The problem with Doubt

Doubt is a powerful force.

We all face it, fight it and succomb to it.

In Christian circles it has been widely discussed. The old school Christians tend to tell you that we should not Doubt God and at the very least express it. The new school of progressive Christians seem to thrive in admitting doubt and encouraging others to be open about their Doubts.

Is God real? Is God loving? Is the Bible really the word of God? How do I trust the words of the Bible and the words of modern day science and still believe it is literal?

In the mid 2000’s I was fully on board the Doubt train. It would excite me that Christianity was become an open and safe place for doubters. I loved that Churches like Mars Hill (Rob Bell) in Michigan were holding “Doubt nights. A gathering where people can just openly express their doubts about God. It excited me and I saw huge potential for this type of movement.

I falsely thought that this movement would promote not only doubt but moving beyond doubt. I thought that the pastor’s and bloggers, the emergent and progressives would help people move beyond this open door of doubt and lead them to trust and faith.

Now almost a decade later I can firmly say….I could not have been more wrong.

Instead of a generation of Christians that moved beyond doubt, we now have a generation that wallows in it. The visible has taken precedence over the invisible. Faith and trust are no longer in our vernacular. Nothing was cleared up and instead the puddle is even more muddy.

Recently I have seen this trend start to pop its head up again and so I have began to think on it.

I have heard people say things like “It is healthy to doubt” or “It’s a safe place for doubters”. Many Christians encourage doubting. Perhaps as a way to open a door or relate to the world. Perhaps as an honest means to discovering truth.

I have come to the conclusion that this encouragement of doubt is a dangerous place to be and is far from the heart of Christ.

I know that is a big statement. I know it does not leave a lot of room for the grey.

Hear me out.

The Good thing about Doubt:

The fact that we all universally experience doubt means that it is a common part of life and so its not something we can or should ignore. We can and should be open about doubt. I don’t think we have to go overboard and hold doubt nights at our churches but yes, the church should be  safe place to doubt.

But……

We must be moving people beyond the doubt. We must be on a journey to becoming beacons of Trust, Faith and Truth. We must be encouraging people to man up just as much as we are encouraging them to be open about doubt.

The Bad thing about Doubt:

Doubting is NOT a good thing. At some point because we longed to be a safe place for doubters we fooled ourselves into also thinking it was acceptable as a destination. It is not. It is normal and it is ok to doubt but we MUST move or be moving towards a place of Faith and Trust and Truth.

I have heard recent articles with the likes of Rob Bell, musician Gungor, Jars of Clay frontman Dan Haseltine and others in the public eye as Christians embrace doubt as a beautiful thing. Doubting scripture as literal. Doubting Hell as real. Doubting God as real or loving.

It is normal….but it is not beautiful.

So why do I say that it is far from the heart of Christ to be serial doubters.

In Matthew 19 we read a story about a young rich guy who comes and asked Jesus how to have eternal life. There is an interaction that ultimately comes down to Jesus telling him to sell everything and follow Him to be saved. The rich man could not do it and walked away grieving because he owned too much. Jesus ends this by saying to His disciples concerning being saved “With people this is impossible but with God all things are possible.

There are many points to this story. At the end of the day this rich man doubted. If he fully believed that he really would inherit eternal life and treasures beyond his dreams he would have had no problem selling everything. He doubted and so he missed out.

But…. the most remarkable thing about this story is Jesus’ response. He did not go chasing after him yelling “This is a safe place for you to doubt me! Please stay, we are holding a doubt night this Thursday!” No. Instead he kept about His journey of teaching those around Him with a statement about losing doubt and having faith in the one who makes the impossible possible.

Do we do that today?

Do we encourage doubters to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and have Faith?

Do we spend as much time encouraging people to move beyond doubt and trust in the one who makes the impossible possible?

I don’t think we do. And I think that is a reason we have so many in the Christian community today that wallow in doubt and never move past it.

In conclusion, its fine to wake up with doubt but don’t go to bed with it. Its fine to open about doubt but at some point you do need to move into Faith and Trust. Its fine to have big questions but when you do not get the big answers you must move ahead and find a way to trust.

Maybe instead of Doubt Nights we should have been having Faith nights.

I don’t know….I don’t have the answers. I just know that He is who He says He is. At the end of the day His words and promises are true. I know that when it does not make sense in my little brain it makes sense to the one who created my little brain. The one who makes our impossibilities possible.

So here’s to doubting and moving beyond.

Onward and upward.

“Doubt your Doubts before you Doubt your faith”