Dealing With Doubt

Did you or someone you know grow up in church but now have questions about your faith? 

If you’ve ever questioned God, then you’re not alone. 

Throughout history, there have been numerous Christians, even famous ones, who have found themselves with questions about their faith and not just little questions but big ones. The type that we’ve been told should not be asked by “good Christians.”

I may not be one of the famous ones, but I am at least one of the thousands upon thousands of pastors that have found themselves questioning everything.

I’ve had my fair share of heartbreak, struggles, and suffering. 

Those experiences made me question God, His goodness, and whether the stories in the Bible were truthful or trustworthy.

But through my doubts and questions, I was able to find my way and discover an even deeper faith in God.

Maybe, you’re wondering that too. Maybe, it’s been a long time since your conversion, and you’re really not sure about all this God and Jesus stuff anymore. 

Maybe, you’re a logical and reasonable person, and faith isn’t making sense right now.  Maybe, you’re an emotionally driven person, and you can’t remember the last time you felt the presence of God.

No matter where on the journey of doubt you find yourself, you may find it helpful to keep these three things in mind:

1. QUESTIONING IS NOT THE SAME AS DECONVERTING

While everyone who deconverts from Christianity probably questions first, not everyone who questions their beliefs deconverts and leaves the faith. That’s a crucial distinction to make. 

Questions are not bad. God created you with the ability to ask questions. 

God is big enough to handle even the toughest of questions. In fact, questioning actually becomes a bit of an invitation to sit with God. 

Faith questions are often a way of expressing something deep within the heart, something for which few of us have the language. Traveling the long distance from the head to the heart is just part of the long journey of the spiritual life.

2. DON’T DENY OR FEAR YOUR DOUBT.

Doubt is not the absence of faith; it is a critical and necessary step on the path toward faith, however crooked that path may be. I doubt the faith of people who haven’t doubted much more than those who have a longtime relationship with doubt. 

I am skeptical of the non-skeptical.

Oswald Chambers says it best: “Always make a practice to stir your own mind thoroughly to think through what you have easily believed. Your position is not really yours until you make it yours through suffering and study.”

Sometimes faith comes very naturally. Sometimes everything we’ve ever believed is suddenly thrust under a microscope and we are forced to examine it. It’s okay to look. I strongly encourage you to look, because if you don’t, what are you looking at instead?

3. DECONSTRUCTION WITHOUT RECONSTRUCTION IS A TRAGEDY.

There is a new term going around to define this process of questioning faith; it’s called deconstruction. 

Here is what I know from my own experience of deconstruction. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to tear something down. The tough part, and this is what I would encourage you to do, is to go through the process of building something back.

It is easy to be a critic and criticize everything. It takes guts and determination to build something back. 

If the path you’re on isn’t making you a more generous, compassionate, hopeful, and merciful person (or in other words, more like Jesus), then the destination isn’t worth the journey.

Make no mistake, there are things within Christian culture that need to be challenged and re-evaluated, but a Christ-honoring deconstruction revels in truth and beauty, not cynicism and arrogance.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Finally, if you find yourself going through doubts and questions, even if it seems like your faith foundation is shaken to the core, there is something positive going on. 

One of the most difficult things about doubt is it can feel like nothing is happening. God has gone silent. Scripture sounds empty. The nothingness can be hard to bear. But let me tell you, as your friend who is talking to God right now, that God doesn’t do nothingness. That’s not really the business He is in.

I know it may not seem like it right now, but something good is happening beneath the surface.

And, by the way, if you need a place to start in building a firm foundation of faith, I would suggest you start with the evidence around the resurrection of Jesus. Re-read the Gospel accounts for what they are, eye-witness accounts, then explore other evidence.

This is the foundation of the Christian faith - that Jesus actually rose from the dead. Without that, everything else is just done in vain. So, I would start there.

If you want to hear about my journey with it, check out the message I did at Easter, Why Does Easter Matter?

Hang in there, I know it is hard to see and hear God in a time of questioning, but one day you will see brightly and clearly.