Archive for the ‘ Bible ’ Category

Confronting doubt with Truth

Doubt can push us towards God or away from God.

One of the only ways to remove doubt is to introduce truth. This is not just looking at some facts. Anyone can look at facts (I think a great example is the difference between believing in six days of creation or millions/billions of years of evolutionary process … while looking at rocks and fossils). It is seeking truth.

I think this kid has some things figured out:

But there is still a question of whether or not it is okay to doubt. It sure seems the great people of the Christian faith had it all figured out. But as I mentioned, doubt can push us towards God or away from God.

Judas Iscariot believed Jesus as the Messiah, but his doubts after helping get Jesus arrested and crucified sent him to hang himself.

Heck, the Sanhedrin, for the most part, doubted Jesus was the Messiah, and this doubt brought about the very act that could redeem them!

We need to ask, does our doubt cause us to curse God or follow Him? There were other doubters:

Lee Strobel was an adamant atheist doubting God even existed until he met a woman while doing a story for the Chicago Tribune (he wrote about it in Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary. I had to read it my first semester at college). Her faith caused him to doubt his doubt in God and is today one of the most famous Christian apologists.

Josh McDowell thought Christianity was bunk until he looked at the evidence. He is also one of the most famous apologists.

Ravi Zacharias grew up in an atheist, and he was so sure that he was a failure and that his life would be better not being tried to commit suicide by mixing several household chemicals together and drinking them. Someone brought him a Bible while he was in the hospital. Today, he is one of the foremost Christian apologists.

Albert Henry Ross doubted the resurrection, considering it a myth without merit. He later wrote a book declaring the truth of the Resurrection called Who Moved the Stone?

Mother Teresa, while raised in the Catholic faith, had many doubts about the existence of God when seeing all of the misery around her in India. Yet she persevered; and we all know of her great contributions to the poor, sick, homeless, and godless.

Martin Luther doubted paying money for indulgences could absolve sins. He inadvertently began the Protestant Reformation (so, for many people, he helped make their denomination even possible).

Thomas doubted, and he was an Apostle of Jesus! It is believed he was the first missionary to India (where he … uh … was killed).

The most famous Apostle of all, Paul, doubted! As Saul, he persecuted the early Church to the point of approving of killing believers! As we now know, the risen Jesus personally called him to service, and he went on to write most of our New Testament.

The list is really quite long. Suffice it to say, if you have doubts about God you are not alone.

2011
01/28
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Bible
Doubt
Religion
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I doubt that is true. I can’t believe it. I SHANT believe it!

Doubt has a bad rap.

I also think it rightly has a bad rap, but I think that sometimes gets in the way of people acknowledging or even confronting their doubt.

I just started the class “Systematic Theology” this week, and doubt is one of the first issues we are tackling (hence the idea to write about it!).

When is doubt a good thing?

How about when God is crying out for us, leading us to Him? Doubt can be a very good thing. We start to doubt the wisdom of the world. We start to doubt everything we have been raised to believe about what the world is telling us. If our doubt is truly from God then we will find ourselves doubting the world more and more and God les and less. This doubt will lead us to the saving knowledge of Christ as Lord and Savior.

Doubt can also be good as a believer. Poor Thomas, that Apostle of Jesus, gets a bad rap that comes with a nickname: Doubting Thomas. If someone does not believe something, they might be called a “Doubting Thomas” in more of a derogatory way. But sometimes it is okay.

If we sit in a church pew (or chairs, as they are becoming more popular all the time) and blindly listen to what the preacher is saying, are we really growing? Especially if the message being preached is weak, heretical, or even blasphemous, doubt can play a big role. If your church preaches “God hates certain people, so we are going to go to funerals and protest and yell at people that God wants them to go to hell”, then doubt might push you to research and find the truth. It could be a message that God only wants you happy and rich and have your best life now, but doubt gets you to find the Bible says something a little different.

Is this to say that certain people will not be sent to Hell or that we can have happiness and financial prosperity here on Earth? No. In fact, the Bible tells us that there are righteous people and evil people who both do well.

But people still doubt. Sometimes when a person says “I don’t believe it”, what they are really saying is “I can’t believe it”. Or if they say “I can’t believe” they may really be saying “I won’t believe it!” Zechariah had trouble believing angel and was punished; Mary had trouble believing the same angel and was considered righteous. Why? Zechariah allowed his view of the material to interfere with his view of the power of God, but Mary sought understanding. Zechariah said “I can’t or won’t believe this, because it is so strange”, but Mary said “I am unable to understand this. Help me!”

This is the same issue many people face with the Bible. Everyone asks “Why did God have the Israelites destroy all the people in the Promised Land?” One person may say “I refuse to believe a loving God would do that!” Here is something to mull over:

If you had learned that a violent pedophile had moved into your area, would you not want them gone while wondering “How could they let someone like that live near me?” Or perhaps this pedophile moved right next to your child’s school. You would do everything within your power to make sure that your child was safe.

Now look at Israel. God knew what would happen. Here are these various nations and tribes who undoubtedly would have heard about the army of Egypt being destroyed by the Hebrew God, but they all said “We won’t believe in that God!” God knew these people would turn the hearts of the Israelites away from Him.  He knew that if these people were allowed to remain in the area, they would do very naughty things to His people and lead them astray.

We should be aware of doubt and willing to allow God to use it to move us closer to Him. Proverbs chapter one tells us who refuses to listen. They doubt and suffer. Instead, the beginning of wisdom comes from seeking God (see verse seven). It is okay to doubt as long as it leads to God. If it begins to turn us away from God, we begin walking the path of fools.

What say you? Are there doubts you struggle with? Do those doubts hurt your relationship with God or help? Do they confuse you about which way they are pulling? Further on, do you have people around you to help you through your doubts? A pastor is good, but a friend is better (especially if that pastor is a friend!).

Grace and Peace!

2011
01/25
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Bible
Doubt
Religion
Wisdom
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