This is a message to those who doubt their Christian faith. It is only human to doubt your faith. Everyone who takes their faith seriously has to open themselves up to the reality that they might be wrong. Otherwise, you live in a perpetual state of drinking shallow milk (1 Cor. 3:2), striving only to confirm your own prejudice. Doubt is not an easy thing to do. It’s a trial. But we have to graduate from the childlike naivety of our childhood beliefs.
There are many reasons that we doubt our faith. Once you enter into this battlefield of your own fallibility, you will only become stronger, but not in the way that you think. It is a treacherous road of attack and danger. But it is an absolutely necessary path to growth. There is no other.
Don’t listen to those who stay childlike in their faith. They have no limp because they have never wrestled with God. Leave them be.
And you cannot avoid this path by resting in the word of a fallible institution. Even if this entity were infallible, you would still have to contend with your own fallibility.
When you seek fellowship during this time, don’t look to those with a proper gait. Look for others who are limping, with bandages on their heads. They will show you mercy by revealing their open wounds and scars. They won’t look pretty. But the One to whom they point will look all the more glorious. Once they have made it through the mire of uncertainty, their destination is all the more certain.
You will know them by their fruits. The fruits of the pruned and broken are the sweetest in the Christian orchard. They have a more direct connection to the vine.
If you have a loved one who is doubting, consider and assess the situation. Do not panic. When it is so bad, encourage them to reach out for help. Remember to “Have mercy on some who doubt” (Jude 22).
Above all, we all must remember the path through which Christ requires for growth does not last forever. But we will fracture the same bone multiple times. It gets easier. The bone becomes stronger and stronger.
Finally, take this passage to heart. Memorize it:
1 Pet. 5:5-10
5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever.
Amen.
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I know this blog is not as big as it used to be, so I hesitate to ask this: If you have been down this path, please tell a bit of your story. It helps to know you are not alone.
2 replies to "The Gait of a Broken Faith – A Message to Those Who Doubt Your Christian Faith"
My biggest faith problem is associated with that never married I need to be married we are created sexual beings God said It’s not good for a man to be alone. He doesn’t have a helper in life the blessing of children the sanctification of marriage and no being to procreate. I m 59 and feel I’m not needed workers at my place are married and church I was asked to leave are married who are over 30.
Thank you Jim. That is a great open wound that is/hard to share. You continued perseverence in belief, as long as those would are visible, will lift the countenance of many of us who walk with crutches. Thank you!