You gotta ask yourself…
Freud said: Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.
Have you ever had questions about your faith? Have you ever wondered if its all just something someone made up? Have you ever wondered if all this church stuff is worth the effort? Have you ever wondered how the Bible is supposed to be the word of God if it is a bunch of books put together by some dusty academics a few hundred years ago? Have you ever wondered why God seems so different between the Old and New Testaments when he is supposed to be never-changing?
Have you ever felt guilty for thinking these things?
I have.
I grew up in a religious tradition where we were told what to believe and how to act, with little or no encouragement to think critically about faith matters. These questions were labelled as “doubts” and actively discouraged as sinful, or even pronounced as Satan whispering in your ear. So as I grew up and the questions continued to pop up I pushed those thoughts to the back and tried not to be a “doubting Thomas” even as I sang that quaint old Sunday school song of the same name.
As I got older I began to think that this line of teaching is not only dangerous and bordering on cult- like indoctrination, but it has produced generations of Christians who are unable to engage in intelligent discussion regarding faith matters, particularly if someone doesn’t agree with their point of view. (They tend to get angry and defensive rather than showing God’s grace.) And yet questions are still actively discouraged in some quarters, so I was uneasy about the conclusions I had drawn, and happy to be taught that this was in fact the “right” way to do this God thing.
Imagine my surprise when I started reading my first theology textbook (Faith Seeking Understanding- Migliore), and within the first couple of pages it tells me that the Christian life is like a life-long research project where we MUST be continually asking questions or we risk becoming stale and forming incorrect ideas about God. I had been expecting wads of rigid dogma and doctrine, the relief that flooded my mind and my soul was palpable.
If we foster an environment where Christians, let alone non believers are unable to ask the curly questions, then we have a deeply unhealthy environment where growth is stifled, and the perception of Christians as suckers who put their brains in jars at the moment of salvation is perpetuated. As a result countless numbers of people turn from the church as they dare to ask questions and are told to “just have faith”, they need answers and they will go where they find them.
Questions are good. Questions are absolutely necessary, and handled properly, questions are how we grow. These questions in and of themselves are not sinful. What do you think will happen if you question or “doubt” God or your faith? Is he going to have a fit? Is he going to crumble under the pressure? Do you think its the first time he’s ever been confronted? I don’t think so.
In the next couple of posts I want to look at how Jesus dealt with questions, how being married to “doubting Thomas” has been a turning point in my relationship with God, how we can use questions to stretch and grow us, and how to deal with people who come to us with questions we perhaps don’t want to think about.
- You gotta ask yourself...
- Don't settle for second-hand info - the story of Thomas
- How to deal with questions of faith
- 10 things to remember when answering curly questions in a skeptical world
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March 10th, 2010 at 9:11 am
I confess asking questions that were not adequately answered was a major reason I left the church in 1994. And haven’t gone back. I read a great book at the time, Tony Campolo’s A Reasonable Faith (highly recommend it) in which he quoted, I think, Freud, who said that the church only encourages questions it can answer. Anything else is deemed as too hard or, worse still, written off as being the work of the devil. I’ll never forget the day I was told, in answer to some fairly serious life questions ‘gee the Devil is having a great time with you at the moment’ and sent away as a trouble maker. Not helpful to the questioning 20 year old.
Anyway, I celebrate your desire for questioning. I’ll be reading with interest.
.-= Bells´s last blog ..Stripey Long Socks =-.
.-= Bells´s last blog ..Stripey Long Socks =-.
March 13th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
@Bells – Thanks for stopping by! That book of Tony Campolo’s looks good, will try and locate a copy soon. I’m so sorry you were on the receiving end of the trouble maker stick
I’ve been there, not fun.
March 10th, 2010 at 10:50 am
Yes I have asked all of these questions myself. (Not sure how to word this next part to get across what I mean).
I however am also comforted by my faith. I trust that there are no answers to some of my questions because basically as a human I don’t have the capacity to comprehend everything about God. I am not saying we shouldn’t question because like you said, our walk with God is a life long project and not something we should do blindly. I love a good discussion about religion and God where everyone puts forward opinions and as long as we look to Gods Word and listen to God for our answers then I see nothing wrong with that. It is a way of growing and learning and becoming closer to God.
I also don’t see questioning as doubting, well not for me anyway. I see it more like a child asking a parent “why?” If a child doesn’t ask questions he gains little knowledge. By asking questions of and about God then we are gaining His knowledge. That can only be a good thing right?
March 13th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
@Michelle Neate – Having an environment where you can discuss faith stuff is so important, yet it seems to be one of those topics that polarises people and gets the blood boiling. Never stop asking why!
March 10th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Yes, I do have questions about my faith. Compared to others I know who seem to be on “fire”, I’m not a roaring flame. At an age where I should have more money saved for retirement, I find I’m still carrying the hurts of my younger self and feel as if I’m not a Christian at times because I’m not following the “pack”. My biggest question has been the lack of love I see displayed by individuals and groups of Christian people. With everyone involved in their work, family and church lives, I’ve experienced relationships with Christians that exclude instead of include. Yet, in the midst of these hardships, I know that I can grow in my belief and I’m seeking answers from the only one who can provide them. As lonely as I feel at times, I want to keep going through so I can be a more understanding person.
So, yes, it is good to have doubts and uncertainty because it can open the door to grow. Thanks for this discussion. I do enjoy your posts.
March 13th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
@C.D. fortunately whether or not you are a Christian is between you and God and nothing to do with what the mob are doing ;o) Religious hypocrisy is a huge blocker for me and so many people I’ve spoken to. Don’t let it become a barrier between you and God. If you keep seeking God promises to reveal himself to you. Hang in there and persevere. God is pleased with your faith.
March 10th, 2010 at 10:22 pm
A culture of forbidding questions and the proving of one’s faith in religion is a sign of fear on the part of the leaders of that religion – they want to keep their parishioners in the dark, to follow blindly. Leadership by fear and doubt is neither good for the person, nor does it build up their faith and finally it is not something that any perfect divine being would want.
I take your point Michelle Neate that you cannot expect to comprehend the answers to some questions you have – but if we are made in the image of God then surely direct contradictions to what we know is good and proper and rational cannot possibly be the will or attributes of God. Our moral compass is supposedly inherited from the moment that Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; a tree created by God – thus that moral compass should be reliable in forming an accurate idea of what perfection is and thus the nature of God. So whilst you might feel you cannot know all things there are at least some thing you know are simply wrong … and being subjected to a ministry that rules through fear, that forbids the proving of faith is not the will of God.
.-= Nathanael – My Exodus´s last blog ..Chapter 8. I tried to be good! =-.
.-= Nathanael – My Exodus´s last blog ..Chapter 8. I tried to be good! =-.
March 13th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Hi Nathanael, thanks for taking the time to comment. I agree absolutely that fear and scaremongering should never be a part of the Christian faith or ministry. I’m thinking however that unless our moral compass (the conscience in effect) is continually checked against true north (God) if may become inaccurate, such as when a compass comes in contact with another magnetic field and it starts to point in different directions, or maybe even spin. Sometimes we don’t realise it’s out of whack.
Ultimately God revealed through Jesus is full of mercy and grace. If that’s not evident in the faith community, there’s something very wrong.