I have often
heard that doubt and faith cannot coexist in the same person. Or if you call yourself a follower of Christ
but still have doubts, then you’re really not a legitimate follower. I don’t
agree with this. While I know it takes
faith to trust in Christ, I also know that we can grow in our faith and this
growth is a journey that will take a lifetime. And how did Jesus handle doubt?
Did He just reject people that didn’t have 100% faith? Absolutely not, just
look at this record from Mark 9:14-27:
And
when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes
disputing with them. Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly
amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. And
He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"
Then
one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who
has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at
the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples,
that they should cast it out, but they could not."
He
answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with
you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me." Then
they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed
him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.
So He
asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"
And he
said, "From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the
water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and
help us."
Jesus said
to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Immediately
the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe;
help my unbelief!"
When
Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit,
saying to it, "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and
enter him no more!" Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came
out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is
dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he
arose.
Doubt and
Jesus
This is a
very interesting scene. Here’s a father getting frustrated with the disciples
who are equally frustrated with the father. The source of their frustration is
the lack of deliverance for the stricken child.
Jesus intervenes and gets the scoop of what’s happening. He asks questions to find out the details and
to discern the man’s story while assessing the condition of his heart. It then gets
even tenser when the man says to Jesus, of all people, “If you can do anything…”
Jesus counters
in the most interesting way, rather than becoming indignant at the man for
doubting Him, He instead responds by saying, “If you can believe, all things
are possible to him who believes.” Notice that Jesus doesn't lecture the father
that he should believe with every ounce of fiber in his body. I think Jesus is
instead saying to him that even an inkling of faith is a start.
Mustard
anyone?
It reminds
me of how Jesus speaks of faith like a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20). A mustard
seed is tiny but it eventually explodes into a bush that even birds find
shelter and rest in (see also Matthew 13:31-32). Faith, then, starts small and
if nurtured properly will mature into something quite large.
We see this
in operation in the father in our story. He responds to Jesus by saying, “Lord,
I believe, help my unbelief!” A very honest response from a very desperate
father, one part of him trusts in Jesus, but another part in the depths of his
soul still doubts. Have you ever been there? I sure have, and in some areas of
my life I’m still there. Jesus recognizes this as the frailty of humanity and
rather than rebuking the father for his honesty or ongoing lack of faith, He heals
the father’s son instead. A stern religious person or cult leader would demand
100% faith, which, of course, would be impossible, which means the father would
have to either lie to the Lord or walk away completely defeated. Thankfully,
Jesus is real and understands our great dilemma: we have faith but also, at the
same time, we fight doubt and even hopelessness.
Jesus is our
loving God in action, meeting us where we’re at, as if lifting our sagging and
trembling chin to look us loving in the eyes while whispering, “I understand,
it’s okay, I’m with you now. Let’s walk together.” He takes time to understand
the narrative of our lives and doesn't rush in with rash judgments about our
background, lifestyle, or lack of faith.
Bridge of
Faith
As we've seen in this record, faith is a starting point, not an ending point. Faith is
something that starts small and over time, sometimes a lot of time, grows. Faith
is the bridge from being destined to hell to suddenly being destined for
Heaven. And it starts simply:
Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.
─Acts
16:31
So our faith
is a bridge to salvation, but like any bridge, once you cross it, you have a
vast terrain to travel on the other side of it. This vast terrain is moving
deeper into the Kingdom of Christ. With each step deeper into this new land,
our faith will be challenged, just like father in this record; but also with
each step Jesus will be with us helping to mature and refine our faith as long
as we don’t give up. And this journey will take the rest of our lives, so some
of our doubts may linger on for years; and, frankly, that’s okay, Jesus is not
in a hurry, so why are we?
So let’s
stop beating ourselves and others up for having doubts. Instead, let’s
acknowledge that doubts are real and that Jesus can step into the center of
these doubts if we just invite Him into the narrative of our lives.
