Joshua Porter - Death to Deconstruction: Reclaiming Faithfulness as an Act of Rebellion

Deliciously dark, blisteringly honest, and funny Like the best art, this book will provoke, not placate; ruffle your feathers, not soothe them; work you up, not calm you down.

John Mark Comer , New York Times best-selling author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry and Live No Lies

One thing we need a lot more of in our current moment is wise, thoughtful, and pastoral voices stepping into the main conversations we are all having. Josh is one of those voices and this book is one of those conversations. I can see myself buying ten of these and giving them to my entire circle of close friends. Its that good.

Jefferson Bethke , New York Times best-selling author of To Hell with the Hustle

This is not a reactive fundamentalist diatribe against deconstruction. On the contrary, this book deconstructs deconstructionism, offering a blood-and-guts defense of orthodoxy. Yet, at the same time, it is a heart-wrenchingly honest account from someone who deconstructed and returned to tell the tale. This lived experience ensures that this book is a compassionate guide for those wrestling with their faithfaith that has been warped by the American culture, dented by doubt, and hurt by hypocrisy.

Mark Sayers , senior leader of Red Church in Melbourne, Australia, and author of Reappearing Church and A Non-Anxious Presence

Josh Porter is a deeply thoughtful, highly intelligent storyteller whos mastered the art of writing from his bones more than his head. He writes as one who lived in the terrain he walks the reader through, navigating the treacherous journey from deconstruction to faithfulness like a trail guide who knows the land. In Death to Deconstruction, he weaves poetic prose, page-turning personal narrative, and deliberate insight into a prophetic call to faithfulness.

Tyler Staton , author of Searching for Enough and Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools

There is much being written on deconstruction these days, but the vast majority is coming from the outside looking in written by observers and spectators rather than those who have lived among the rubble of deconstruction. Josh writes as an insider, a wrestler with God, church, life, all of itwhich makes his voice not just unique but credible. If youre going on a journey through your own deconstruction, you need a credible guide. You will identify with his frustrations and be challenged by some narrow paths he recommends, but he will lead you to the real Jesus who is more radical, more rebellious, more tolerant, and more unwavering than popular podcast personalities dare to have you believe. If you want Jesus and not an off-ramp from faith, read this book.

Rick McKinley , author of Faith for This Moment and This Beautiful Mess, and founding pastor of Imago Dei Community

As leaders at Van City Church, weve had the privilege of witnessing Josh learn and grow with humility as he follows Jesus and helps lead others to do so. He has demonstrated his ability and character not only to teach our specific church but to speak about deconstruction and fidelity to Jesus to the broader church and those far from God. As our friend, we celebrate with him as he uses his gifts to honor King Jesus.

The Overseers , Van City Church in Vancouver, WA

Death to Deconstruction: Reclaiming Faithfulness as an Act of Rebellion

2022 by Joshua S. Porter

Published by Kregel Publications, a division of Kregel Inc., 2450 Oak Industrial Dr. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505. www.kregel.com.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwisewithout the publishers prior written permission or by license agreement. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

The persons and events portrayed in this book have been used with permission. To protect the privacy of these individuals, some names and identifying details have been changed.

The authors and publisher are not engaged in rendering medical or psychological services, and this book is not intended as a guide to diagnose or treat medical or psychological problems. If medical, psychological, or other expert assistance is required, the reader should seek the services of a health-care provider or certified counselor.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

The author is represented by MacGregor & Luedeke.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-0-8254-4734-1, print

ISBN 978-0-8254-7789-8, epub

ISBN 978-0-8254-6941-1, Kindle

Printed in the United States of America

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 / 5 4 3 2 1

For Beck.

When your time

comes, rebel well.

When I was young, I believed in three things: Marxism, the redemptive power of cinema, and dynamite. Now I just believe in dynamite.

S ERGIO L EONE

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

1 C ORINTHIANS 13:11

T HE C HRISTIAN MYSTIC T HOMAS Merton once said that the best art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.

Its no surprise, then, that my friend Josh Porter started out as a fire-breathing, fake-blood-spewing lead singer of a punk rock band an artist.

Twenty years on, Josh is still an artist.

The book youre about to readpart Mary Karresque memoir, deliciously dark, blisteringly honest, and funny; part erudite intellectual tour of the dominant theological and sociological roots underneath the growing social phenomenon of deconstructionis, like the best art, designed to provoke something in you, to draw out a gut-level emotional reaction. Josh is like a good friend from his rural Georgian past, grabbing your wrist after a snakebite and sucking the poison out of your body before it hits your bloodstream and kills you.

You see, Josh has become something more than an artist; hes become a pastor too, working on the canvas of the soul. His art has always been provocative, even polarizing at times. I assume Josh would say thats on purpose. But its not for shock-jaw entertainment to draw a crowd, or a subtle play to garner more followers on the very platforms he is criticizing (proof: Josh is straight edge about social media too ). Its to shock our heart before it dies of spiritual arrhythmia.

Joshs word for this is rebellion. (See the subtitle.) At first, I bristled a bit at his word choice. Isnt rebellion a snake-in-the-garden thing? As he writes, We think of uprisings and rebellions, and we think of protests, riots, Molotov cocktails. But often, the most subversive and effective rebellion is the simple defiant act of telling a different story.

The book you are about to read is an act of rebellion, of telling a different, far better story than the dominant, millennial narratives of our age.