One night a wife found her husband standing over their baby’s crib. Silently, she watched him from the doorway. As he gazed down at their sleeping infant, she saw on his face a mixture of emotions: disbelief, doubt, skepticism. Touched by this rare moment of vulnerability and depth of feelings that were displayed, her eyes glistening. She stepped closer and slipped her arm around her husband. “A penny for your thoughts,” she whispered softly.
“It’s amazing!” he replied. “I just can’t see how anybody can make a crib like that for only $46.50.” It just goes to show there is a little skeptic in all of us!
According to Dictionary.com, one definition of a skeptic is “a person who doubts the truth of a religion, esp. Christianity, or of important elements of it.”
From cover to cover, the Bible abounds with skeptics, whether it be Eve, who doubted what God said about eating the forbidden fruit; Moses, who questioned God over leading Israel out of Egypt; or Felix, who was almost persuaded by Paul to become a believer. The Bible is a book about faith—and skepticism.
In reality, all of us are skeptics to some degree or another. I know I am. I resonate with the man who said to Jesus, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). I consider myself a skeptic because I sometimes struggle to believe all the truths of the Bible as fully as I should. Yet, if I never wrestled with belief, there would be no room for my faith to grow. Faith, after all, is a lifelong adventure. Just when I think I’ve reached a point of unwavering trust in God’s Word, along comes a situation or challenge to test my faith and leave me doubting and waffling.
I view faith in God as a journey—a continuum. The walk of faith begins with believing in His existence and unfolds, step by step, like any other journey. Often, the movement is subtle, almost imperceptible, as we progress from total doubt towards total devotion. Along this journey we are confronted with truth and must choose to respond with belief or doubt. When we choose belief, we take another step forward, advancing to the next point where truth awaits our acceptance or rejection.
Everyone, whether Christian or non-Christian, is somewhere on this faith continuum. As Christians, even as we wrestle with our own struggles along the journey, we have the privilege of partnering with God to help others—both believers and non-believers—take the next step forward in their own faith journey.
This means that I must be sensitive in how I approach people and speak to them about Jesus, always considerate of where they are in their journey. For the avowed atheist, I need to focus on sharing God’s existence. For someone who believes in God but struggles to trust Him, I need to share the relevance of God’s Word to their life. For the individual who has made a commitment to Christ—who has “crossed the line” and embraced Him as their Saviour—I need to share what they need to know, believe, and do to take the next step toward becoming a more fully devoted follower of Jesus.
I stated earlier that we are privileged to work alongside God to bring people along in their faith journey. He works through upbringing, relationships, and life events, and as such, there’s always a point of contact—a starting place where truth has already begun to penetrate and can be built upon. To put it another way, everybody believes something! In the faith journey of others, you and I are links in the chain, travelling companions, perhaps only for a short time.
I must make an important distinction: skepticism about truth doesn’t have to prevent one from trusting. We can still trust, even with only partial knowledge.
A person may be skeptical simply because they don’t fully understand something, thinking, “Once I understand, then I will believe.” But as Augustine wisely said, “Seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.”
Christian faith is also about the will—the act of choosing to believe and trust, even without having full knowledge. This willingness to trust despite uncertainty is key to taking the next step on anyone’s journey of faith.
A skeptic can still believe and grow in their faith. The person of faith chooses to believe even without having all the answers or understanding everything. They can rest in God’s redemptive plan and entrust themselves to Him, even with only partial knowledge.
Everyone experiences skepticism, questions, and doubt. Regardless of where someone is on their journey, you and I are called to help others trust and take their next step in their faith journey. And beyond all the major, life-changing steps of faith, perhaps we can even help someone believe that a crib can be made for just $46.50.
