We are in a series in which we are looking at deconstructing and reconstructing faith. What I mean when I say “deconstruction” is that something happens in your life that causes you to reevaluate your faith and your understanding of Christianity. Then, sometimes that reevaluation leads to a complete abandonment of the faith. The reason for this series is my personal concern of what I have seen of people who have been taught the truth, or grew up in the pews, or were followers of Jesus only to have something happen in their lives to motivate them to walk away. One of the objections that people make is the problem of doubt. I have heard people tell me that they have questions so that is why they are not followers. I have heard others say that they have doubts and that is reason that they do not follow. Some have read the scriptures to say that if you have doubts or if you have questions, then you cannot be a follower of Jesus. So what I want to look at in this lesson is the problem of doubt. Is doubt the enemy of faith? Does God expect for us to have a blind faith? Is there a problem if I have doubts? Must I stop following Jesus if I still have questions?
Causes For Doubt
So what causes our doubts? I think there are a number of reasons why doubts arise in our hearts about God. This is not an all inclusive list. But I think these things are some of the most common reasons that we have doubts. Doubts commonly arise when we go through suffering. When life gets really hard, we can doubt the existence of God and the ground of our faith. Doubts also commonly arise when we have false expectations or unmet life expectations. All of us come into life with some sort of vision of how we think life will go. When we are young, we have an idea of what we want our life to be and where we want our lives to go. But then life does not go according to plan. These are the moments when our doubts about God arise. We thought God would do certain things. We thought our lives would go a certain way because we are Christians. We wonder what is the point of faith if we are going to experience the same pains in this world as those who do not believe. Another reason we can have doubts is that we have an incomplete understanding. We do not understand why things are going the way they are going. We do not understand why we have to deal with suffering or evil. We do not understand what God is doing in the world.
Examples of Doubt
I think one of the problems is that there is a false assumption that people in the scriptures never doubted. Sometimes as we read about the people of faith and we see their strength we forget the many times where we see them have doubts about God or doubts in their own faith. I want to quickly show some examples of this in the scriptures.
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. (Matthew 28:16-17 ESV)
I want us to notice that the disciples did not just immediately accept the resurrection of Jesus. Even as they saw him, there were some doubts within them. I want us to appreciate the disciples because they did not have blind faith. Sometimes people proclaim that we need to have blind faith. But God never told us to have faith without evidence. Our faith has substance (cf. Hebrews 11:1). Our faith has a foundation. Our faith is built on a reality. The apostle Paul confirms this in 1 Corinthians 15 noting the evidence of the resurrection is the basis for our faith. Paul says that our faith is empty and useless if Jesus did not raise from the dead. So Jesus appears to his disciples to give evidence to them that he rose from the dead. But even still, there were some lingering doubts.
As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (Luke 24:36-39 ESV)
Luke’s gospel account shows the same thing. The disciples have to work through what they saw. The disciples were working through all the evidence. John’s gospel account reveals that Thomas particularly had an issue when the evidence.
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:24-29 ESV)
Now we need to read this carefully because I have seen people leave their faith because of this text due to their doubts. Is Thomas condemned because of his doubts? I don’t believe this is the point since we have just noticed that the other gospel accounts point out that some of the other disciples also had doubts. Look again at Jesus’ response to Thomas. Why should have Thomas believed even though he did not see? What point is Jesus making? This is a really important point. The reason Thomas was expected to believe is because at least 10 disciples told Thomas that they saw the risen Lord (cf. John 20:25). Jesus is not asking for blind faith here. He is asking us to believe eyewitness testimony. You can believe because others have seen the risen Lord. Jesus does not say to believe what you cannot see. Jesus says to believe what you cannot see because others saw it.
We do this with everything else in life. How do you know that there was a George Washington? Did you see him? Did you talk to him? Did you touch him? So why do you believe? Are you expected to have a blind faith? Why should you believe what you cannot see? You should believe what you cannot see because others saw and wrote it down. You are asked to believe because of the evidence. This is all Jesus is saying here to Thomas. This is all Jesus is saying to us regarding our faith though we cannot see. In fact, if you continuing reading the next two verses, John says that he recorded the signs that he did so that you would believe that Jesus is the Son of God (cf. John 20:30-31). Let me bring in one more example. Let’s consider John the Baptizer.
Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (Matthew 11:2-6 ESV)
John’s doubts are fascinating to consider because John saw the Spirit hover over Jesus and the heavens proclaim that Jesus was the beloved Son (cf. Matthew 3:13-17). John was the one proclaiming that Jesus was the Lamb of God who had come to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29-34). But in this moment John has a question if Jesus is the one or not. Why does John question this in spite of all that he had seen? I believe John questioned this because he was in prison for preaching against Herod. John is going to lose his life. Life is not going according to plan. Life has taken a turn because of his faithfulness to God’s mission. So John has some questions. But Jesus does not condemn John. Jesus points to the evidence. Jesus points to his works to prove that he is the one and there is not another to look for as the Christ. He is the Christ. Do not let your circumstances cause you to waver.
