Is It a Sin to Doubt?
by
Randy Croft
One of the hardest decisions Krista and I made before Jacob was born was not which hospital to have the birth. Not which doctor would deliver our little guy. Not which pediatrician we would see, even though we went back and forth on that call. The hardest decision was what to name the new baby. Names are big stuff. Kids are stuck with their monicers for life Names have meaning, so we looked for a name of someone in the bible that God used in a special way.
What’s in a name? Names change. They’re shortened. Elizabeth-Beth. Kathleen-Kathy. William-Bill. Now if you don’t like the label your parents gave you, you can go down to the courthouse with $69 and change it. Some of us take on nicknames, pet names, and sweetheart names. Babe Ruth, Dizzy Dean, Mr. October. Johnny Appleseed, Air Jordan, Rough Rider, Ike, Slick Willie. Brothers and I. Maybe you have nicknames and don’t even know it-- Einstein, class clown, jock, family workaholic, Black Sheep in the family. No matter how hard you try, it’s hard to shake those reputations off, even if they’re wrong.
One of the bible names Krista and I definitely chose to avoid was Judas. Judas Iscariot, as many of you know, was the disciple who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. A traiter. A fake follower of Jesus. Judas has forever become a bad label. It didn’t used to be that way. In Jesus’ day. Judas was the most popular name among parents in naming their boys. Why? One of the heros of Jewish history was a Judas Maccabeus who led the Israelites in a revolt in 167 BC against the Greeks and won independence for Israel. He was a national hero. Judas means "Praise of God." But 99% of parents aren’t going to name their kids Judas because of Judas Iscariot the traitor.
Another name that developed a bad reputation in the Bible was Thomas, even though parents often name their kids Thomas-or Tom. Nothing wrong with the name-it means "Twin". In the Bible, Thomas was one of the twelve disciples-but he forever developed the reputation as "Doubting Thomas". He doubted Jesus-had weak faith. Didn’t believe enough. Thomas-known as the doubting one. Parents tell their kids, don’t be like doubting Thomas. He didn’t have faith.
Let’s read the story, and see why he developed such a bad rap...
John 20:19-20; 24-29
Would you believe that this doubting one, was also one of the most dedicated of the followers of Christ. That, despite his doubts, he had more faith than the others? That’s crazy. If you want to be a Christian, but still have questions and doubts, that does not make you a lesser person or weaker disciple. In fact, you may be the most dedicated Christian in church and have loads of questions.
1. Look at Thomas again. John 11. Jesus was chased out of Jerusalem. Bible says the Jews tried to stone him but he escaped their grasp. So Jesus and 12 disciples find safety in hills or quiet village. Suddenly, news comes that Jesus friend, Lazarus has died. Jesus decides to go back to Bethany, only 2 miles away from Jerusalem. Disciples are thinking-is Jesus crazy? He’s going to get stoned goes near Jerusalem. How absurd. Verse 8 "But Teacher, a little while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?" Jesus made up his mind. Yes he was going. Verse 16 "Then Thomas said to the rest of the disciples- "Let’s go too, so we can die with him." Thomas the doubter. Thomas the pessimist. People can say whatever they want, but he was no coward. He had guts and loyalty and courage. Death was no deterrent from following Jesus. The danger was real, but he followed anyway.
2. John 14, a day before Jesus is crucified on a cross. Scene: candlelit upper room. Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. John 14:1-6. Thomas, didn’t have the answer-so he questioned Jesus. He wanted to follow, but had questions. He was sincere. Jesus answered that the way to eternal life is not a road you travel, not a city you conquer, not a path you travel, but a person you love and trust.
3. Even though Thomas had the bad rap, the other disciples were just as guilty.
Text: Matthew 28:16-20 "When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted." (v. 17)
It’s not clear in this passage from St. Matthew’s gospel exactly who is doubting. Are some of the disciples just worshiping and others just doubting? Are some of the disciples worshiping and doubting at the same time? Not clear. Do know, more than one person. Some.
However we interpret Matthew’s text, what’s remarkable in it is Jesus’ response to the doubters, whoever they were. At first he seems to ignore them. He immediately gives the disciples the ’great commission’: "go therefore and make disciples of all nations..." It is quite easy for us to regard this as the sort of task appropriately given to faithful, confident worshipers, not to doubters. It seems natural for us to want to make sure our own doubts are resolved before going out to tell others about God. We assume that sharing our faith should be left to those who feel 100% confident about our message. To go out and preach when you’re not totally sure about it seems like a good way to make a fool of yourself, or worse, a way to become a hypocrite and a charlatan.
