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When It Feels Like Your Faith Is Failing

Five years ago, Ian Harber wrote an article that went viral just before the world shut down for the COVID-19 virus. The article tells the story of leaving and returning to an evangelical church. Based on the response to that article, he’s far from alone in doubting the church and Christian beliefs. And hopefully not the only one who’s made his way home.

Ian has a new book, Walking Through Deconstruction: How to Be a Companion in a Crisis of Faith, published by IVP. Ian neither valorizes deconstruction nor dismisses this painful experience. As a result, he’s written a brutally honest, defiantly hopeful book that can help anyone undergoing this process as well as everyone who loves them.

Rather than making you wait for the interview, I’m going to go ahead and offer his definition of “deconstruction,” a word that originated with the philosopher Jacques Derrida. Ian writes, “Deconstruction is a crisis of faith that leads to the questioning of core doctrines and untangling of cultural ideologies that settles in a faith that is different than before.”

Ian is a writer and Christian media producer. He writes about reconstructing faith in his newsletter Back Again, and about faith, media, and technology at Endeavor. He joined me on Gospelbound to discuss his journey through deconstructing and reconstructing his faith, examining the emotional aspects of doubt and anxiety, social media’s role, the distinction between deconstruction and apostasy, and the need for supportive church environments.

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When It Feels Like Your Faith Is Failing

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