Wrestling With Doubt
This Sunday we begin our new series facing a tough topic- doubt. Most of the time people don’t even admit that they have any doubt. We all recognize that poor Thomas was forever labeled a doubter. But my experience has been that doubt can often lead to a deeper faith when we start asking hard questions and exploring what it is we do actually believe about who God is and how God works in the world. The problem is that most people quit because the work is too hard and they miss the blessing of making it through to the other side.
Digging for answers and learning can expand our understanding and deepen our faith in ways that we haven’t even considered. A friend of mind likes to ask atheists to describe the God that they don’t believe in and then he usually shocks them by saying “I don’t believe in that God either.” He is a pastor. Most of the time what he hears from these folks is that they don’t believe in a man with a beard up in the clouds dipping his fingers into human activities. This view of God is from childhood and most disciples out grow this understanding of who God is and how God works. Wyatt Smith (who used to work at Faith but is exploring his music career) once said to a non-believer that maybe their view of God is too small and that they could believe in a Holy Power if they allowed God to escape the limits of their preconceived notions about God. I have never forgotten that conversation because Wyatt’s wisdom was so inspired.
Over the next few weeks, you will be challenged and I hope you will be guided into greater understanding about many of the hard topics of the faith. We will be using the book “Wrestling with Doubt: Finding Faith” by Adam Hamilton as a resource for Sunday morning classes. If you don’t have a class, we have a brand new class starting on Sunday in room 505 of the Adult Wing at 10:00 am. We have two wonderful facilitators who have agreed to teach. Our subscription to Amplify, that is available for everyone in the church, has videos that go with the book. If you want to get your own book, it does come in a digital download from Cokesbury for $12 here. One reviewer for the book stated “God can handle our questions.” Isn’t that the truth!
Some of the other topics in this book are:
Wrestling with the Bible
Are All Non-Christians Going to Hell?
Is Heaven Real?
When Prayers Go Unanswered
Why do the Innocent Suffer?
I encourage you to invite friends and family to take this journey with us. I don’t think there are very many places where these topics or conversations are happening. But I know Faith that we can explore and wrestle with these topics in love. Since we see the beautiful value in each other, we can talk about hard things while respecting those who believe in a different way. This is the joy of learning in community. I am always amazed at how much I learn from other people when I listen with an open heart and mind.
Grace and peace,