Yet Jesus doesn’t see it that way. His response to the doubters shows that what counts from his point of view -- and thus what counts in reality -- isn’t having faith. As though faith were always and automatically a good thing. This is being taught a lot in churches today. Your faith can create reality. That’s nonsense. Your faith isn’t the important thing, it’s the object of your faith-Jesus. If you have faith you can fly, and then jump off a building-you’ll be an object on the sidewalk. Sometimes having faith in something or someone is a bad thing. It can be foolhardy, and shallow. A mind that never examines it’s beliefs is a rusty mind in my book. Instead of solid faith, it could be gullible faith.
"Examine yourselves to see whether you are still in the faith; test yourselves." 2 Corinthians 13:5.
3. When Mother Theresa died, it was amazing to see how millions of Hindu’s payed respect to her Christian service in their country. The church in India where her funeral was held is known throughout the world as St. Thomas’ church. Not much is known outside of the bible about this doubting disciple, but several early Christian writers-Eusebius, Ambrose, Jerome-others-that Thomas went to India to spread the gospel. In Madras, India- still mountain, St. Thomas Mount. The most ancient Christian community in the world, from 3rd century, trace their existence from doubting Thomas. They still call themselves "Thomas Christians." We’re not sure how Thomas died, but tradition says he went to a part of India and converted a Queen to the gospel, but not the King. The King was jealous and ordered Thomas assassinated. Died with a spear through his side. That is the symbol of Thomas. A spear. Just because a person has doubts, does not mean that they aren’t extremely devoted to God, or dedicated. Even though Thomas had doubts he was still with the other disciples when Jesus came. He didn’t truck off alone and reject it all. He was with the other believers, searching for answers. He lived his life with devotion, in spite of his doubts.
It is not wrong to have doubts?
What do you do with your doubts? What do you do when you are confronted with questions you can’t answer; with truth from the Bible that you don’t understand? What do you do when prayers go unanswered and you find yourself wondering if God cares about you... if he is even there? What do you do when circumstances in your life, at work, at home-are going lousy and you’ve tried your best. You doubt if God is strong enough?
You ask "Why did my father die?" Or "Why am I still single?" Or "Why did she get the promotion, God. I worked twice as hard?" or "Why is my family falling apart?" "Why can’t we meet our budget?" And our temptation is that if we don’t get the answers now, we give up on God?
What do you do with your doubts? If you’re honest, most of us would admit that we struggle with doubt from time to time.
Those of us who doubt need to hear this good news from the Bible: Doubt is a normal and natural part of faith in God. Even the most cursory look at the Bible would reveal that some of the people most looked up as biblical heroes experienced doubt from time to time -- Abraham, Moses, Sarah, Jeremiah, David, Elijah, John the Baptist, Peter and, in our text, Thomas. Yet even during their doubts, they stayed connected to God.
Not only biblical heroes, but some of the greatest teachers, preachers, Christian leaders, reformers, and theologians in the past 2,000 years dealt with doubt. "In Defence of Doubt - an Invitation to Adventure" by Val Webb. She wrote the book because she came to the point that she had to live her life with honesty and had to deal with some of the hard questions she was asking about God.
So she started researching Christian leaders, preachers, reformers, and other theologians over history to try and see what these `heroes of the faith’ had to say about doubt. And she discovered that when you really read what they wrote in journals and other places, they sometimes had huge struggles with doubt. But those of us in from church walks don’t talk about those because it’s not the triumphant Christian lifestyle, she said.
Yet these people, like the bibical heroes didn’t withold commitment to God until they had all their answers. They didn’t throw God out. It’s like throwing the dictionary out while your trying to define a word. You may want to define it differently, but you still need the dictionary. You need to know what it says on other areas. We must never hold God at arms length while dealing with doubt. Doubt is not the opposite of faith, rather its a stepping stone that can cause our faith to grow.
