When I was in college, I was given a reading assignment in one of my classes. The class was on political ideology, and the book I was required to read concerned Sigmund Freud.
In the reading, Freud wrote basically that a religious conversion or experience was nothing more than a mental/emotional response to something. I don’t remember his exact words, only the effect it had on me, because the words I read created within me my deepest crisis of faith that I have ever had in my life.
I had committed myself to following Jesus when I was 16 years old. It was a decision I believed at the time to be genuine, a true encounter with God, and the relief, joy and peace I experienced at that time I attributed to God’s grace and mercy, the infusion of His Holy Spirit within me, making me a born-again child of God.
And now all that was in doubt. It had been questioned, and I couldn’t help but wonder, “What if I was wrong? What if Freud is right?” By this time, I had already committed myself to a life of ministry, believing that God had called me to that lifework. If, in fact, all my religious experiences had been nothing more than mental exercises that were solely a product of my own mind, then everything about my life was called into question.
For three days, I struggled with the “what if” of my existence. Finally, it came to a head, when I came to the conclusion that I could put my faith in Freud and renounce all that I had previously believed, or I could put my faith in God and walk away from the learned imaginings of Freud. I chose to follow God, simply because I had more experience with Him than I had ever had with Freud.
There have been other, lesser crises of faith, but that one moment in my life was enough to convince me that a walk of faith—no matter who or what we have our faith in—must be consistent. My faith in God has seen me through numerous moments of doubt and uncertainty, and has been an anchor to my soul and life.
When We Question Our Faith
It is inevitable that almost every believer will have a crisis of faith. The crisis will generally accompany a time of trial in that person’s life, either an illness, a prayer that wasn’t answered the way we wanted or expected it to be answered or some other things that will make us wonder if our faith in God is misplaced.
The questions of faith are not necessarily the renunciation of faith. It is merely the digging deeper into our relationship with God, and sometimes that digging deeper leads us to a renunciation. More often than not, though, the questions that arise from a crisis in faith lead us to a deeper understanding of God and an awareness of His majesty, mercy and grace.
There is nothing to fear in questioning our faith. God is bigger than our questions, and He will not be threatened by an honest assessment of God and our relationship with Him.
When we think about questioning one’s belief in Jesus, most people think of the apostle Thomas. He was not present with the other remaining apostles when the risen Christ appeared to them in the locked room. When told about seeing the risen Jesus, Thomas was famous in saying unless he saw for himself the wounds of Jesus from the cross, he wouldn’t believe. When Jesus appeared to Thomas, Jesus said, “Put your finger here; see My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe” (John 20:27). Thomas’ response was to proclaim Jesus as his Lord and his God.
I think a more compelling example of questioning is John the Baptist sending his disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are You the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Luke 7:19). Recall that it was John who told Jesus that it was Jesus who should be baptizing John, not the other way around. It was John who proclaimed that he was unworthy to fasten the straps on Jesus’ sandals. It was John who proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God, and who told his disciples that he had to decrease while Jesus would increase. And, lest we forget, it was the unborn John who leapt within the womb when the pregnant Mary came to visit her cousin Elizabeth, John’s expectant mother. Of all the people of the Bible who we would not expect to have doubts, it is somewhat a surprise to see the question John posed.
The reason John sent two of his disciples to Jesus is because John was in prison under Herod. Herod resented John’s preaching and found an excuse to first arrest John and, later, have him beheaded. Between the jailing and the beheading, we have the question.
John was sitting in a prison cell, having served God faithfully and consistently throughout his life. He knew his role was to proclaim the coming Messiah, and he had come to believe that Jesus was that Messiah. But now that he was holed up in jail, John began to have doubts. Had his ministry been accurate, had he been true to his calling, or had his life been one big mistake? Was Jesus the Messiah, or wasn’t he? I think it’s clear here that the question reveals a man who was doubting his faith.
If someone as grounded in Jesus as John the Baptist was can have doubts, then we can know we are in good company when we face doubts and begin to question our faith.
How Do We Reach an Answer?
It would be great if Jesus’ response was a simple, “Yes, I am the Messiah. Tell John he has done well.” Unfortunately, Jesus did not answer John in that way. He called upon John to examine what he knew, what he had learned and what he believed. “At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So He replied to the messengers, ‘Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of Me’” (Luke 7:21-23).
By giving John the answer He did, Jesus was telling John, and us, that the only one who can come to an answer is the one who is in the midst of doubt. Everything about God, about Jesus, is built upon faith. There are seldom any times that Jesus flat out told people He was the Messiah. He told the woman at the well, and He told the man who had been blind from birth whose story is found in John 9. Other than that, Jesus seldom explicitly stated His position.
The way we reach the answer is exactly the way Jesus told John to do so. Listen to the reports of other believers (in John’s case, his disciples). Jesus told the messengers to tell John what they had seen and heard. We find wise counsel from others who have gone before us, who have had their times of doubt. We do well to listen to other believers and their testimony of God’s work in their lives. By listening to the testimonies of others, we can find our faith being rekindled.
Jesus also used His words to help John find the answer. In saying what He said, Jesus referenced Isaiah 35:3-6: “Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, He will come with vengeance; with divine retribution He will come to save you.’ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.”
