Reconstruct Your Faith: Ancient Ways to Make Your Relationship with God Whole Again

by Kevin M. Young

Navigate the deepest questions of faith with the compassionate guidance of a pastor whose faith nearly fell apart

This book is a must have for anyone facing a crisis of faith. When our hearts begin to question faith, we often fear voicing our concerns and confusions aloud. But questioning is inherent in the journey as we seek truth faith, as author and pastor Kevin M. Young has learned firsthand. At a time when many lack trust in clergy—and clergy members themselves are facing burnout and disillusionment—we need an honest and accountable reckoning with the role of the church in our lives. Reconstruct Your Faith takes you back to square one, helping you reengage with the church, the clergy, and God, using methods that have been essential to Christianity from its beginnings.

Embark on the next phase of your spiritual journey—even if you have become disillusioned with aspects of organized religion Receive guidance and wisdom from an open-minded pastor who has struggled with his own faith Examine the role of God, Evangelicalism, and the church in your past, present, and future Return to the foundations of faith to discover your own path through questioning to a stronger spirituality This book guides you through the application of ancient spiritual practice in your life's journey, regardless of your denominational identity as a Christian or your belonging to a particular tradition. Anyone experiencing a crisis of faith or nagged by persistent questions about the direction of the church today will find healing and answers in Reconstruct Your Faith.

Genres: Faith, Christian, Religion

240 pages, Hardcover

Published July 3, 2024

Reviews

[Kim Shay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kevin Young, like many who grew of in Fundamentalism, ultimately had a moment where he knew something was wrong. Whether you call it "deconstruction" or "unravelling," or whatever, he did what many did: he confronted the corrupt parts of Evangelicalism and had to start over. This he did by visiting the Genesee Abbey in New York State. Over the course of a week, where he observed the rhythms of the monks, he began the process of acquainting himself with ancient ways of worship and discipleship. He would not be the first fundamentalist who grew up eschewing things like the Church Calendar, Fasting, Feasting, and The Liturgy of the Hours only to find out that they are valuable after all.

Young has had his faith re-constructed by getting in touch with those ancient ways and shedding the complicated aspects of current Christian discipleship. He is focusing much more on love for God and neighbour and less on the trappings of modern church life. No, he has not be come Catholic, but he benefitted from the practices of the monastery to challenge his Protestantism.

One of the aspects of this book I found most interesting was his chapter of Creeds. He makes the observation that as the creeds got older, they got longer and included more elements. His view now is that what we believe ought to be encompassed in something much more basic: love. At times, creeds have been established not to extend the kingdom of God, but to limit who belongs. Over the centuries, Evangelicalism especially has become more notable for who it excludes than what it believes. Young comments

Rather than find our commonalities and places of agreement, many Evangelicals now see, to set the boundaries of faith so small as to condemn everyone but those in their particular view . . . and sometimes they aren't so certain of the people in their own pew.

I can't help but think of Christian Nationalism when I read this comment. Young wants a faith that is wider, not narrower. And no doubt, someone has probably already called him a heretic for this view.

I really found Young's observations helpful, but I can't help but I think there will be some who feel he has not gone far enough. Some would probably like to see anything that smacks of institutional church done away with. For myself, I wonder if the North American church is in need of decolonization more than deconstruction. That's an entirely different matter.

That said, for any fundamentalist who has walked away and wants to find a way forward, I do recommend this book. At the very least, it will reveal to the reader that when fundamentalists say they want to get back to basics, they have to go a lot further than they are currently doing.

[Rachel Rausch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kevin takes you on his personal journey of finding hope and truth in the deep waters of deconstruction. This journey takes place over the course of a week among the monks of a silent Abbey. I felt like I was there. This book doesn’t tell you what to believe. It isn’t a step by step guide to reconstruction. But if you find yourself lost in the storm of deconstruction, fearful you will get swept away, this book is a reminder that there are indeed solid things to cling to even when you are questioning everything you ever believed.

[Jennifer Cook Nafziger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an honest and tender look at evangelical deconstruction from a heart that has struggled. It challenged me and helped me feel less alone on my deconstruction journey. The peace that the author finds in the liturgy calls to me as well. His true heart is heard through his struggles and small victories. I hope that at some point, I can find the same peace that he has found.

[Orville J · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got to know Kevin from Twitter / X and we have been on similar journeys over the last many years, questioning so many things in modern American evangelicalism. His book is written in an autobiographical style as he walks us through the week that changed his life and ministry in so many positive ways. He will introduce or reintroduce you to many ancient practices and explain their importance. He will explain his own reasoning on why and how his faith grew to be more anchored in Jesus. What is best is that he never chides or criticizes, he instead offers hope and wholeness for those who are deeply struggling with whether they can continue on in what has become of many churches. And if you are pastor wondering why so many people are simply checking out of church, this book is worth your time, if you open your mind and heart to understand.

[Neal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is simply a succinct primer on emergent theology popularized by theologians such as Brian McLaren. Young poisons the well right out of the gate by beginning with his standpoint epistemology about how judgmental fundamentalist Christians are. In typical postmodern fashion, this approach is supposed to baptize everything else he writes (after presenting his negative church experience) a certain level of authority that demands that others should listen to what he has to say, and somehow make his conclusions a part of their own intellectual framework. Young, like other emergent writers before him, wants to pretend that the Protestant Reformation never took place, primarily because of the emphasis placed on biblical authority and inerrancy by the Reformers. He conveniently neglects to mention the reasons for the Protestant emphasis upon scripture over tradition. I would ask him, “Aren’t the positive experiences that people have often had with the institutional church just as valid a standpoint epistemology as all the negative ones? What makes the negative perspective the authoritative one when you remove any source of authority?” Protestants affirm the authority of scripture precisely because of the fallenness and sinfulness of humans, including those in church leadership. This is another entry among a spate of books released in recent years that strives to make humans the sole arbiters of truth. It is nothing more than a handbook on do-it-yourself, ala carte Christianity. Its approach is much closer to Eastern Orthodox spirituality. It wants to completely relegate Reformational, and particularly Evangelical, Christianity to the dustbin of historical irrelevance. In order to reach the conclusions that Young does throughout this book, one has to eliminate the Bible as a source of divine authority in the life of the Christian, especially given its explicit moral pronouncements regarding human sexuality. This is a handy resource on deconstruction and standpoint epistemology, nothing more. You will only find Young’s arguments convincing if you have completely succumbed to postmodern modes of thinking. This is a book for maudlin millennial Christians who place their feelings over any form of absolute truth and who strive not to hurt the feelings of others by affirming and condoning any of their personal opinions and lifestyle choices, no matter how harmful those opinions and choices may be in the long term. I leave Young and his readers with the words of Jesus’ half-brother James: “Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (James‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬ ‭NRSVUE‬‬) Young’s thesis is essentially, “It’s just Jesus and me under a tree (preferably WITHOUT the Bible), there shall be no accountability.”

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a pastor who weather a crisis of faith, this book looks at ancient Christian practices, such as liturgical prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage, and how these practices can help someone enduring doubts. The author provides a lot of background on the ancient practices, which I found interesting and insightful. However, much of the book is written in a colloquial style that was somewhat off-putting (although it improved over time). Also, the author talks about a deep crisis of faith that he had, but he doesn't provide much background on it. I would have preferred more information about where he was coming from. Most of the book is set during his trip to a Trappist monastery, and his experiences with ancient Christian practices there. He has some insights about the Reformation and Protestant Christianity (particularly in the US) that I also thought were interesting and insightful.