Summary: There’s a SPIRITUAL VIRUS that has been going around Christian circles for centuries, and it’s CALLED DOUBT. And if you haven’t caught it yet, you probably will.

The Virus of Doubt

Do you remember a few months ago when the flu was going around? This was an epidemic that hit just about everyone.

Well, there’s a SPIRITUAL VIRUS that has been going around Christian circles for centuries, and it’s CALLED DOUBT. And if you haven’t caught it yet, you probably will.

In fact, we could divide this room into three groups. The first group would be those who have doubted. The second group would be those who haven’t doubted yet, but who will. And the third group would be those who are brain dead.

What I mean by that if you’re a thinking person at all -- if you seriously contemplate your faith and what it means to follow Jesus Christ -- the chances are that every once in a while you’re going to come down with some questions, some issues, some uncertainties, some doubts. And, by the way, that’s not just a Christian experience; doubt is a human experience

that’s common across the board. Even atheists doubt their position from time to time.

So the question isn’t, "Will you catch the virus of doubt?" You probably will. The big question is, "How can you prevent that virus from turning into a terminal disease that ultimately kills your faith?"

You see, that’s a very real risk if doubt is left untreated. I mean, just because doubt is common doesn’t mean it isn’t serious. It can be serious if you just let it spread out of control.

The problem is that some Christians leave their doubt untreated because they don’t want to admit they have it. They erroneously think that to be a real Christian, you must have absolute certainty about everything regarding the faith, and so they’re afraid to admit it when doubt starts eating away at them.

In fact, I mentioned doubt not long ago and after-wards a woman said to me: "I was so glad to hear you say that doubt is common because I thought I was the only one. I was afraid to admit I had questions. Everybody seems to have such a strong faith around here; I didn’t want them to think I was some kind of wimp."

Have you ever felt that way -- that you’re unusual because you have questions or doubts? Well, you’re not. So it’s okay to come clean -- are you infected with doubt even tonight? You can admit it; you’re among friends.

Maybe you doubt that God has really forgiven you. Or you wonder whether the Bible really is the Word of God. Or you question why God lets people suffer. Or you’ve been praying for help with a struggle in your life, but so far there has been silence, and you’re wondering whether anybody’s at home in heaven, or there is, whether He really cares.

Maybe you have questions about how God created the world or how He’ll end it. Or you’ve said to yourself, "I think I’ve become a Christian, but sometimes I’m not sure. Maybe I wasn’t sincere enough when I prayed."

If those kind of issues bother you, you’ve chosen the right service to attend, because today we’re going to deal with doubt by accomplishing three objectives:

• First, we’re going to put the virus of doubt under the microscope to see what it really looks like.

• Then we’re going to diagnose how doubt infects us and what makes the virus grow inside us.

• And finally we’re going to look at some practical ways to get nursed back to spiritual health after a bout with doubt.

In other words, what is doubt, what causes it, and how should we deal with it?

So, first, let’s put the doubt virus under the microscope. What do we see? Well, for one thing, when we look closely at doubt, we expose some misconceptions about it. In fact, there are three things you may think doubt is, but it isn’t.

First, you may think doubt is the opposite of faith, but it isn’t. The opposite of faith is unbelief, and that’s a very important distinction. What is unbelief? Well, generally in the Bible, unbelief refers to a willful refusal to believe, or it refers to a deliberate decision to disobey God.

But that’s not what doubt is. To doubt is to be indecisive or ambivalent over an issue. It’s where you’re hung up between certainty and uncertainty. You haven’t come down squarely on the side of disbelief; you’re up in the air over something. You’ve got questions or concerns about some facet of your faith.

In fact, listen to this: you can have a strong faith and still have some doubts. You really can. You can be heaven-bound and still express some uncertainty over certain theological issues. You can be a full-fledged Christian without having to feel like every single question of life has been absolutely settled. In fact, it has been said that struggling with God over the issues of life doesn’t show a lack of faith -- that is faith. You can see that in the Psalms. So your doubts don’t necessarily mean you don’t have faith.

