Truth
Reading: Acts 17:10-12; 1 Peter 3:15

Devotional: The Bereans were commended not for blind acceptance but for examining the Scriptures to verify what they were taught. God never asks us to check our brains at the door of faith. Critical thinking and Christianity are not enemies—they're allies. When questions arise about science, history, suffering, or doctrine, we shouldn't respond with "just have faith" but with "let's search the Scriptures together." Parents and church leaders must prioritize answering the honest questions of those they influence. Apologetics matters because truth matters. Investigate the manuscript evidence for the New Testament, explore archaeological confirmations, study the coherence of biblical prophecy. Your faith can withstand scrutiny because it rests on the solid rock of historical, verifiable truth.

Day 4: The Problem of Pain
Reading: Romans 8:18-28; Psalm 23

Devotional: Why does a loving God allow suffering? This ancient question has shipwrecked many faiths. Yet Scripture offers answers: we live in a fallen world affected by sin's consequences; God grants genuine free will, which includes the capacity for evil choices; and mysteriously, God works all things together for good for those who love Him. Hell doesn't contradict God's love; it reveals His justice and our freedom. God has made salvation available to everyone through Christ. No one must go to hell; the path to heaven stands open. When evil touches your life, distinguish between what sinful people do and what a righteous God endorses. God weeps with you in suffering and offers hope beyond it. Even in the valley of death's shadow, He walks with you.

Day 5: The Journey Home
Reading: Colossians 1:9-14; Hebrews 3:12-14

Devotional: Some claim faith is an endless journey without a destination, perpetually deconstructing without ever reconstructing. But Scripture speaks of being "translated into the kingdom of His dear Son,” a completed action with eternal security. Yes, we grow in knowledge and maturity, but we can arrive at settled truth. We can know with certainty that Jesus is Lord, that Scripture is inspired, that salvation comes through Him. Beware the philosophy that keeps you "always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth." God offers you solid ground, not shifting sand. If you're questioning everything, don't shake the Etch-a-Sketch clean. Instead, return to primitive Christianity, strip away human traditions and embrace the simple, powerful gospel of Jesus Christ. There you'll find rest for your soul.