Don’t Slam The Door

Doubt is not the enemy to faith; it is the door to discovery.

“I was told that faith was an all-or-nothing deal. You either get on board with all of it, agree with it and believe it or you are out.”

A friend of mine who is wrestling with the Scriptures, faith and God recently told me this during a really honest conversation we were having.

Have you ever read something in the Scriptures or you hear a teaching at church and you think to yourself, “I don’t know if I can get on board with that” or “How can we say God is good and then God appears to do ___________. I don’t know if I can trust this.” Then all of a sudden you wonder, “Can I have these thoughts and still follow Jesus?”

Ever been there?

I have and I know many others who find themselves facing this same question.

I would argue that if you’ve never struggled with these sort of questions that you have not thought deeply enough or haven’t followed Jesus long enough. Keep digging and you will at some point find your shovel cracking leaving your hands blistered as you hit what feels like the impenetrable soil of the complexities of God.

Yet, somewhere many have begun to believe that doubt is the enemy of faith. We’ve created a caricature of God who is like the annoyed father who cuts off his curious child’s constant questions with “because I said so!”

Have you ever heard the children’s song that is sung in church that goes like this…

Jesus loves me

this I know

for the Bible tells me so.

That’s a really awesome systematic theology…for a child. But not so awesome for an adult. Because the Bible also tells me a lot of things that, to be honest, are just hard to reconcile and to just simply say “the Bible said it, I believe it, and that settles it” seems more shallow than faithful.

How is it that we champion Jesus’ command to Love God with all of our mind (Luke 10, Matthew 22, Mark 12) and yet cast doubt as a villain to true faith? Can real deep and critical thinking take place without doubt? If we’re invited to love God with all of our mind is it possible that wrestling with doubt could be an act of worship that the church has neglected?

Because is not doubt a door to discovery?

And if doubt is a door to discovery than why do so many churches slam that door in the face of the curious and skeptical?

I worry that at times we are more concerned with people looking like our version of a Christian than actually knowing Jesus. So as a result we elevate doctrine and dogma about Jesus above relationship with Jesus. We turn the covenant into a contract where you must understand, agree and sign off on all the terms and conditions otherwise the contract is null and void.

All

or

nothing.

How is it we’ve gotten to the place where we believe Jesus can conquer death and yet we think he’s incapable of handling our doubt?

I’m just not sold it has to be this way, though. Are you? I’m not sold that doubt is our enemy to faith. I’m not sold that God is the annoyed father wishing his children would stop pestering him with questions. I don’t think he’s the father that gets mad at his kids for not knowing algebra when they’re still mastering 2+2. I get the sense that he’s way better, more loving, and more patient than we have ever dared to imagine. That he’s a good father that not only can handle our doubts, but he even welcomes our doubts and is honored when we trust him enough to bring them to him with raw honesty.

Because if our ability to be with God was dependent on our ability to understand everything then God would be very lonely.

So to those of you that have doubts. Keep digging. Keep wrestling. Get in a safe community of people who love Jesus but don’t all think the same as you and see where it goes. Your doubt may be your breakthrough in disguise. Because curiosity may have killed the cat, but I’m convinced that curiosity can lead you to the heart of God.

And to pastors who may be reading this. Far too many people have opted out of faith in Jesus entirely because we’ve made it more about what they know than who they know. We must get to the point where people are more important than our views. Because if your theology separates you from people who think differently than you have some work to do.

May we embrace the tension of doubt as a door to discovery.

May we trust that God is far more patient and gracious than we are.

May we celebrate that we don’t have to know it all about God to have it all from God.

May we be thankful that Jesus did not ask “do you understand?” but instead asked “do you believe?” and that even when we respond like the father in Mark 9:24 and say “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”. That Jesus does not see this as a contradiction but an invitation to reveal a depth of his love and power to us.