So first, doubt isn’t unbelief. And, second, some people think that doubt is unforgivable, but it isn’t. You see, God doesn’t condemn us when we question Him. You can see that in the 7th chapter of the Gospel of Luke.

This recounts the time when John the Baptist was in prison, and he was having doubts about the identity of Jesus. Verse 19 says: "And summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying: "Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?"

I mean, think about that. This is the person who once pointed to Jesus and said: "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" This is the person who baptized Jesus and saw the heavens open up and God proclaim: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And this is the person who once said: "I have seen and I have borne witness that this is the Son of God."

And now he’s got doubts! Now he’s not so sure. Is Jesus really the messiah or not? So he dispatches some representatives to find out.

Well, how does Jesus react? Does He slam-dunk John for doubting? Does He criticize him or shame him? Well, look at His response in verse 22: "And Jesus answered and said to them: ’Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the Gospel preached to them.’"

In other words, instead of slam-dunking John, Jesus says to tell him about all the evidence that they have seen that confirms that Jesus is, indeed, the Messiah. Give him the evidence he’s after.

And how does Jesus feel about John now that he has shown some doubt? Does He think less of him? Well, look at verse 28. Jesus says: "I say to you, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John!"

THINK ABOUT THAT -- JESUS GAVE JOHN THE HIGHEST COMPLIMENT IN THE WORLD AT THE SAME TIME THAT JOHN WAS IN THE MIDST OF DOUBTING! AND IN THE MIDST OF YOUR DOUBTS AND QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS, GOD WON’T SLAM-DUNK YOU!

In fact, think about this -- wouldn’t God rather have you be honest with Him about your doubts than to profess a phony faith? Of course He would. An honest relationship means we need to tell the truth about how we feel.

So doubt isn’t unforgivable. And, third, you may think doubt is unhealthy, but it isn’t always. The truth is that doubt can actually produce some positive side-effects.

To keep the medical analogy, it’s like getting an immunization. To help your body fight off a future disease, doctors inject you with a small amount of that very same disease, and your body builds up antibodies that will battle off that disease if it ever threatens you. Your body is actually stronger for the experience.

Well, when we’re infected with some doubts, and we seek answers to our questions and deal constructively with the doubt, we emerge stronger than ever because our faith has been confirmed once more, and that gives us new confidence in dealing with doubt in the future.

So while we shouldn’t go out of our way to seek doubt, it can work to our benefit if we deal with it responsibly.

Well, what do you think? Doubt does tend to look a little different when you examine it up close. But it can still be dangerous unless it’s dealt with, and we can’t really deal with it until we know its source. So let’s diagnose where the virus of doubt comes from so that maybe we can write a prescription for it.

Of course, there are lots of sources for doubt, but let’s look at how doubt tends to infect our MIND, our EMOTIONS and our WILL. And as we look at each of those areas, be asking yourself if this sheds any light on the source of any doubts that you might have.

First, doubt often gains a foothold in our mind. This is where we come up with intellectual objections to the faith, where we begin wondering whether things like heaven and hell and Satan and angels and miracles and the resurrection are really rational to believe in.

Doubt often develops in our mind because we don’t know why we believe what we believe. For instance, it may start with a conversation with a friend, who says, "So, you believe Jesus is God?"

And you say, "Sure, of course."

And he says, "Well, why do you believe that?"

So you take out your Bible and you’re about to show him all these passages that demonstrate Jesus is God, but he says, "Wait a second -- you don’t expect me to believe anything in that book do you?"

And you say, "Well, why not?"

He says, "Everyone knows it’s full of contradictions and mythology. Don’t you know that? C’mon, this is the 21st Century! Why in the world would you believe that book is the Word of God?"

You say, "Uh, well, I just believe it, that’s all!"

That’s when doubts appear. Maybe he’s right. How do you know the Bible’s reliable? Maybe it isn’t. Maybe you’ve swallowed this Jesus story hook, line and sinker without asking the right questions.

