“As Brennan Manning said in one of his books, ‘Some Christians need to read less of the Bible,’” Donehey said. “Like, just stop reading it, and actually let the parts you’ve read change you before you try to move on. So I read more slowly. I ask myself simpler questions.”
Donehey on How to Respond to the Deconstruction Movement
“Over the last couple years, a lot of…celebrity status-like Christians have very publicly sort of denounced their faith. And that elicited really strong reactions from other people. And the problem with that — the problem with taking a really strong, ardent response to people who are oscillating in their faith — is that it’s completely unscriptural.”
Going on to quote 2 Timothy 2:25, Donehey said, “‘Reproach those who disagree with you with all gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance leading to the truth.’ So your job is to be gentle. God’s job is to change.”
“We hate that. We don’t like to live in the tension of that. We don’t like to be called to love. We would much rather be called to be right, because it’s easier and it demands nothing of us,” Donehey said.
Hallowell thanked Donehey for writing on such an important topic, saying that he hopes Donehey’s new book will challenge those who read it.
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“It’s challenging me. I mean, I love to win an argument. Oh man. It feels so good,” Donehey replied. “And yet, I just haven’t met anyone that went — how did you come to know Jesus? ‘Oh, I was in the middle of this argument with somebody, and they really just bashed me…and I saw the error of my doctrine and I came over.’ You know? That’s not the way it works.”
Donehey explained that one of the songs on his new album is meant to serve as a “worship song for the deconstructionist.”
“I’m hoping that whoever listens to the record can just find songs to meet them where they are and [that the record] provides them songs that they can sing to God honestly, but that also don’t let them off the hook,” Donehey said. “True grace has this way of really forgiving us where we’ve missed it, but still calling us to who we are meant to be.”
You can listen to the full conversation between Hallowell and Donehey here.
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