To examine our faith, we need to return to the Word of God, the Bible. As we prayerfully consider our crisis, we need to see what God is telling us through the verses found in Scripture. Let the Bible speak to our questioning and open heart.
Remember, “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, ‘declares the Lord, ‘and will bring you back from captivity” (Jeremiah 29:13-14). The captivity is the lure of Satan that brings our doubts and fears to the fore, and it is the loving power of God who can free us from that captivity. But God must be sought with a complete heart and faith.
But faith and heart are questioning. How can we let Jeremiah 29 apply? Remember the words of the father with the son possessed by an evil spirit. The man asks Jesus, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us” (Mark 9:22). Jesus’ response is to tell the man that everything is possible for him who believes. The man then says to Jesus, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).
When we question our faith, it’s a time to prayerfully enter into God’s presence. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and He already knows what we’re going through. Be honest with Him, telling Him how we feel and what we’re going through. Let our prayer be, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
What Other Things Should We/Do We Question?
Sometimes, it’s not God or Christ that we doubt. Sometimes, we wonder if we’re in the right church or the right denomination or convention. We may have been raised in a particular tradition, but then something happens that causes us to question where we are and where we should be.
Again, the way to seek the best answer is through an honest dialogue with God and ourselves. Years ago, my convention was going through some major upheavals. The group that was ascendant in the convention was a group I was not comfortable with. As I considered what I should do, I began to question maybe I needed to move to another denomination.
My mother had not been raised Baptist, and her sister had remained in her family’s denomination. My cousins were part of it and I was familiar enough that I decided I would look into becoming a pastor in that denomination. I paid a visit to their associate pastor, explaining to him what was going on in my life and in my convention. He gave me some books that explained the doctrine and practices of his denomination.
I went home and began to prayerfully read what I had been given. Much of the things I read were things I could accept. I may not have been raised with the doctrine, and I may have thought some of it was a bit of a stretch, but the stretch wasn’t too great and it was something I could live with. There was one thing I was looking for, one major question. When I came to that part of their doctrine, the book I was reading first acknowledged it as an issue, then stated that it was an issue that had been addressed so often in the past that there was no need to go over it again. So he didn’t.
It was at that point that I realized I was and am a Baptist. I was born into the Baptist faith, but I had also learned about it and lived it and practiced it. I believed it was most compatible with the Bible that I knew and decided that I was better off staying where I was and doing what I needed to do.
Sometimes, we question things. Questioning is not a bad thing, as long as we are willing to be open to hearing things we may not want to hear, and if we are always seeking the truth.
There was a young woman years ago who had a strong faith in God. She was devoted to Christ and was sure what she believed. She went to see the movie, “Fiddler on the Roof.” (This was over 40 years ago, but stay with me. There is a point to this.) As she watched the movie, she began to have questions. She watched Tevya and saw the sincerity of the character’s deep Jewish faith. After the movie was over, she admitted she wondered whether Jesus really was the only way, the only truth, the only life. How could God not reward such a person with a deep faith in Him, even if that faith was not found in Christ?
It’s a fair question. C.S. Lewis raised the issue in his Narnia book, “The Last Battle.” There is a character who didn’t have a relationship with Aslan, but his faith was strong in his god. According to Lewis, the man’s faith was not in vain, but that he had questions that needed to be resolved in the afterlife. While we may disagree with Lewis’s assessment, there are still questions about other faiths and people that may cause us to ask questions about our understanding and our faith.
Ultimately, we are best if we can resolve those issues and remain true to our faith. If, after sincere and honest examination, a person should walk away from the faith, we can only hope that God will continue to work in their lives to bring them back, not unlike the prodigal son. Ultimately, God’s grace is wider and deeper and far more complicated than most of us are able to fully fathom.
What About Questioning Whether God is Valid? Whether Jesus is True?
There are those who question whether there is a god and there are those who may believe that Jesus was a real person, but deny His divine nature or His saving grace. Oftentimes, the problem is two-fold. First, their understanding of the Bible is limited at best, and secondly, their understanding of the Christian faith is the bad examples that seem to rear their heads most in our world. (When we look for bad examples, we find them; when we look for good examples, we find them. In other words, we often find what we’re looking for. If a person wants to denigrate the Christian faith, they’ll find the bad examples.)
If a person who doubts the validity of God or Christ or Christian faith, the best way for such a person to come to an understanding is to turn to the Bible. I say that not to be flippant, but that the Bible is the primary source for all things Christian, and there is no point in trying to learn what it means to be a Christian without gaining an educated awareness of what the Bible says.
And, along with that, they should seek a person of faith who is strong enough in their faith and knowledge that they will not be afraid to have hard questions asked of them.
Finally, a person who really wants to know about God and about Christ must also be open to change and to what the Bible says. Jeremiah 29:13-14 applies to all people, after all.
Conclusion
It would be wonderful if life wasn’t complicated, if we could go sailing smoothly through the aging and growing process.
But that’s not realistic. Every life faces trial. Every life faces crisis. Every life will be confronted with hard questions.
When we begin to question our faith and our relationship with God and with others, there’s nothing wrong with that. Believe that God is strong enough to handle anything and everything we can throw at Him.
With honesty, with openness and with a sincere desire to learn and grow, face the crisis. God will see us through.
© 2019 Glynn Beaty