Can Certainty and Doubt Co-Exist?
Can Certainty and Doubt Co-Exist?
And what role does faith play in all of this?
Why this question?
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2024 research reveals 42% of adults have deconstructed the faith of their youth.
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Among Christians, 37% say they have deconstructed.
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Everyone deals with doubts of some kind.
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Our expectations when it comes to doubt and certainty will determine the level of anxiety we have toward our own process and the process of others.
In a mirror dimly
What about the natural process of maturity?
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1 Cor 13:11-12
How does the world see doubt?
Choose your anxiety
The religious see doubt as bad, sinful.
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Doubt = unbelief, spiritual weakness
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No room for questions
The secular see perennial doubt as applaudable.
- Postmodern – No objective truth
- No desire for answers (but don’t question our approach)
- Faith belongs to the subjective (personal)
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The religious anxiety – scrutiny poses a risk of losing power and control over thinking and behavior
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The secular anxiety – moral claims impose power and control over thinking and behavior
How does the Bible depict doubt?
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It is neither positive nor negative
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It can be experienced by anyone, regardless of their level of faith
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It is a temporary inability to step firmly
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It is something we move through
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It has the potential to expand our view of God, build trust, and produce worship.
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Psalm 10
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Psalm 73
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Habakkuk
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John 20:26-29
How does Jesus respond to doubt?
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He offers himself as evidence (John 20:26-29)
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He doubles down on promises (Genesis – Abraham)
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He commissions and sends with the promise of his presence (Mt 28:16-20)
How can we move through doubt?
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Ask honest questions
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Seek dependable sources
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Trust God fully with what do not (and cannot) know fully
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Worship through the questions
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Be honest with yourself about your own doubt:
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Your thinking
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Your experiences
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Your desires
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“Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.”
C. S. Lewis
Two kinds of knowing
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Intellectual (informational) knowledge – knowing the what (certainty)
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Relational knowledge – know the Who (faith)
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Christianity is knowing God. (Jn 17:3)
Doubt and Faith
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Doubt is not the absence of faith.
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Weak faith (with doubts present) is still faith.
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The object of any faith is more important than the strength of the faith, ability to know, understand, explain, etc.
“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”
Phil 3:7-10
