The story of the resurrected Jesus appearing to Thomas showed up in the Moravian text readings a few Sundays ago. You may know the story: Thomas was not with the disciples when Jesus first appeared to them, so he doubted the veracity of the story, saying “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Jesus obliges Thomas when he appears to the disciples again, and Thomas believes.
Many of the sermons I’ve heard on this passage are quick to point out that it’s okay to doubt, that we’re too hard on Thomas, that we should be asking questions and “testing everything.” But I am struck by the fact that Jesus tells Thomas the exact opposite. He offers his scars for Thomas to see and touch, but also says to him, “Stop doubting and believe.”
It seems to me that the exaltation of doubt is a direct result of our Enlightenment heritage, so no wonder we feel like Thomas gets a bad rap. Doesn’t everyone feel that way about their faith? Who is ever really certain about these things, and isn’t it arrogant to make such claims?
We are comfortable with our doubt, because it doesn’t make any demands on us. We can “wait and see” indefinitely. We can hang back instead of engage because we aren’t compelled by any convictions. We can acknowledge that these things are certainly theoretically possible while never actually exploring any of it.
And yet, Jesus’ word to Thomas (and us) is, “Stop doubting and believe.”
Why? Because this kind of doubt is ultimately an elevation of human intellect above God’s promise. And because doubt doesn’t help us join with God in the renewal of all things. Because faith is how things get done in the kingdom. Faith is the channel through which Jesus power can work.
Some may find doubt a necessary phase to go through as they explore the implications of Christian faith, but it doesn’t accomplish anything in the kingdom. That’s why, like Thomas, if we find ourselves doubting, we need to move through our doubt into faith, heeding Jesus’ command. Stop doubting and believe.
Thomas believed because he saw, but Jesus promised a blessing on “those who have not seen and yet have believed.” As Peter wrote later, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
For Thomas, seeing was believing. For us, I suppose we could say that believing is seeing. So let’s stop doubting and believe! There’s work to be done, and we need faith if we’re going to see God’s kingdom come in our families, neighborhoods, and cities.
What are your thoughts? Do you resonate with the idea that doubt holds us back from effectiveness in God’s kingdom?
I think doubt absolutely holds us back from effectiveness. We are exhorted to have faith in God, which you have laid out. Doubt is understandable, but only because we are sinful and our hearts are broken. It is our sinful nature to doubt the Creator of all things. This is not commendable, but lamentable.
The halls of Hebrews 11 are not paved with Thomas like figures, but those who trusted in God by faith and obeyed. Did even they have their moments of doubt? Absolutely. But at the critical moments, they put their faith in God and the Kingdom advanced. Faith is the currency of the Kingdom. By faith we take part in the blood of Christ and receive redemption. If we can trust God with our eternity, can we not trust Him with the hear and now?
I'm preaching to myself as I write this, as I want doubt to have no place in my heart. Doubt holds me back from Kingdom work. Doubt stops me where faith says go ahead. Doubt says no, where Christ says yes. So yes, I whole heartedly agree that doubt holds us back from Kingdom effectiveness.
Thanks for those vulnerable comments, Nick!
This is really excellent, Ben. Sometimes we're better about affirming people's doubt than their faith. Jesus praised faith.
Thanks Kevin. Hope all is well in Indy!
Great perspective! I can definately see where us as sinful humans tend to find ways to harbor doubt within us. We tend to undermine the harmful results of doubt, that it can ultimately hold us back from doing the will of God. I sometimes doubt God's forgiveness, and when that happens, its hard to carry out God's plans when I'm living in the past instead of the moment that God has given me.
On a side note, I love how Jesus was willing to show Thomas the holes in his hands and reveal himself to Thomas. That even though it takes a decision on our part to believe, Jesus will always help us through our times of doubt. Afterall, he and he alone is known as the "author and perfector of our faith." And I wouldn't want it anyother way, because the faith I'm capable of is nothing compared to the faith that Jesus can help me to have.
PS. I love your posts Ben. They always make me think, and help me see things in a different way. Reid
Thanks for commenting Reid! Good to hear your perspective – I hope all is well.
This is Kate – Debs friend from childhood. I really appreciated this blog post! I do feel like there is an emphasis on embracing your doubts and questions in many of our churches these days. Having come to Christ as an adult I have to say that there was a time when I needed to know that I would be accepted by the would be God despite my doubts. I was thinking that this might have something to do with God wanting us to have free will – he wants us to follow him, but by his design he wants is to come to him out of love and desire to know him. It's important for all of us that he's willing to meet us where we are (even among the doubts). I felt like once I chose to follow him no matter what all those questions were insignificant compared to the new sense of peace and freedom that came from aligning myself with him – and when I truly noticed him working in my life in a significant way!!
One of the things I love about Jesus that the Western Church seems to have a hard time with is all of the times Jesus rebukes His disciples for their lack of faith. My journey through the book of Matthew of late has brought me to realize Jesus had no problem telling the disciples (and others) that the problem wasn't with God or with Him, but in their inability to believe in God in a certain way.
This is *really* hard for us, because most of us would loose any position of authority in the body of Christ and all of our respect if we told someone their faith was small or weak. Our culture is so judgment adverse that we cannot even tolerate real, honest, Kingdom assessment.
The problem lies in the fact that the only way to correct the issue is to wake up to the fact that its a reality. We cannot gain more faith if we don't know that our faith isn't up to snuff with Kingdom standards. But so much of the time we spend spinning our wheels trying to come up with other reasons things didn't work out, instead of really addressing an area Jesus dealt with over and over again.
So the question is, then, how do we gain more. How do we transition from being a people of doubt into being a people of great faith (Jesus knew a few of those in the book of Matthew, too)? That's a question, if we had the answer to, I suppose we wouldn't be talking about this idea…but my guess is that part of the answer is continuing to join Jesus on His mission and watch Him confound us over and over again until we truly believe in His goodness and greatness just like the Apostles.
Any other thoughts on that?
Great thoughts Travis. Essentially I hear you saying that the response to Jesus' rebuking us for lack of faith is to repent and believe.
I once asked Paul Maconochie about practically how to grow in faith, and he framed his answer around some of Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount:
1. ASK – simply pray for more faith. Acknowledge our frail faith and ask God to gift us with more.
2. SEEK – go to places and people where great faith is being lived out. Travel and spend money to get there if you need to. If someone has more faith than you, try to learn from them (even if you don't like some of the trappings of their ministry).
3. KNOCK – Take every opportunity to put yourselves in situations where faith is required. Pray for every sick person you can, for example. Put yourself in situations where God needs to come through for you.
(RE: #1) – "Therefore, pray to God to work faith in you. Else you will remain forever without faith, whatever you think or do.” – Martin Luther
Great quote James!
Thomas wasn't just a doubter… he REFUSED to believe unless he could physically verify the resurrection claims. And in spite of his unbelief, Jesus came anyway to remove his disbelief. If Jesus did that for Thomas, I'm sure He can handle our doubts.
Indeed, Andrew. Jesus isn't threatened at all by our doubts. The question is will we let him move us into faith, or are we comfortable with our doubt?
Ben – There appears to be a disingenuousity often connected with doubt. Tim Keller has helped me with this, encouraging me to "doubt my doubts."
That's great – Keller is great on these kinds of issues.