How should we as pastors deal with doubt in our churches?

I have been thinking alot lately about a question. Its a question that I have heard my whole life in church, and honestly, it tore me up spiritually for about 15 years. It isnt until recently that I freed myself of the spiritual implications of this question. The question is, “If you died today, do you know without the shadow of a doubt that you would go to Heaven?” Quite frankly, I think this question is an abomination. I think its one of the most divisive questions penned in the history of our faith, and I think its implications could be at the root of what is possibly the church’s biggest problem today. Just to set the record straight, I dont just hate that question. When I was a kid, I remember vividly several different itinerant preachers coming through my church, and at some point in their sermon making statements like this one, “I have never doubted, in my entire life, even for a moment, in my salvation” or “I have no doubts that if I were to die today, I would wake up in glory.” It should be clear by now that I cannot stand these statements because of their implications about doubt. I believe that these statements have two very dangerous effects. #1 They condemn doubters. #2 Which causes people to close up about their doubts. Lets delve into why these are bad things. Firstly, I want to provide you with the famous text that people use to condemn doubt. 1 John 5:13 – I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. John writes earlier in his book about what the gospel actually is, and seems to be clarifying things for the early Christians. So when we come to this verse, it appears as though he is trying to ease their doubts as to the validity of the gospel they had heard. He is giving the message that was preached to them validity through his authority as an apostle. The terribly important thing to keep in mind when reading this verse is, the very fact that John is writing thing at all to Christians in order for them to know that they have eternal life, means that they were Christians before and yet still doubted. Doubt is in fact a part of salvation. In Philippians 2:12 Paul exhorts the Philippians to, “work out your own salvation with fear and trenbling.” I believe that Paul is saying that there is a weight to salvation that we should all feel. This passages goes along with 2 Corinthians 13:5, which says, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test youselves. Or do you not know realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? -unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” Clearly certain early Christians were doubting – not the truth of God’s message, but whether or not they were personally regenerate. And oftentimes there is reason to doubt whether or not you are regnerate, Biblically. Matthew 7:21-23 says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Its a long passage, but an important one, because it shows that you can do everything right and not “pass the test” that determines whether or not you are a Christian. Works dont get you to Heaven, its complete devotion and submission to as well as dependence on Christ. If your heart hasnt changed, then all the good deeds in the world, even miracles, wont save you. With this knowledge in hand, its hard not to doubt some things. And its definitely hard to condemn doubt using Scripture. So, just to recap on #1 (those statements [directly or indirectly] condemn doubters) – its absolutely wrong! Just because you have doubt does not mean that you are unsaved. Actually, its probably the opposite. You are probably feeling the weight of salvation. You might be feeling this because you are putting more on the line than ever before, or you might be calling your salvation into question because of unconfessed sin in your life, but your doubt is probably not the result of an unregenerate heart. Not the kind of doubt we are talking about anyway. Healthy doubt. Asking the hard questions. Bravely seeking the truth. Thats healthy doubt. That doubt grows us. It forces us to test ourselves – which brings us to #2. #2 is that these statements cause Christians to close up about their doubts. This is a very simple case of cause-and-effect. If a person who doubts is unsaved, then that person, at least in most people’s eyes, is a bad church person, because somehow they havent managed to give themselves to Christ. Damning doubters makes them second class citizens, both in  their own eyes, as well as in everyone’s else’s. If its not ok to go to Hell, then its not ok to doubt. If doubting gets you unsaved, then no one wants to doubt, no one is brave enough to ask the hard questions, and all of the sudden you have a lot of people who are trying as hard as they can to look like they are content in Christ, when in reality they are broken over their inability to be honest with what they struggle with. As a result, church is rarely ever a place for people to be honest with the things they question, and more of a contest to see who can put on their best Christian ‘front’. This is the problem that I mentioned earlier, and I think its probably the biggest problem that the church faces today. The simplest name for that problem is hypocrisy. When you arent being honest about your struggles, you are lying, youre being a hypocrite. As a church, because we have labelled doubt and hard questions as sins, we have forced many of the members of our churches into forced hypocrisy. (Bear in mind, doubt can become a sin, but doubting in general is not necessarily wrong – when it healthy and honest) Whats the biggest reason why Christians are respected by the world. Strike that, whats the biggest accusation levelled at Christian parents by their children. “You are such a hypocrite!” This isnt what the apostles wanted. This isnt what the Bible calls us to do. Paul clearly calls on Christians to test themselves – to ask the tough questions and be honest enough to face the real answers. Am I regenerate? Do I show fruit? Do you I Jesus Christ? Have I surrendered everything to Him? Am I living in dependence on Him? Am I completely submitted to His will? If we arent ourselves and others within the church these questions, then we arent really a church, because we have no true accountability. We have no security without the ability to question things, and so really the kind of statements that condemn doubters and doubt are counterproductive. Im not necessarily encouraging people to doubt, dont hear me saying that. Im not saying that doubt is a necessary component of salvation. Im also not telling you to lie and say you do doubt when you dont. I am also not saying that everyone who has ever asked that question, or made one of those statements meant to condemn doubt or doubters. One thing that I will say is the aforementioned question and statements are usually used very irresponsiblly. I am also saying that as Christians involved in a local church, we have to be sensitive to the needs of others, and we must create an atmosphere where its ok to not be ok. People are broken, and they need a place to go with their burdens where they wont be judged. The difference between us and the world is, we have the answer, Jesus. So while its ok to not be ok, its not ok to stay that way.

Truth is Never

     Im winding down my thoughts on truth here. I am not going to say this is the last post Ill do on the subject, but its the last one for now. Im ready to dig into Scripture and lay out theology now. Anyway, there are a couple of things that I think still need to be dealt with. Here are a few random points, that dont really fit into any neat little topic.

     Truth should never be completely reactionary. Just because something is false does not mean that its opposite is true. Truth usually isnt that easy to discover. An oversimplification of this point would be to say that since the statement, “all Muslims are terrorists” is an untrue statement, its opposite is not necessarily true either, “all Muslims are not terrorists.” This principle can be applied in varying degrees.

     Truth must always be applied in some way practically. What this means is that once you have encountered something true, it changes the way you live, look at life in general – it changes you. Jesus said the truth would set you free. The truth leaves its mark on all of us, and hopefully leaves us all different than when it found us.

     The whole reason I delved into a discussion of the truth is because I have found in my experience that Christians in particular are a very closed-minded group of people. I dont mean that as a compliment. I mean that they are unwilling to prayerfully consider an alternative to their beliefs, and equally unwilling to even examine their own beliefs and make sure that they are based on sound evidence.

     I am not talking about changing your faith, or not believing in Jesus anymore. I am simply saying that if a person has not left room for enlightenment and sanctification within their theology then have they left room for Jesus working in their belief system? We hear it said all the time that all truth is God’s truth, and that is true. With that in mind, should we as Christians have anything to fear from a well constructed argument – no matter who is constructing it? All truth is Gods truth, and if what we believe is true, it should stand up to the evidence. The unexamined life is not worth living, said Plato. I would contend that the unexamined belief is not worth believing, but unfortunately, most of the people I know are afraid of what they will find if they truly examine their belief system.

     BE COURAGEOUS! Truth is not alway gentle, or kind. Sometimes it breaks us. Are we willing to be broken, and follow the truth whereever it leads us? In the end, Christ said, “I am the way, the Truth and the life.” If our God IS truth, then why should we fear seeking Him?