We all want to believe our decisions are rational. We prefer to think we build our worldview on a foundation of logical arguments and empirical data. But human beings are rarely that simple, especially when it comes to matters of faith, doubt, and deconstruction.

We wish it were only our brain, but it never is.

For more than a decade, I’ve listened to countless individuals who have walked away from Christianity. I’ve observed a common pattern: a relentless, almost compulsive need to find new arguments to validate their decision. This often manifests as a constant search for reasons—reasonable or not—to undermine the faith they left behind.

I don't use terms like “atheist” to be dismissive; their stance on God doesn't define their whole person. I simply use the term to be clear. But I see them as “potential Christians,” just as God saw me when I, too, thought this was all nonsense. (Thank you for your grace, Father.)

Jesus once said, “You will know them by their fruit.” While He was speaking of false teachers, the principle applies to all of us: our actions reveal our true inner state. When the pursuit of new “reasons” to disbelieve becomes an insatiable idol, what does that behavior tell us? If the intellectual questions were truly settled, why the continuous struggle to keep justifying the decision?

My experience has shown me that this “shield of intellectualism” often hides a broken, disenchanted, or disenfranchised heart.

It is rare for someone to be vulnerable enough to say, “I left the faith because I was deeply hurt.” It just doesn't sound as sophisticated as critiquing the ontological argument. It’s far easier to say, “I have intellectual doubts” than it is to say, “I was hurt, alone, and afraid.” They worry they won't be taken seriously, so they decide to “deal with their emotions later.”

Is this the story of every person who leaves the faith? Absolutely not. But is it a fair summary of my experience with many in the U.S.? Absolutely.

If you are currently doubting or deconstructing your faith, this is essential to understand. You must be sincere with yourself about the true source of your doubt. Was it really an intellectual argument that started this journey? Or was it an emotional wound—a betrayal, a profound disappointment, a sense of abandonment—that the arguments are now being used to justify?

Your hurt is valid. Admitting that your emotions, and not just a database of facts, led you to this point doesn't make you less intellectual. It makes you brave.

We all tend to justify our emotional responses. When we are hurt, we instinctively find reasons to criticize, overgeneralize, and undermine the person or situation that caused the pain. This is human nature. Now, imagine that effect multiplied exponentially when the source of the hurt is a Christian, a church, or the institution of Christianity itself.

So, if you are in that place of doubt, I urge you to consider this:

1. First, be honest about the root cause. It is rarely just about intellectual arguments.
2. Second, you have every right to move away from the people or systems that hurt you, especially those who misuse the name of Jesus to do so.
3. But third, I encourage you to find healing not by running from Jesus, but by running to Him.

He understands. He was betrayed, spat on, abandoned, and killed. He doesn't want any of that for you. He became human precisely to take on the unjust suffering and hurt you might be experiencing right now—the very pain that is making you question everything.

Don't let the failures of Christians obscure the person of Christ.

Question Christianity as you get closer to Jesus, and you may find the faith given back to you in its most beautiful and true form.

If you are doubting or deconstructing your Christian faith…Is it Because of Jesus?

Get a copy of Pedro's new book, For Those Who Doubt: Is It Because of Jesus?, here (available February 24, 2026).