You know, it’s been said that Christians should believe simply -- that is, have the faith of a child -- but they shouldn’t just simply believe. Because the chances are that someone -- sometime, somewhere -- is going to challenge your faith. And not knowing why you believe what you believe makes you vulnerable to doubt.

And so does not knowing what you believe. For instance, having an inaccurate view of God. If you know all about God’s love but nothing about His justice and holiness and righteousness, you’re probably going to develop doubts about why He does what He does and why He doesn’t do what you think He ought to do. And that’s a breeding ground for doubt.

Or if you think God has promised to answer all your prayers, you’re going to develop doubts when He doesn’t come through all the time. Or if you think God guarantees health and wealth to His followers, you’re going to begin doubting whether you’re really a follower when health or wealth don’t come your way.

But the problem isn’t with God, since He never promised those things. The problem is that you’ve got an inadequate view of who He is, and that is an open invitation to doubt.

And not only can doubt breed in our minds, but it can also develop in our emotions.

That can happen in several different ways. For instance, some people have a faith that’s built on feelings. They had a euphoric emotional experience when they were converted, and they were emotionally pumped up for a while, but eventually that spiritual high begins to wear off. And they start wondering whether their faith is slipping or whether they’re really a Christian at all.

It’s like that old Gordon Lightfoot song, "I don’t know where we went wrong but the feeling’s gone and I just can’t get it back."

They’ve misunderstood the role of emotions and faith. Faith isn’t fundamentally a feeling; it’s a decision of the will to follow Jesus Christ, and it doesn’t ebb and flow depending on how emotionally pumped up you are.

Others are susceptible to mood swings and depression, and they find that when they’re emotionally down, that’s when doubts creep in. In fact, just like some people are more susceptible to certain diseases, people with a melancholy personality are especially vulnerable to doubt because they take a sort of questioning and contemplative approach to life. That’s just how they’re wired up.

I know of one man who was plagued with doubts when he’d go through a period of depression, but then he came to this conclusion: "Though my emotions may flap like a flag in a gale, I’m learning to trust that God doesn’t move. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. In fact, He is often doing the biggest work in me when I feel the lowest. The mountain peaks are fun, but the thin soil on the summit is not nearly so nourishing of spiritual fruit as that rich, dark humus in the valleys."

He still goes through times when he’s depressed, but he no longer doubts when he’s down.

Another way doubt can develop is among people who’ve been emotionally scarred from an experience in their past. In other words, if you’ve suffered parental abuse as a child, if you’ve been abandoned by your parents or a spouse, if you’ve felt unloved or unworthy of love, that can affect the way you view God. You may develop chronic doubts and uncertainties because deep down inside you’re just waiting for God to let you down like people have in your past.

St. Augustine said, "It is often the case that a person who experienced a bad doctor is then afraid to trust himself to even a good one." But, of course, the answer isn’t to reject all doctors because of a bad experience; the answer is to carefully check the credentials of all future doctors. And that’s why when we carefully examine the credentials and track record of the Great Physician, God, we develop confidence that He’s not in the business of harming us; He’s in the business of healing us.

So doubt can afflict in our emotions as well as our mind, and it can also develop because of our will. Our will, of course, is where we make choices.

For instance, doubts can multiply when a Christian makes the willful decision not to turn away from a pattern of sin in his life. Sin, of course, creates a lack of peace and a sense of being separated from God. And so when the person can’t find peace, he questions why God isn’t comforting him. And when he feels that God is distant, he begins to doubt whether He’s there at all. When actually, the underlying cause of his doubt is his own willful decision to cling to sin.

And then there’s the way that a stubborn sense of pride can cause doubt to breed. Author Os Guinness wrote: "The proud man needs to doubt because the sense of his own importance demands it. It is not in his nature to bow to anyone." So he goes out of his way to drum up doubts in order to justify his willful decision not to allow God full access to his life.

