Doubt matters. As I've written here often, I don't think doubt is nearly as destructive to Christian faith as some do.
Several of my friends are currently in a season of doubt. They're not sure what those doubts mean. When I then encourage them to follow those doubts, they're not sure why I -- a pastor and theologian by vocation -- wouldn't simply denounce doubt and insist on faith. So let me lay out why that is.
And I want to begin with a quote from Wendell Berry:
[T]here are an enormous number of people -- and I am one of them -- whose native religion, for better or worse, is Christianity. We were born to it; we began to learn about it before we became conscious; it is, whatever we think of it, an intimate belonging of our being; it informs our consciousness, our language, and our dreams. We can turn away from it or against it, but that will only bind us tightly to a reduced version of it. A better possibility is that this, our native religion, should survive and renew itself so that it may become as largely and truly instructive as we need it to be.I shared with one recently that I've only just begun to understand what Berry is talking about here, this embrace and renewal of Christianity, my native religion that informs my consciousness, language and dreams.
Some of us are in an in between place with Christianity. Something needs to give. Should we stay or go? Obviously, everyone has to make their own choices. For my part, I've found wisdom in what Berry is saying here.
A lot of people who have decided to leave the faith are still, for lack of a better word, what I've begun to call "shadow Christians", still haunted by God. Jesus remains for many this wild, ragged ghostly figure moving from tree to tree in the back their minds. They just can't seem to shake him.
But for others the "better possibility" has been for us to intentionally step out of the liminal space, away from the cognitive dissonance, to invest in, cultivate, and renew our native religion.
As I said when I began, I think doubt is theologically -- and therefore spiritually -- significant. I think doubt is a Christian act. Doubt creates an openness of heart which is a prerequisite of love. But that openness only creates a potentiality, it's not enough to pull you forward into greater love, mercy, gentleness, grace, peace and joy.
From doubt you either move away from the faith or toward renewal. This is the choice facing many of my friends today.
Sure, I hope and pray for renewal. But I know that comes in God's good time and ways. So for now, I'll encourage them in their doubts.