Mark 9:14-29 contains one of my favorite examples of faith in the Bible. This passage tells the story of a desperate father trying to get some help for his son. For years, this man’s son had dealt with “a spirit” that had made the boy mute, caused him to have seizures, and had often put the boy in mortal danger. We don’t know exactly how long this poor man had been forced to watch the suffering of his son, we just know the young man had suffered his condition “from childhood.” We also don’t know what efforts the man had made in pursuit of healing for his boy, but we do know he came to the disciples and they couldn’t help.
In desperation, the man turns to Jesus and says, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Inherent in his comment is more than a little bit of doubt. Jesus picks up what the man is laying down and responds, “If you can?’ Everything is possible for the one who believes.” What I love most about this story is how the man responds to Jesus. He makes a profound declaration: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Of all the statements in Scripture, I can think of few that do a better job of illustrating the reality of faith. The undeniable truth of life this side of eternity is that doubt is a part of our daily existence. As much as we would love to be 100% sure of everything we know and believe, there’s always some degree of uncertainty.
We speak of doubt as if it is the absence of faith, but I’m not sure that’s accurate. In truth, it is only the presence of doubt that makes faith necessary and possible.
We treat doubt as if it’s a dirty word, particularly within the church. We speak of doubt as if it is the absence of faith, but I’m not sure that’s accurate. In truth, it is only the presence of doubt that makes faith necessary and possible. Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Faith is only necessary in the face of some level of uncertainty or unknowability. That’s not to say faith can’t be undergirded by sound understanding or experience, but with our limited human perspective and understanding, our levels of certainty will rise and fall at times. If we’re honest, we all have our doubts. Much like the father in Mark 9, we believe the best we can, but we still need help dealing with our doubts.
As people of faith, we shouldn’t fear doubts and we certainly shouldn’t marginalize or silence those who have them, ourselves included. Our failure to speak openly and honestly about doubts does little to undo them. In fact, silence is the fertile soil of the soul in which doubt grows and becomes destructive. When we fail to make space within our churches for people to ask deep and difficult questions and to deal with doubt, we push them away from the very place and person that can help them turn their doubts into faith.
Rather than seeing doubt as the enemy of faith, we should see it as an invitation to develop faith further.
In a grand twist of irony, it is not the doubting father that Jesus comes down hardest on, but those who are closest to Jesus. Perhaps their proximity to Jesus had caused them to become overconfident in their own understanding. In exasperation, Jesus asks, “You unbelieving generation… How long shall I put up with you?” I wonder if Jesus doesn’t ask the same of us sometimes. The more certain we are of what we know and believe, the less likely we are to seek His help. When we aren’t honest about our own struggles to believe, we don’t just marginalize those with difficult questions and doubts, we often marginalize Jesus Himself.
Rather than seeing doubt as the enemy of faith, we should see it as an invitation to develop faith further. Jesus is not afraid of our doubts and won’t condemn us for having questions. He invites us to bring them to Him with the faith we have, small though it may be, in order that He might help us overcome and work through it. We shouldn’t hide our doubts or avoid those who have them. Instead, we should humbly come to Jesus together and honestly confess: We believe; Help our unbelief.
