Some thoughts on Doubt

How did we get to this place in the Church where doubt is somehow considered to be a vital part of faith, like some sort of litmus test for the sincerity of faith?

There is remarkable consistency in the writings of the Emergents on this issue. In fact, it is central to the Emergent experience of God. When language is not to be trusted and a multiplicity of experiences to be celebrated and considered, doubt about the rightness of one path, or even of one's own experience is necessary. When I read the Bible in one particular way, and others read it in another way, I am being humble when I doubt my own reading, or my own ideas and knowledge. Rather than setting my personal reading above others, I am in humility considering my own reading as one among many, therefore casting doubt on the whole body of knowledge that makes up my experience of God.

We can see how this is central to their idea of God and religion. How it strengthens their faith I do not know, other than in the conviction that there being no true experience of God, than what they have experienced is as legitimate as any other experience.

Now, I have thought for a while now that Rob Bell is not a full-out Emergent in the vein of Brian McClaren. He does believe in the core tenets of the Christian faith (except, of course, the most central of all, justification by grace through faith), and although he articulates this in the most mind-numbingly obnoxious way imaginable, he still believes and teaches them for the most part. He may be moving towards the Emergents, but he is not quite there. He is simple addicted to making ridiculous statements that sound sort of cool but in reality meaning nothing. Because many of the "cooler" sounding things are in the Emergent experience, he will often say things that seem to put him in that camp. Rob Bell is still rebelling against the stifling Christian Reformed atmosphere of his Central Michigan upbringing, and he is doing that by making insufferable comments that "repaint" the things he believes in ways that he thinks sounds kind of cool.

But anyways, what about doubt? Why is it so cool to consider doubt as something "our faith needs to survive?"

Answer: Christian maturity is often treated in the Scriptures, and especially in Paul, as a place of strong assurance, assurance of one's election, one's salvation, and the reality of the things revealed in the Scriptures. Thus Peter: Make every effort to make your calling and election sure. Paul: the full riches of complete understanding; I pray that you may be filled with all the knowledge of God...that you may have great endurance; examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith. John: I write these things to you, dear friends, that you may know that you have eternal life.

The Christian maturity of the Puritans and their descendants was one in which through prayer, suffering, experience, and life in general, the Christian arrives at a place of firm conviction and assurance. The Word, which is capable of clear interpretation, becomes real and present through the Spirit. This is not the work of a short time, but the labor of maturity, through the Church body, in which men are "made complete in Christ."

Now, this was the experience of many, taught by the giants of the faith on our continent. As the 20th century progressed, the ideal of Christian maturity remained, while the work that proceeded it was gradually forgotten. Thus, a generation of Christians spoke the language of assurance, while it remained absent in its inner experience. The result is predictable...hypocrisy, judgmental attitudes, self-righteousness, spectacular falls, etc. In addition, those who were taught they should have a assurance without knowing how to arrive at were left wondering if they're doubts left them disqualified as Christians.

There are shards of truth in our current understanding of doubt. Doubt is part of the Christian experience, especially as one matures. It should not surprise when we encounter doubt, nor should we shrink from confessing it to others. The choice to ignore doubt, or cover it up, often can lead to disastrous consequences for our faith.

That being said, we should not lose a Scriptural understanding of what doubt it is. Doubt attacks our faith, seeking to steal from our experience with God. It is a destroyer, a tool of Satan, and an enemy. Doubt is not a vital part of faith, but rather the opposite of faith. Faith is the assurance of things not seen, that which makes a reality of invisible realities. Doubt opposes all that in the believer.

One should be realistic about doubt, realizing that the assurance of faith comes with maturity and suffering. One should know how to deal with doubt, how to respond to it. But the idea that doubt is to be welcomed, celebrated, considered as a part of our faith, as if it were necessary, or as if it helped us in our growth, is simply unScriptural.