Christian Deconstruction 2 - Strength and the WHOLE armour

Ephesians 6:10,11: 'Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.'

Outside God, there is no 'Christian' deconstruction. Without him, your efforts will be in vain, like a fish flapping on the dock when those movements should be exerted in moving it through the water. It is only by recognising your complete dependence and reliance on God that your attempts will be successful. Outside that, you needn't bother, you will producing useless cultural studies with scripture thrown in for good measure.

Be strong in the Lord. Be strong, but be strong in the Lord! Any other sort of strength is weakness. It is him who gives you the power to do it, it is his wisdom, his insight and his skill which flows through you as your pull apart this world and see its inner workings. You are a vessel, a tool and an instrument bringing his truth to bear and shining the lamp of his word on the darkness of our culture to see what flees in its brilliant light! That's privilege enough, surely?!

How are we strong in the Lord? We do not hold back; we are forceful in our arguments, uncompromising in our approach, ruthless in exposing the lies of the enemy in the workings of our culture but all of this is from a platform of prayer and fellowship with God. Before we begin on any 'text', any film or book, anything, we must ask God for his help. In deconstructing a text, we are not serving God - he is serving us by providing strength and intellect, wisdom and truth, the very air that you breathe as you research, the blood that flows through your veins! He provides it all so that we might glorify him, in the case of Christian Deconstruction by proclaiming his truth in the face of worldy and devilish lies; shining a light into the darkness.

To believe that you are somehow bringing something to God is foolishness. He is bringing his glory back to himself through you... and that's enough!

So, with the right frame of mind, put on the whole armour of God. What follows is the list of this armour, this equipment that God has at our disposal and his command is to use all of it. Not just the bit you think suits your need, not just what you decide. So, in the articles that follows I will be detailing how each specific bit of armour and equipment can be used... but they must all be used together. It's not a case of putting the sword down to take up the shield but of holding them at the same time!

And when we do this we will be able to 'stand against the wiles of the devil.' The word translated as 'wiles' here in more accurately translated as methods or strategies with the implication of trickery and deceit and, most importantly, movement. The devil will come from different angles, he will employ different tactics but with the armour of God, you will see and disable any attack from any direction. Do not grow complacent in deconstruction. Don't settle into patterns or methods, let God guide you in each new attack!