Reflections on Deconstruction and Youth Missions
In the many conversations I’ve had (and overheard) about deconstruction, there’s one connection I’ve seen repeatedly overlooked: the role of youth missions trips. Let me clearly state that I believe these can be genuinely transformative experiences, and I continue to lead one each summer for my students. But there seems to be a connection between the prevalence of youth missions and the posture of Progressive Christianity.
Deconstruction is the process by which a person evaluates their faith (what they believe, why they believe it, and whether or not it really “works” in the real world), and then they reconstruct their faith with those convictions that are worth keeping while discarding what isn’t. Not all deconstruction is the same. Some deconstruct their way out of faith completely, others find themselves with a very different set of convictions than they held at the beginning, while others find their initial beliefs strengthened and confirmed. In some ways, it’s simply the process that many Christians have experienced of “making the faith their own” with a new name.
Deconstruction and Progressive Christianity
This isn’t an article about Progressive Christianity. There are more than enough of those already. They’re important and valuable. Consider these 8 Points of Progressive Christianity, and you’ll quickly realize these are far more progressive than they are Christian.
Progressive Christians are often former-evangelicals who have deconstructed their faith - keeping the love and grace, while rejecting hard theological boundaries. In many ways, this is the same deconstruction early Christians faced when false teachers rejected the Law and original sin. Rather than focusing on doctrine, there is an emphasis on social action and compassion.
Based on conversations I’ve had with friends who are Progressive Christians, it’s disingenuous to say they minimize the role of doctrine, in favor of promoting action instead. They care about theology and doctrine. The disagreement comes when we clarify the role that culture and action has in shaping our doctrine. Conservative Christians believe that doctrine should remain purely based on the Scriptures. Progressives believe that’s impossible, because Scripture is always read through a cultural lens, and we should embrace the role of culture in our theological formation.
Deconstruction and Youth Missions
A generation of former evangelicals, who grew up in youth groups and participated in missions trips, is now walking away from the conservative doctrine while retaining the compassion they learned from that community. This is ironic, since most will cite the hypocrisy and judgmental spirit that ran rampant in their churches, but it’s indisputable that evangelical youth ministries have been incredibly active in bringing teenagers on summer missions trips.
Many of these mission trips emphasize compassion for those who are suffering, marginalized, and overlooked. They bring students into direct contact with families who are trying to rebuild from natural disasters, individuals who are experiencing homelessness, and with children of immigrant families and refugees. The lesson students hear is this: “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19)... therefore, Christians are called to be people of compassion to those who are hurting and advocates of the oppressed.
This is a biblical message. But if it’s all students hear, they will walk away with an incomplete framework for Christian compassion.
The relationship between deconstruction and youth missions isn’t a cause-effect, but one in which a certain moment (the missions trip) can powerfully drive home a certain message (action is more important than doctrine) in unintended ways. “Mountaintop experiences” like missions trips and retreats often highlight compassion and service and fun much better than they teach anything with content and substance. That doesn’t mean there’s no teaching or doctrine present - there often is! But students turn off their ears and don’t always receive it.
When these students later deconstruct their faith, this compassion and advocacy for the oppressed remains while the doctrinal foundation for it does not. Their commitment to developing doctrine in light of culture leads to a new type of faith than what they learned on those missions trips.
Moving Forward
On one hand, this is a tragedy. As I’ve said and written many times, “The mission of youth ministry is to make adult disciples whose faith took root during their teen years.”
On the other hand, isn’t it better for them to at least retain a commitment to love their neighbor than to abandon that, too?
As a veteran youth pastors, here are some of my reflections (so far) about how to move forward better:
Consistently apply the gospel to all of life, not only in evangelism. This is a consistent theme of this site. More can be read here and here.
Teach doctrine. You don’t need to be a theology professor for students, but do help them think biblically and theologically. Give them substance to chew on, so your missions trips and retreats apply what they’re regularly hearing, rather than expecting them to learn the doctrine while acting upon it. Set the firewood (doctrine) then light the match (retreats, missions trips, and special events).
Prioritize integrity. This means our life and teaching should reinforce the other so they’re in alignment, regardless of the moment when our life and teaching is inspected. “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16).
Promote space for doubt and wrestling with honest questions about the faith. Do you want students asking hard questions while they have Christian counselors, or after they leave home and are flying solo?
Promote biblical justice. For many younger Christians, they hear doctrine at church and justice in society. So long as this remains the case, the cultural narrative that Christians don’t care about justice will be reinforced. Give them a biblical framework for justice, and help them get connected with gospel-centered ministries who do it.
Evaluate your mission trips. If it’s a weeklong project that is marked by servanthood, then call it a service project rather than a mission trip. Calling it a mission trip while marginalizing the role of the gospel has significant potential to misshape your students’ understanding of the Great Commission and the mission of the church.
I don’t believe the deconstruction we see in today’s younger generations is “the fault” of youth ministry any more than it’s the fault of their parents or the churches in which they were raised. All three of those parties have some soul-searching to do, while embracing the grace of God that draws prodigals back home. May we learn, and correct, some of the long-entrenched ministry patterns that enable the worst form of deconstruction, while continuing to minister to students with confidence that God is still building his Church through the proclamation of the gospel.
God’s not done building his Church.
