Rushmere: What's the deal with deconstruction?

and is it really a bad thing?

If you haven’t given the latest Mumford and Sons album, Rushmere, a play through, I highly recommend you do – unless you’ve never taken to the band, like Phil from The Guardian, in which case maybe give it a miss.[1]

But if you do listen to them, it’s worth holding in your head anything you know about Christianity, because this album is chock-full of Christian symbolism. Mumford and Sons have often hinted at their faith background, plus Marcus Mumford’s parents were the leaders of the UK Vineyard movement, and his brother is a theological ethicist (his stuff is really fascinating, so check it out for more nerdy content).[2] Marcus is reported to have said that he wouldn’t call himself a Christian, because ‘I think the word just conjures up all these religious images that I don't really like. I have my personal views about the person of Jesus and who he was.’[3] Statements like this have led to the band sometimes being subject to suspicion from folks in church due to a general scepticism around what’s called ‘deconstruction’.

If this is what it's like to be unholy, man

If this is what it's like to be lost

I will take this heresy over your hypocrisy

And count any cost

If this is what it's like to be empty again

If this is what it's like to be adrift

I will take this darkness over any light you cast

You and all your original sin

- Carry On

Deconstruction describes the process of reevaluating, critiquing, and potentially dismantling present beliefs and practices, which can be difficult for both the deconstructer and those around them. Those not deconstructing can find the challenge or criticism difficult to deal with, especially if that comes with (as it often does) big emotions, such as anger, or cynicism, as the deconstructor is processing and critiquing almost everything they’ve held dear.

Hyacinth girl

You are peace

There is Christ in the ground beneath your feet

Restoration

And the rewritten code

Beyond reason

Monochrome out of sight

- Monochrome (final chorus only)

The topic of faith is close to the bone for many people; it relates to how people fundamentally see and relate to the world, and how they structure everything from ethics and morals to their weekly rhythms. And we can take perceived threats to this very personally, and often badly. This is unhealthy. Challenging your conception of Church, bible and faith is vital in growing in maturity. It is key to being able to understand where you and/or the Church has gone wrong (we all have and the Church deffo has), and it’s the role of people in church communities to be with people in deconstruction, and not be defensive or act out of fear. Partly, this is about recognising the faith element of religion – in Christian thought there is a strong element of mystery, and learning to be comfortable with that is a skill.[4]

And there is still a stillness over the deep

And there is still a word in the night

The day blind stars

Over our heads again

Wait with their light

- Carry On

Don’t get me wrong, there are very unhealthy ways to deconstruct, like allowing yourself to become stuck in bitterness at the injustices you’ve seen or experienced, sitting in your anger or refusing to find or engage in constructive dialogue about alternative ideas. But usually at this point, deconstruction is taking place, at least in part, under the emotional sway of your situation. For most people, deconstruction finds you, not the other way around, because we usually aren’t active enough in challenging the ideas of our community. Once these emotions settle, you will still need to find a way to work through these things, but what is better is actively deconstructing before you’re forced to do so.

When you speak, do you think you could do it kindly

Or does your anger overwhelm?

When you're weak, do you ever think of living wildly

And let your anger go to hell?

Where it belongs

- Where It Belongs

Thus, the type of deconstruction you engage in is massively important. And I think that is because the study of theology is, by its nature, a form of deconstruction. Deconstruction should come with a constructive counterbalance. It is not simply tearing down everything you knew but is also asking what changes need to be made, what things need to be built up. Deconstruction at its best then is also a form of construction, where you find space to ask your questions.

Defeat and surrender always feel the same to me

But what does it matter? They both bring me to my knees

Oh, break me down and put me back together

I surrender, I surrender now

And hold me in the promise of forever

I surrender, I surrender now

- Surrender

I would suggest that deconstruction is academic, spiritual, emotional and relational. Attempting to deconstruct (and reconstruct) without one of these elements will cause specific problems, and potentially not resolve the object of your criticism. This is somewhat because these are fundamentally related. For example, your spiritual life is tied to how you feel about God and church (your emotional life), and this is connected to things you believe to be true (academic), but all of this is related to who you know, and the conversations you have (relational). To grow spiritually, we must grow emotionally (Peter Scazzero’s book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, is a good place to find some guidance on this) and academically, which all happens in the context of relationships.

And I feel a spirit move in me again
I know it's the same spirit that still moves in you
I don’t know how it took so long to shed this skin
Live under the shadow of your wings

You are all I want
You're all I need
I'll find peace beneath the shadow of your wings

- Malibu

Even healthy deconstruction is likely to feel unpleasant, but it is good. And almost because of this I would highly recommend studying theology. Theological education at its best allows you to journey with other people in asking difficult and deep questions about God, the nature of faith, the Church and the bible (go look into your local theological college – I always recommend WTC Theology). Even if formal theology is not doable for you right now, find people who want to investigate the deep questions and aren’t afraid of the challenge, or reach out to me and ask your questions (I’ll do what I can, or I can point you to someone else).

You might have noticed that the Rushmere lyrics are pulling heavily on Christian themes, from ‘living under the shadow of your wings’ (Psalm 17, 57, 61, 91) to ‘surrendering to be held in the promise of forever’. But it’s not for the rest of us to decide that Marcus Mumford, or the other band members, have climbed out of some dark pit of deconstruction, into the light of a Christian faith full of answers, clarity, and surety. They are on a spiritual journey of some sort – just like you and me, and everyone else. Deconstruction is not where faith goes to die, it’s how we test all things and work out the good we need to hold on to (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

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[1] Phil Mongredien, Mumford & Sons: Rushmere review – back to dreary basics, The Guardian (2025), https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/mar/28/mumford-and-sons-rushmere-review-back-to-dreary-basics

[2] For example, https://www.plough.com/en/topics/life/grieving/james-mumford-on-god-politics-depression-therapy-and-philosophy

[3] Sadly, I can’t seem to find the original Rolling Stone source, but this quote comes from https://thinkchristian.net/marcus-mumford-i-wouldnt-call-myself-a-christian-now-what

[4] For example, did you know that biblical genealogy in books like genesis, place key figures in the 5^th/ 7^th /10^th generations, to add emphasis to the text? Noah is 10 generations after Adam, and Abraham is 10 generations after Noah (forming a chiasm) but whether this is ‘historically’ 10 gens later is not the point (but working out what the point is, and how to read text is something exciting not destabilising). See, Arnold BT, Genesis (Cambridge University Press; 2008) p.126