“Deconstruction?” I pondered the word, and immediately my Marine Corps mindset came up with the most logical explanation — we’re going to destroy something!

Alas, I was way off base.

What I thought was a more socially acceptable word for a demolition project was more of a theological term meaning something quite different. Whenever people start using big words, I get suspicious. Back during my BC (Before Christ) days, I always felt like I was getting my money’s worth when the pastor used those 50-cent words (now $5.13 when adjusted for inflation) in the sermon. They went right over my head, but I felt pretty good about myself. Then, through the intervention (yeah, in retrospect, it probably was an “intervention”) of my brother, I realized that, 50-cent words or not, I was going to Hell as assuredly as the most wicked criminal.

I got saved and became very angry with organized religion.

Referring to the ever-helpful Merriam-Webster online dictionary, I found several useful definitions of “deconstruction.” One definition stated it as “the analytic examination of something (such as a theory) often in order to reveal its inadequacy.” A second, and lengthier, definition was “it means ‘breaking down’ or analyzing something (especially the words in a work of fiction or nonfiction) to discover its true significance, which is supposedly almost never exactly what the author intended.”

So far, no harm, no foul, right? Not so fast — turns out they were talking about my favorite book, the Bible!

In case you haven’t noticed lately, our society has taken a nosedive and is accelerating toward hog-bottom. Normally I would say rock-bottom, but it’s not descriptive enough. I used to laugh when the late Pastor Chuck Smith (1927-2013) of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa would describe the depraved lifestyle of pagan nations as “live like a hog, die like a dog!” I’m not laughing now.

The cultural elite in our country want to “deconstruct” the teachings of the Bible as “no longer culturally relevant” to our enlightened society. Truth is relative, whatever you want it to be. We hear people talking about “my truth” as if they were the ultimate arbiters of truth. To quote that noted 20th-century philosopher, Forrest Gump, “Stupid is as stupid does!”

Scripture has something to say about this. “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’ He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision” (Psalm 2:1-4, ESV).

God is the ultimate arbiter of what is true and right and just. Satan has been seeking to undermine God’s plans and purposes since the Garden of Eden when he asked Eve, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” (Genesis 3:1). As we look around, we can see that Satan seems to have a winning season going for him. But appearances can be deceiving. Satan has overplayed his hand. People are waking up to the depravity creeping into our children’s classrooms, the locker rooms, and the athletic fields. They look around at the homeless, the addicted, and the blatant criminal behavior that inevitably results from casting off restraint, and they are alarmed.

The world does not have any hope. But, beloved, hope is what the church has to offer! The greater the darkness, the greater the light shines. I’ve read the Book — we win in the end. Jesus said that He is “THE way, THE truth, and THE life” (John 14:6). To build our lives upon the truth of His Word is to build on THE only solid foundation (Matthew 7:25).

There is a great openness to hear the message of salvation. Are we willing to go and tell people what a great God we serve? “On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand” (Edward Mote).

What say ye, Man of Valor?
Semper Fidelis!