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What comes to mind when you hear the term "deconstruction"? You may think of Christians who have walked away from their faith, distanced themselves from their church, or wrestled with strained relationships. But what if a person who struggled with these tensions, chose to remain? What if the tough questions asked during deconstruction could transform the faith community or the relationships themselves? Could deconstruction be a virtuous process?
In this episode, we hear from Brandon Washington, pastor at Embassy Christian Bible Church and author of the book A Burning House: Redeeming American Evangelicalism by Examining Its History, Mission, and Message. As a black ministry leader, Brandon has asked tough questions about race, Christianity, and whether change is possible in his own faith community. Listen in as we hear Brandon's story of what his work has looked like inside the evangelical tradition.
On the unifying work of the gospel:
"The gospel does not merely unify us vertically from humanity to God, it unifies us, it reconciles us horizontally among human beings."
On redeeming the word "evangelical":
"I believe that what has happened is people are running away from the Americanized-partisan-tribal redefinition of evangelical. They're not running away from evangelical theology itself. And if that is true, then the redemption of the word is a viable thing. You have to reclaim the word and carefully define what it is."
On the evangelical movement:
"David Bevington identified evangelicalism as a movement committed to the Bible, the centrality of scripture's revelation, and the crucifixion of Christ. The centrality of Christ's sacrifice for our redemption, the need for conversions, and the need for conversions for those who are fallen. The one thing that gets overlooked a lot and even redefined is the need for activism. Activism as a central tenet."
Download the episode transcript.
If you enjoyed our conversation today be sure to check out Brandon’s book A Burning House: Redeeming American Evangelicalism by Examining Its History, Mission, and Message.
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