Finally, doubts can run rampant when you’ve never committed your life to Christ in the first place. In other words, you have doubts about your relationship with God because you don’t really have one.

You may be living on a hand-me-down faith from your parents or think you’re a Christian because you’ve been baptized as a child or attend church. But you’ve never made a knowing, willful decision to humbly receive the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life that Christ is offering.

I mean, it’s no wonder you’d have doubts about His presence in your life or you’d feel He’s distant.

So doubt can breed in our will, our emotions and our minds. And before I go on, I have to acknowledge the role that Satan plays in implanting doubts in us and encouraging them to multiply out of control. Jesus called Satan "the father of lies," and he whispers lies in our ear to create mistrust and confusion.

We shouldn’t ignore the threaten he poses, but we shouldn’t get fixated on him, either, because of what the Bible says in First John 4:4: "Little children, you are from God, and . . . the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

So those are just a few of the ways we can get infected with doubt. And once we’re afflicted, it’s imperative that we do something to regain our spiritual health. Now, that’s not always easy. I don’t want to mislead you into thinking it is. But there are some steps we can take.

In fact, I’ll mention five steps in battling the doubt virus, and so you might be able to remember them better, I’ll take the word "Faith" and use each letter from that word as the beginning of each step.

For instance, the "F" in faith stands for this step: Find the root of your doubt.

In other words, you need to diagnose the source of your doubt before you can deal with it. I’ve just gone through some examples of how doubt can infect our minds, our emotions, and our will, and maybe as you heard one, you said to yourself, "Hey, that’s me."

If I didn’t hit on the source of your doubt, do some self-examination and some research. I’d suggest reading Lynn Anderson’s book, If I Really Believe, Why Do I Have These Doubts, or my interview with Lynn in my book The Case for Faith. But the first step is to get to the root of your doubt.

Then the "A" in faith stands for the next step: "Ask God and others for help."

Be as honest with God as the father of the demon-possessed boy was in Mark 9:24 when he said to Jesus: "I do believe; help my unbelief." Actually, he wasn’t suffering from unbelief; he was afflicted with doubt. Remember, there’s a difference. But the important thing is this: He asked Jesus to help him -- and Jesus did. He healed his son.

You know, it’s not out of bounds for you to ask God to bolster your faith in the midst of doubt. James 4:2 says, "You do not have because you do not ask." Turn to God for help -- not as a last resort, but as a top priority. Ask Him to lead you to answers and give you insights and wisdom and confidence.

And turn to Christians in your life, too. This is why small groups are so important, because those are safe places where you can admit that you’re grappling with questions and ask for input on what the root cause might be. Let them encourage you and pray with you. James 5:16 says we should honestly admit our struggles and shortcomings to each other and pray for each other -- why? So, the verse says, that we may be healed.

Then the "I" in Faith stands for this advice: "Identify a course of treatment." Now that you’ve found the root cause of your doubt, and you’ve sought God’s wisdom and the input of others, what plan are you going to implement to fight this virus?

For instance, instead of just saying you’ve got some vague intellectual concerns about the faith, what specific questions do you have? Pinpoint them with precision because then you can pursue answers -- and I’ll tell you what: there are a lot of satisfying answers out there for those who make an effort to find them.

Or if emotional issues are generating doubts, maybe you need to talk through your past with a Christian counselor who can help get you on the road to healing.

Or if it’s a question of your will, where specifically are you holding back from God? I mean, the choice is yours: You can let disobedience or pride plague you with doubts for the rest of your life, or submit your whole life to God and really experience the adventure of Christianity.

And if you’re not sure whether you’ve ever really become a Christian, then why not make sure once and for all? Go ahead and pray to receive Christ as your forgiver and leader. If it turns out you had already done it, then this is just a recommitment, and that’s fine.

But then once you’ve done it, put the issue to rest. The Bible says when you humbly reach out to receive Christ’s free gift of eternal life, you’re His child from then on. So you don’t have to dwell on doubting your salvation anymore.

