Faithbase

What's going on everyone? My name is Josh Karman. I was a pastor for 15 years and now I am a full-time content creator. You know, there's been a movement that has been growing in popularity over the last few years, kind of broadly known as deconstruction. Now, if you haven't heard of this idea, it refers to the notion of the deconstruction basically of ones like religious or spiritual or faith identity. And while it's been particularly popular in like American evangelical Christianity, it is a fact of life that many folks go through this type of process. And it's tough, right? If you actually haven't been through a period of intellectual, cultural, or emotional like deconstruction in life, this phenomenon may not seem like a big deal. However, if you are one of the many folks who has had their world rocked to its foundations, whether through trauma, tragedy, new experiences, persisting doubt, whatever it might be, then you know just how debilitating this can be, right? What is truth? What is right? What is wrong? Will I ever make it out of this? Will people accept me on the other side of this journey? What if the journey never ends, right? What if I just feel like I'm going on forever? The list of questions for folks wrestling with this angle of doubt never seems to run out, right? It always seems to run forever. The experience of doubt is often rooted in a growing awareness that much of what we believe is something passed on rather than something we have actually arrived at on our own, right? Received knowledge isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, to be clear. Received or implicit knowledge actually, which we might term tradition, for example, actually helps us navigate the world in a very real and sincere way. It actually guides us so that we need not question every aspect of knowledge as we grow. However, there comes a time when it is critical to move from a received worldview to our own worldview, right? This phase is often characterized by doubt or an uncomfortable emotional state where we struggle to confidently articulate what we believe and or why we might believe that thing. But this actually isn't a bad thing, right? While the process itself can feel frustrating or confusing or troublesome or downright even terrifying, it is a natural and a very healthy part of growing in faith and knowledge. So if this is you, then awesome. I'm glad you're here and watching this video because what I want to do over the next few videos is address this kind of like tangled thicket of doubts that occur in our deconstruction as people. We're going to offer what I'm kind of seeing or understanding as a four-step process that will actually hopefully be of some value, right? Offering at least one concrete way forward in hopes of doubt giving way to faith and peace. Now, it's not a silver bullet, a silver bullet of any stretch of the imagination, but then not every problem is a werewolf, right? So let's jump in to the first step of this cycle. Now, if you feel that you are in the unenviable position of having kind of stepped into the bear trap that is doubt, begin with the most obvious of beginning steps, right? Acknowledgement. This idea is super simple, but really as with so many things in life, we must remind ourselves that the most basic facts is that we, as the bard said, we must begin at the beginning, right? Acknowledgement. Just acknowledging the reality of what you're going through, the things that you're dealing with, that you are developing a new foundation of sorts of faith and belief or a new knowledge entirely and move on. It isn't bad or weird or unusual by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it's healthy. It's normal. And if we're being honest, it can't really be stopped as it seems to be a natural function of growth and development. So for this step, we invite you to take a deep breath and remember three things as you begin your journey down the path of doubt to hopefully some peace of mind. The first thing I want you to remember is that it is indeed possible, right? Doubt can feel like this all encompassing, like a desert that you can't escape, but you can write. You just need to keep moving. The second thing is it's personal. Your journey is yours alone. It will look like no one else's and that's entirely okay, right? You can draw inspiration from others and you certainly will be undertaking this journey in conversation, hopefully with various communities, but don't get discouraged. If your questions or concerns may look too unique to you and your community. Third piece is it's pragmatic, right? Give yourself permission and forgiveness way in advance to find what works on your journey and toss out what doesn't within reason. Of course, if a practice or an idea or a belief doesn't stick after several tries, move on, right? Cause you can always circle back to something later. If it seems like something that actually might be helpful, but just isn't generating what you need it to at the time, you see what you need in this stage of life are things that work and things that you can hold on to and you need them yesterday. It can feel like, right? So maybe this first step of acknowledgement in some ways is the easiest and hardest step though, right? The act of acknowledging the reality in front of us isn't in and of itself particularly complicated. However, the hard part comes with the emotional work, right? Acknowledging that we are in a space of deconstruction involves looking at our doubts squarely in the eye and saying, okay, I'm not shrinking back from this anymore, right? It's a call to action to engage with profound emotions that have most likely, uh, we've been trying to press down on them or perhaps avoid them entirely. And this is the hard part, right? But you can totally do it. If you're ready to engage with doubt in your life, if you are tired of pushing away the nagging doubts into the periphery of your awareness, only to have them come knocking on the door of your dreams in the middle of the night, now is the time for you to start, right? To take a step back and simply acknowledge that this is where you are and it's entirely okay. Overcoming this is possible. Your journey is personal and through a pragmatic approach, you will be able to piece together a way of viewing the world that while it may not answer everything, it will answer at least some of your most pressing concerns. As always, if there's anything I can do to be of help, would love to connect with you in the messaging system and see what we can journey and do together. Thanks so much. Have a great day and God bless.