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Harness the power of doubts about Christianity, Part I
What do you do when you are a follower of The Way, you’ve been saved, and you have a church family—and yet you have doubts about Christianity? You find yourself surrounded by your brothers and sisters who are praising God—and you sit quietly wondering, “Is he really there? Is he real?” (To see the video of this click here)
Maybe there was a time when you were on fire? You were so confident. You had zero doubts about Christianity.
What if you want to believe…yet you have doubts about Christianity?
So what are you to do?
This may come as a shock. If you have doubts about Christianity you are in amazingly good company…
Doubting…John the Baptist?
If you are not familiar with this John, check out his story recorded in the Apostle John’s letter called John (I know, there’s a lot of “John’ there). It is often called the gospel of John.
Let us focus on John the Baptist. He was a prophet and teacher that proclaimed the arrival of Messiah (The Anointed One). He was a wild man…
He’s dressed weird, and he is eating strange foods (locust and wild honey, locally sourced carbon-neutral food?). He’s proclaiming that the long-promised Messiah is arriving, and he also baptizing people—all of which freaked out the religious elite of the day.
There came a day when he sees a dude walking his way and he points and proclaims, “Behold, the Lamb of God who take away the sin of the world!” (Jn. 1:29) He seems to be the first to publicly (as far as we have records of) declare that Yeshua of Nazareth, the carpenter Joseph’s son, was the Savior of the world.
In fact, when asked who he was (John the Baptist himself), he referenced a messianic prophecy from Isaiah; “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.” (Jn. 1:23)
I suppose you could call John the Baptist the first believer, follower, and even “Christian.” He was the first follower with a rock-solid faith, right?
Then he got thrown in prison, and then he rotted there for a while. He sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus a question that every child of God needs to hear:
“Are you the one to come, or shall we look for another? (Mt. 11:3)
John Had Doubts About Christianity
Rock solid faith?
You know what, John the Baptist demonstrates a particular truth about life in a skin-sack (we are spiritual beings with temporary bones and skin, you know?). We live in a world that kicks us in the teeth on a regular basis. We are following the story from the Bible about the origin of all things. Yet as the Apostle Paul notes, the way of the flesh is natural.
It is natural living in the flesh to easily comprehend only the physical nature of life.
First lesson from the wild-man John: the nature of life on earth at times gets to us. We all find ourselves in some form of “prison” (fear, rejection, illness, or loneliness) that just gets to us. John had his moment in prison where he was no longer so sure about that “Lamb of God.” Notice the grace-filled and merciful answer of Yeshua (Jesus) in this moment of doubt, “Go and tell John what you hear and see…”.
Yep, no condemnation—just a reminder that the Lamb was doing all that had been prophesied.
I think if I could speak from John the Baptist to you, his words would be, “Hang in there, Jesus will work in his own time.”
The next doubters blew me away, however, and are the single most encouraging case to me, as a fellow follower who sometimes doubts.
Even Them?
The Great Commission…Doubters?
If you’ve been a follower of The Way for long, you most likely can quote the “Great Commission” from memory. But read it carefully, the whole thing:
“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshipped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mt. 28:16-20)
It was a good friend, KT, who pointed something amazing to me. I’ve been studying and teaching the Word for decades, and I missed this?
This was the eleven. All twelve of the closest male followers of Jesus, minus Judas who had committed suicide. These eleven had seen nearly every miracle. They saw people raised from the dead. Water turned into wine.
Oh yeah, and the leader of their movement, they saw something.
He was killed.
They brutally tortured him and then hung him out to dry. They let him die secured to a cross, and then took him down. He was wrapped in burial cloth and put in a new tomb.
That guy, a few days later, was walking with them and eating food with them. He appeared to over 500 people after his death.
They Had Doubts about Christianity?
Yep, “some doubted.”
Really?
Yes. It makes sense in a way—we walk in a world of doubt, did these who had seen so much just find Jesus too real, too gritty, and too human to be God? Did they have doubts as to whether he had really died or not put in their hearts by God’s enemy?
Notice again the grace and mercy of Jesus. He doesn’t attack them for their doubt, yet he knew their doubt, right? He just gives them the same commission he gave everyone else, “Go…”.
More tenderly, he gave them the same, “I am with you always…” reminder.
Harness the Power of Doubt!
It’s tough being a spirit in a skin-sack, right? For a plan to grasping a life of epic adventure with God, get my book Superhero: Being Who God Says You Are is great guide to dealing with so many of the challenges we face during our temporary assignment on earth.
If you just need to see Jesus in a more vivid and powerful way, get my book First-Person Messiah: Transforming Your Life Through Amazing Encounters With Jesus. If you are going through a super-tough time and are seeking to know whether or not God has deserted you, then Satan’s Wager: What the Devil and God Got Wrong About God is for you!
For fast results in becoming the bold and courageous warrior God intends you to be, and defeating fear, pick up a copy of Freefall:God’s Path to Courage and Boldness.https://bookshop.org/p/books/freefall-god-s-path-to-courage-and-boldness-stephen-k-moore/21897377?ean=9798385033553&next=t&next=t
Remember, if you have doubts about Christianity…you are in really great company. John the Baptist as well as the people who walked with Jesus during his time on earth are right there with us!
The question is, what do we do when doubts about Christianity are strong? Click here to read Part !!. We’ll talk next about the essential “possession” that increasingly helps us to stay the course when God seems far away, or not there…
Stevo out.
(Image by Fizkes/Shutterstock)