So identify a course of treatment. Then the "T" stands for a preventative measure we all need to take: "Take care of your spiritual health."

In other words, a body is less susceptible to viruses when it’s healthy, right? Strong bodies can fight off minor infections before they become serious. And a spiritually strong faith is better able to ward off the virus of doubt when it threatens to infect you.

So just like a body is strengthened through good nourishment and exercise, build up your faith through both knowledge and action. By knowledge, I mean get serious about learning more about God and why He’s trustworthy. Systematically study the Bible and make it regularly to New Community and the Institute and read Christian books and listen to tapes to build up a healthy, well-balanced understanding of who God is and why it’s rational to put your trust in Him.

If you don’t know where to start, try this: Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian has written a book called Christianity 101 that’s a great, well-balanced overview to the Christian faith. That would be a good start.

And through your day-to-day actions, build up your faith by exercising it. After all, we learn best by doing. And we learn best about the trustworthiness of God when we make the daily decision to submit our lives to Him and to press the envelope of our faith. To taste, as King David said, and see for ourselves the Lord is good.

And when you do those things, listen to what happens: When doubt hits, it’s much easier to look back on your knowledge about God and your personal experience with Him and say: "I may not know the answer to this particular question yet, but I’ve got plenty of evidence that God is real and plenty of evidence that the Bible is true and plenty of personal experience that God cares about me. And all of that gives me confidence that God has an answer for this question. So I’m not going to panic or toss my faith out the window. I’ll keep trusting God because He’s shown me in many ways that He can be trusted."

That’s why spiritual health is so important. It can ward off the germ of doubt before it starts multiplying.

Then, finally, the "H" in faith stands for this: "Hold your remaining questions in tension."

What I mean by that is that because we are limited people with limited minds, we can’t understand everything about our unlimited God. So there are bound to be some questions that we have to wait to get full and complete answers to.

Maybe as we mature in our faith over the years and continue to seek God’s wisdom, over time we’ll get a better glimpse of an answer.

Or maybe we’ll have to wait for the day when we get to heaven so we can raise our hand and say, "Jesus, I’ve got a question that’s been bugging me for a while now. Exactly how does predestination fit in with free will? Exactly how does this Trinity thing work? Why didn’t I seem to hear from You that time when I was in need? Why is it, as one little boy once wrote, ’I prayed for a puppy but got a little brother instead?’"

I’ll tell you what: my arm is going to be in the air. Maybe your’s will, too, and that’s okay. God will answer. Hey, we’ve got all of eternity to satisfy our curiosity.

And until then, we can say, "I may not have answers to every single one of my peripheral questions, but the answers that I do have point me unmistakably toward God as being real and as being dependable and as being the Heavenly Father who loves me. So my faith can stay intact while I hold some issues in abeyance."

That’s not irresponsibly ignoring your doubts; that’s dealing with them responsibly by making an informed decision to suspend judgment for a while. I mean, let’s face it -- if we had all the answers, there would be no room for faith.

So those are five steps we can take -- F-A-I-T-H- -- to help us recover from a bout of doubt. If you’re struggling with uncertainty tonight, why don’t you put them to the test? And as you do, remember, you don’t have to be afraid of questions, because God isn’t. And you don’t have to be embarrassed to bring them up around here; that’s what this place is for.

So use your doubt as the impetus to grow stronger in your faith than you ever were.

And now your biggest doubt tonight might have been whether this message would end on time, so let’s conclude by doing something a little different. I’m going to take the way the Living Bible translates the words of the Apostle Paul in First Corinthians 13:12, and turn that as our closing prayer:

"Father, we can see and understand only a little about You now, as if we were peering at Your reflection in a poor mirror; but someday we are going to see You in Your completeness, face to face. Now all that we know is hazy and blurred, but then we will see everything clearly, just as clearly as You sees into our hearts right now. And, Father, we can have confidence in that because of what You have already chosen to reveal to us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.