We're a nation of consumers. We read labels, study Web sites, take test drives, and get the facts for ourselves. But when we apply our consumer mindset to Christianity we often become frustrated when we can’t immediately know everything we want to know about God.

One thing Christians know about God is that he expects us to have faith. Faith is mentioned more than 300 times in the Bible, and Jesus misses no opportunity to impress its primacy upon us.

But even though it may be clear from Scripture that faith is essential, it’s one of the more difficult things God could ask of us. Our empirical mindset craves proof and certainty. When we don’t have them, we experience doubt. Like the anguished father in Mark chapter 9 who pleads, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief,” we are sometimes frustrated, troubled, and even shamed by doubt.

But we rarely stop to think that doubt is a necessary precursor to faith.

To grasp that concept, we may need yet another catchphrase for our sloganized society to ponder. (A modern-day proverb, perhaps?) So here goes: “Without the potential for doubt, there is no potential for faith.”

The simple point hinges on the fact that the option of doubting is a prerequisite for the existence of faith. It takes no faith to believe that your minister is real: after all, he’s right there, week in and week out. You can shake his hand, hear his voice, look him in the eye. You already have proof of his existence, so you need no faith to accept it.

But God? Well, he’s a different matter. No hand to shake, no gaze to catch. (If only he would just take a minute to greet us at the door after the service every Sunday, like the preacher does. You know, tell us to have a good week, ask about our bursitis, give us a parting smile.)

Why doesn’t he just step up and cure our doubt for us, instead of seeming elusive and intangible? Because he insists that we develop faith. And without the potential for doubt, there is no potential for faith; indeed, faith exists only when not believing is a distinct alternative—an alternative we can then consciously reject.

Why does God require us to have faith to begin with? A simple answer is that God desires a relationship with us. And a relationship must be a two-way proposition; if we want a relationship with someone, we want him or her to reciprocate freely, not be compelled or programmed to respond. After all, a little boy can summon both his remote-control toy car and his dog, but only one of those freely chooses to come to the boy’s side. A true relationship only exists when rejection is an option—and true faith only exists when not believing is an option.

Perhaps this new proverb helps us understand why, time and again, God unveils a miracle while still leaving room for doubt. Pharaoh’s magicians were unimpressed by Moses’ morphing staff, insisting it was just another throne room trick. For two millennia, skeptics have proposed rational explanations for every miracle in the Bible from the parting of the Red Sea to the empty tomb. But the fact is that the pages of Scripture—and the pages of modern-day newspapers—abound with events that are miraculous only to those with the faith to recognize them as such.

Plenty of people who lack that faith are busy carrying on the work of Pharaoh’s magicians (and of the Serpent) today. We live in an age where Christianity faces ever more direct challenges through novels, motion pictures, TV documentaries, and of course, academia. The goal of these multimedia assailants is to sow doubts to dissolve the faith of Christians—unaware that Christian faith can be fortified by the confrontation of doubt.

Staring Down Doubt

So how do we apply our new proverb in daily life? We can use it to undermine the power of doubt. Fearing doubt or fixating on it is part of what gives it power over us. If we recognize that doubt is as commonplace as temptations, we can more readily dismantle it and give it to the Lord for disposal. (Remember that since the Fall, doubt has been one of Satan’s greatest tools, so don’t grant it more power than it already has!)

Paul assures us that this world will never serve up all the answers to our consumer-minded questions, and that only after this temporal life will we know fully. In the meantime, we, too may need to cry out with tears, “Lord, I believe; help me overcome my unbelief,” and devote ourselves to developing an ever-growing faith.

Occasionally we may even need to consider that without the potential for doubt, there’s . . . well, you know the rest. |L

OUTLOOK is a forum for responsible Christian writers. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Standard Publishing or The Lookout.

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July 26, 2009 - Astonishing the judges
July 12, 2009 - Letting the past go
June 28, 2009 - Line up
June 14, 2009 - The path to spiritual growth
May 31, 2009 - A tribute to one of my heroes
May 17, 2009 - Silent soldier
April 19, 2009 - Operation Resensitization
April 5, 2009 - The temptations of ministers
March 8, 2009 - Conversation over shoes
February 22, 2009 - By their plurals you shall know them
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January 25, 2009 - Turn the page
December 28, 2008 - Abba, Father
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November 30, 2008 - The illusion
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June 1, 2008 - Reclaiming the name
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April 6, 2008 - Success: what is it and who can measure up?
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January 13, 2008 - By invitation only
December 5, 2007 - Yes, Abbie, there is a Jesus
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October 21, 2007 - The dividing line
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June 3, 2007 - The death of a son
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