At The Family Church here in Gainesville, our senior pastor Philip Griffin concludes his message series Questions I'd Ask God with the final question: What If I Have Doubts? While customarily focused on one particularly section of scripture and its meaning for us, in this series...and especially with this message...Philip instead draws upon several references. When I've indicated one, just click on it and you'll be able to read it via Bible Gateway...
Pastor Philip structures this sermon about doubt by first discussing the truth about it and then how to move past it. His first point is that spiritually mature people can still have times of doubt (Matthew 11:2-3, Matthew 14:31, Matthew 28:17). Philip distinguishes between two different Greek words translating to "doubt"...one means a wavering between options while the other denotes judgment and making wrong conclusions. The former is the acceptable usage of "doubt" that he is discussing here and that it is normal and healthy for people to ask questions when confusion arises before them. Secondly, God doesn't condemn questions, but encourages them (Matthew 7:7, James 1:6-8). Jesus encouraged seekers...the problematic condemnation of doubt expressed in that passage from James refers to the second translation of that word which means judgment, not an open search for truth. Now how does one move past doubt? Philip lays out four steps: go to the root (Jeremiah 20:18), ask God for help (Mark 9:24), trust scripture, (2 Peter 1:16), (Ephesians 4:14-15), and hold any remaining questions in perspective (1 Corinthians 13:12). In this process our pastor stresses that the problem with doubts is when we hang onto them instead of seeking their resolution...
I have a couple of reactions to this message. One is that there is another word in common use, "skeptic", that can be interpreted in two different ways...either as someone who actively and honestly questions the truth of something or as someone who has already firmly made up their mind in disbelief. So nowadays you hear of climate change skeptics, 9/11 skeptics, Kennedy assassination skeptics...all of these have already committed themselves to a negative judgment. My other reaction to this sermon...as well as to the series as a whole...is that I believe that there are things in our faith that don't necessarily lend themselves to seeking answers for the simple reason that they are a deliberate part of God's mystery, beyond inquiry. I don't believe that my Lord wants me to stand behind him and have the same degree of understanding about him and his creation that he has, but rather that he wants me to be in relationship with him...to walk with him...
You can watch Pastor Philip's message on the church's YouTube video website through the following link: [link]. The Family Church, located at 2022 SW 122nd Street, meets each Sunday morning at 9:30 and 11 with the weekly message, worship music, prayer, and fellowship. Next week will begin a new series...
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