Handling Doubt
Now here is what I want us to pay attention to regarding all of these accounts. What was the response of all of these people who had doubts? Do we read that when Thomas had doubts, he quit being a disciple? No, he heard what the other disciples said but continued with his brothers so that the next week Jesus appeared to the disciples again. He did not walk away because he was unsure. Rather, he leaned in further. When we read about the other disciples having doubts about the resurrection of Jesus, did they quit? No, they continued to work through their doubts by working through the evidence. How about John? John has questions about Jesus. John seems to have some doubts whether Jesus is truly the one even with all the evidence he had before him. So what did John do? Did John quit? Did John renounce Jesus? Did John walk away from the faith? Did John’s doubts mean he could no longer be a follower? No, what John did was asked more questions. John did not walk away because of his doubts but leaned into those doubts. John decided to seek some answers to his doubts.
Friends, doubt is not the reason to leave but the reason to dig in and seek further. People like to say, “No one can answer my questions!” I have three responses for your consideration to this. First, have you really worked hard to seek the answers to the questions you have? Are you actively trying to reconcile the doubt that is in your mind? Sometimes what we do is we want to have the doubt so that we do not have to respond to Jesus. Sometimes the reason we will say that we have doubts is because we want to have doubts and it sounds like a noble answer to why we do not walk with Jesus. Right now in our culture you sound really smart and intellectual when you tell people that the reason for your unbelief or doubts is because you have questions. You have doubts. So I want you to be honest with your doubts and determine if you have truly tried to answer your questions and no one has really been able to answer your questions.
Second, let me ask another question in response to your questions. Is it that no one can answer your questions or that you do not like the answers that have been given to your questions? I really just want you to be honest. It may be true that the answers are bad answers. I will absolutely grant that possibility. But I also want you to consider if there is really not answer or if there is not an answer that you want to hear.
So I am asking you to not let doubt be the reason to quit but the reason to dig in further. Friends, I have had many doubts and many questions throughout my faith journey with Jesus. I grew up on the pews and yet I had many questions about the things I was taught and the things I believed. But the responsibility is put upon us to dig into those questions and seek answers based on the evidence. Do not let your questions and do not let your doubts cause you to be dismissive about God, Jesus, the faith, or the church. Work through those questions. Work through those doubts. Let your doubts open the doorway to a greater and deeper faith. Finding the answers to my questions has deepened my faith and drawn me closer to God. This is exactly what God wants us to do.
I have made this point a few times in our study of the Gospel of Matthew over the last year. But have you noticed how many times Jesus will tell a parable without giving an interpretation or explanation? What was Jesus doing? You will read that disciples will come and ask him what he meant, which is exactly what Jesus was looking for (cf. Matthew 13).
Third, just because something is possible does not mean that it is probable. Right now the big push against God, the faith, and the scriptures is about arguing over what is possible. Is is possible that George Washington is completely made up? Yes, it is possible. But it is not plausible nor likely. Is it possible for a untrained, blindfolded monkey to be sat at a keyboard and type out the next great English novel? Sure, it is possible, but it is completely improbable. No one thinks when they see a novel at the store that the author is lying and an untrained, blindfolded monkey wrote it because it is too improbable. My point is that people enjoy throwing out all kinds of theories as possibilities to create doubt and erode faith. But the question is not if something is possible. Rather, the question is if that is probable. Just because something is possible does not make it probable, likely, or even plausible. Work through your questions and doubts by considering what is likely or plausible, not what is merely possible.
Helping Doubters
Our final point is God’s instruction to us about doubt.
And on some, who are doubting, have mercy. (Jude 22 LSB)
What are we going to do when people have doubts? What are we going to do when people are wrestling with their faith and wrestling with their questions? We are going to have compassion and help them. Just because you have figured all your questions out does not mean others have figured all those things out for themselves yet. Remember that you had to go through a process of evaluating the evidence, digging deeper, and answering the questions you had. Now you can have mercy on those who are presently in the process of evaluating the evidence, digging deeper, and answering the questions they have. We are a place where people can come with their doubts and their questions and without fear spend their time getting to know Jesus further as they seek to have those questions answered. We are not going to shame people for having uncertainty. We are going to help people walk through that uncertainty. We are going to share with them the things that helped us with our doubts and questions. We are going to reveal what helped deepen our faith and grow us stronger in the Lord.
Friends, the problem is not doubt. The problem is what you do with your doubts. Your doubt can be the basis for stronger faith. The doubts of the disciples only made them stronger to be the proclaimers of Jesus in the world. The doubts of John only made him stronger to be ready for the horrible end of his life. Do not let your doubts stop you from being determined to seek answers. God gives us the evidence necessary for faith. But do not stop walking with Jesus because you encounter doubts or questions. Keep walking in the faith, keep walking with Jesus, and keep searching the scriptures as you work through what troubles you. Nicodemus came to Jesus and he had a lot of questions in John 3. He did not understand what Jesus was teaching. But in John 19:39 we read that Nicodemus must have become a follower as he along with Joseph of Arimathea take the body of Jesus after his death and prepare for burial. Nicodemus kept working through his questions and his perplexities and landed in a place of great faith.