ILLUS: I remember when I was in college. I was confronted with several serious challenges to things I had always believed. Things I used to take for granted were suddenly torn apart. I went up to a lodge in the mountains to pray and try to sort some of these questions out. I spent time in prayer, at the library, searching earnestly for some answers. I raised several doubts about my faith. Yet over time, I realized that my earnest searching helped me develop a more solid faith in God and the essentials of the Bible, and not sweat the peripheral issues. It made me, I believe, better able to see other people’s view points without the immediate need to run over and condemn them for believing differently.
When I got to graduate school, some other students from another college were confronted with some of the same challenges. It threw many of them for a spin. Woah-this has thrown my little belief package overboard. I could smile, because I already dealt with those questions a few years ago and was ready to dig into the deeper things of God-bigger questions.
You say: "But Randy, you’re a pastor!! You get paid to believe!!"
Well, Thomas had his questions, I have mine.
I spend much of my life counseling and giving sermons And I often wonder: Does it make any difference at all? Does anybody even remember what I preached about a month ago? Is it like chasing my shadow?
I look at my weaknesses, my failures and my attitude sometimes and I how God could use me to make any difference at all.
I have questions about every major denomination in America. I’ve studied them all, including my own. I have differences from the bible with all of them, including my own. Things that I wish were different. Things that I wish weren’t made as big deals, but they are. I deal with these questions, and challenge others not to be so sure they have it all together. They’re foundation may be based more on tradition than the bible.
Yet even with doubt, there’s a healthy way of dealing with it...
ILLUS: Lee Strobel was an award winning journalist for the Chicago Tribune. For most of his life he was an atheist. But after his wife became a Christian, he started to see positive changes in her life. So after a few months, Lee decided to attend church with his wife, partly because he was curious and mostly because he wanted to poke holes in her faith.
However, in that worship service he was confronted for the first time with Jesus’ claims. And after that service he made a decision. He says in one of his books: "While I didn’t believe the Gospel was true, I was convinced that if it was the truth, it had tremendous implications for my life. So I vowed to check out the Christian faith as a journalist would. I’d separate myth from reality and see what remained. I’d examine the evidence and see for myself."
He began his search with this prayer: "God, I don’t even believe you are there, but if you are, I want to find you. I really do want to know the truth. So if you exist, please show yourself to me." In that moment Lee Strobel moved from an atheist, an agnostic, to a true spiritual seeker who honestly sought after the truth. After two years of intensive research, Lee Strobel became a Christian and now serves on the staff at the church where he first heard the claims of Christ in the Chicago area.
Were all of his questions answered? No. But he knew that the gospel was founded on rock solid claims and had to go by that while he dealt with his questions. Today when we have question, what’s the first thing we do? Stop reading the bible, stop going to church, leave other Christians. We tell ourselves, "I’ll come back when my questions have been answered." Then I’ll believe. I have friends who’ve done that. What’s funny is that soon they begin to doubt their own unbelief...did I make the right choice to throw it all out?
ILLUS: Little girl went up to atheist parents and said, "Mom, dad, does God know that we don’t believe in Him."
The Story of Thomas gives us a clear reminder that it is not wrong to have questions, but it is best if we trust and rely on God while we deal with those questions.
Piece of advise one of my seminary professors gave me. Helped. Reminded us that all of our doubts and questions in this life will not be removed. For many of us, our questions will be answered years from now. For others, they will be answered through a simple and short bible study. For others, our questions will only be answered in heaven. But know this. God has given us sufficient evidence upon which to base our lives. Like Thomas-everyone is called to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Everyone. Though Thomas was a skeptic, he was still in the inner circle. If you have questions, spend time looking into it, put some on the shelf in the hallway of your mind and deal with them periodically. Some you will take down with answers, and you will put knew questions up on the shelf. But never make a rash or impetuous decision about faith in God because of your doubts. There’s a reason that Christianity is the largest religion in the world. There’s a reason that the Bible is the most translated book in the world. There’s a reason why those who have faith in God end up with much happier and healthier lives than the average person. A reason why 80,000 people become Christians every day around the world.
Honestly admit your doubts. Deal with Them. But don’t withhold your devotion to God while you find your answers. Doubting Thomas is a hero for the way he stayed faithful to God even though he doubted.
Ask all of you tonight to commit your lives to God. Ask God to be king of your life and heart. Give God permission to positively impact your life. Ask God to help you deal with your questions, but you be committed to not throwing God out, just because of your reputation, fears, questions, or struggles. He will be faithful to you, just as He has been faithful to the biblical heroes who trusted him in the face of doubt.
