Dealing with Doubters

The industry that contributes most significantly to Iceland’s GDP, besides fishing, is the mining, processing, and exporting of aluminum. As Icelandic education and technology have increased, so has their efficiency in producing aluminum. And yet there is a factor that slows the process down; one which the Icelanders have chosen to embrace, rather than dispel. The one factor that makes their aluminum production slower than it could be is the widespread national belief in fairies. Well, not really fairies. It’s actually the sincere belief in elves, trolls, and gnomes. But collectively they are referred to as fairies or in their language Huldenvolk, or hidden-people, or secret-people.

According to a 1975 national survey, only 7% of the population were certain of the existence of Elves, but only 10% of the population were certain there were no Elves. Leaving a whopping 83% of Icelanders who doubted the existence, but not enough to go on record as calling themselves, unbelievers.

My question to you is: do you doubt? I’m not asking if you doubt the existence of Elves. I’m asking if you ever doubt the existence of God. How is your belief in God any different from the Icelanders’ belief in Elves? Is it possible that, like many Icelanders, you don’t really believe in what you can’t see, but you are unwilling to go on record as an unbeliever? So, you go through the expensive and time-consuming practice of attending church, giving financially to the ministry, reading your Bible, and praying … just in case, it’s true. But deep down you’re not sure. And yet you don’t want to go on record as being a doubter, because of how others might react.

Believe it or not, the Bible addresses this very issue in the little letter of Jude.

REFRAIN

Do you know someone who doubts the Bible, doubts whether they are saved, doubts that Christianity is completely true?  Or do you perhaps know people who are convinced that Jesus is not the way to salvation, who are committed to attacking your faith? What about people who just ask you questions about how the Bible can be true if there are passages that seem to contradict it?

Do you ever have doubts? Do you feel guilty and confused but afraid to ask someone about it?

I have had varying degrees of doubt about Jesus and Christianity and evolution and charismatic gifts, and baptism at different times in my life. I’ve had varying degrees of doubt about my own salvation. Some of those doubts were very dark moments.

I found it very helpful to understand the different species of doubt that exist and how to deal with them.

2 TYPES OF DOUBTERS SO YOU WILL TREAT DOUBT APPROPRIATELY

CAUTIOUS BELIEVER

Jude 22 And have mercy on those who doubt;

These are not unbelievers. They believe in the overall package of God, Creation, the Bible, the Gospel, but are doubting the specific outworking in that moment.

In Luke 1 we read about the priest Zechariah. The angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him that he and his (old) wife were going to have a baby. Zechariah doubted the angel Gabriel. Here is someone who believes the Old Testament, believes God, sees an angel in the flesh but is being overly cautious believing this particular part of the word of God because he knows biology and he’s an old man.

He’s a doubter. He’s a cautious believer.

Thomas doubted that Jesus had risen from the dead. Thomas was no different from any other apostle. He should have believed. He had the Old Testament Scriptures. He had the eye-witness report of the apostles.

Perhaps the first time you hear a sermon on the doctrine of 'election' you think “How can these things be? I was always taught man has free will.” You see it in black and white in Romans 9-11, Ephesians 1, John 17. But you don’t just swallow it hook, line and sinker. You’re cautious. You want to research it more. Technically you are doubting God’s word to you, but you’re not an unbeliever.

What should we do with these folks? Have mercy on those who doubt. Be patient. You also learned what you know step by step.

Don’t be too harsh with the Thomases of the church. There is a lot in the Bible you ought to believe but don’t. God says no matter how much you sow into his kingdom you will reap it back (2 Corinthians 9:6).

So why don’t you give more? Because you’re not 100% sure it’s true. If you were 100% sure that you will reap from God what you sow, how much would you sow? More!

We should cultivate an environment in which an honest, cautious questioning of belief is encouraged and handled with care and patience, and mercy. The church is not a showcase for the strength it’s a gym for the weak to get strong.

CONFUSED BELIEVER

Pop quiz: Was John the Baptist a believer or unbeliever? He received direct revelation from God as a prophet. He moved to the wilderness to fulfill his prophecy. He preached repentance, baptized 1000s, rebuked King Herod to his face, and got himself on death row. Jesus said he was the greatest of all prophets and the most righteous person in history.

But guess what: John was a doubter.

In Luke 7:18-22 we read that John was in jail for preaching against Herod’s adultery. He hears reports about Jesus healing the sick and raising the dead. But he hears nothing of Jesus overthrowing the Romans and ruling from David’s throne in Jerusalem, nor judging the enemies of God. So, he is confused.

The Old Testament predicted a Messiah that would rule the world in peace and justice and make the Jews a great nation again. But Jesus isn’t doing this. So, he sent a message from jail to Jesus “Are you the Messiah or are we waiting for someone else?”

John, where’s your faith? Don’t you believe in Jesus? What kind of Baptist are you?!

John was not an unbeliever, he was a believer who, in one dark moment of perplexity and confusion, was unsure if Jesus was the Messiah.

Jesus reminded John that he had performed a series of miracles that John would recognize as consistent with Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah’s mission. And that was enough for John. He just needed a reminder.

This is what it looks like in your life. You read the Bible, and it says God created the world in six days. You read the study notes and they point out that the genealogies place creation about 6,000-10,000 years ago. Then you go to high school and the teacher tells you the world is billions of years old and came into being gradual, over millions of years. Then you go to college, and someone tells you the Hebrew word for day (yom) can also mean ‘age or eon.’ So, six days could mean six ages, each being billions of years. You become confused and doubt the truth you learned about creation.

But does this make you an unbeliever? No, these doubts make you a confused believer, and Jude tells us to have mercy on such. We don’t look down on them, don’t get frustrated with them, don’t write them off.

One of the ways to stay safe from false teachers is to refrain from judging doubters. When false teaching starts to infect believers, if you shoot the victim, the wolf wins.

Save your silver bullet for the wolf, not his prey. Refrain from judging doubters.

Clint Archer