Yesterday I published part 1 of this post... Today I want to dig a bit deeper...

WHAT CAUSES DOUBT?

In my context working with Jr High & High School students, I typically encounter a few different causes for doubt...

Justifying Behavior

Sometimes, I'll talk with a student who is trying really hard to justify their actions, to the point that they start to abandon their faith/morality so they feel less guilty. It sounds something like, "I don't understand why a loving God wouldn't want me to be happy. What's really wrong with me sleeping with my girlfriend if we're being smart about it? ... Christianity isn't even relevant today."

I think you have to call it like it is. If you really are just trying to justify something that you know isn't right, be honest about it. I know there's less guilt involved when you try to deconstruct your faith or moral structure, but in my experience that just creates an an internal itch you can't quite scratch.

Tragedy

This is tough. We live in a broken world Things are not the way they are supposed to be. There is senseless violence, disease, natural disaster, abuse, death, and hunger everywhere. How can a good God allow this to happen? How could God allow horrible things to happen to someone that I love who also loves the Lord?

Sometimes I talk with people who need permission to be upset with God. Look at the emotion that is expressed throughout the Psalms. In Psalm 6, David cries out, "My soul is in deep anguish. How long Lord, how long?" Acknowledge that at times this world is unfair and cruel. Express frustration towards God. And praise God for the gift of Jesus Christ as God's redeeming work in creation.

Intellectual Issues

This is what come up most often in my world...
"It was just easier to believe in God as a little kid."
"Did you see the Bill Nye creation/evolution debate?"
"There are more and more things that challenge my belief in God as I get older."

Adolescence is a crazy crazy time, but it's also really exciting. In many ways it's like we are trapeze artists. We grow up swinging on one bar where everything in the world is Black & White. It's a wonderful thing. But as we grow up, our brains develop the ability to think more abstractly. Things we were once so clear on become increasingly "gray." We need to be willing to let go of the bar that we grew up swinging on and be willing to reach forward in faith and grab a new bar that feels quite foreign. I think that this is a place that many people try to ignore their doubts and try to swing on the "Black&White" trapeze bar long after it's time to let go. These people will end up having a lot to dig up and struggle through later in life...

I think one of the greatest comforts in the intellectual questioning process is that God is big enough to handle my questions. As I continue to wrestle with intellectual roadblocks and challenges the rest of my life I know that the God I worship is bigger than my understanding and will not be shaken by my questions.

Find people who can offer up resources and wrestle through these intellectual issues alongside you. Keep asking questions! Keep rebuilding and rethinking. Be open to what it is that God has for you in the struggle, and wrestle alongside others!

"I Do Believe, Help Me Overcome My Unbelief..."

In Mark 9, Jesus is approached by a man whose son has been possessed by a demon.

Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

May this be our prayer as we continue to wrestle with doubt the rest of our lives... "We do believe, Lord help us overcome our unbelief."