gift of doubt, danger of certainty
there is a fuzzy line
“Don’t be a doubting Thomas.” I really have no idea how many times my mom gave me that advice when I was growing up. It really is a popular warning!
Of course, this comes from John 20 when Jesus suddenly appears through doors and walls and shows the disciples the wounds in his hands and side. As it happens, Thomas is absent for the meeting. (Did he not get the memo? Did he already have previous commitments?) After his friends tell him the story, he replies, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe” (v. 25b).
(Or maybe Jesus’ materializing among them is too much for him to swallow!)
A week later, they are gathered again, and for the second time, Jesus suddenly appears. He agrees to humor Thomas and encourages him to touch the wounds. Thomas cries out to Jesus in wondrous affirmation, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus concludes, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (v. 29). (The other disciples “have seen.”)
Does he upbraid his doubting disciple? One might counter with the example of Peter, who three times made a point of denying he even knew Jesus. No doubt the admission of being part of this rabble-rouser’s posse comes into play. (Excuse my use of the word “doubt”!) On that frightening night of Jesus’ arrest, he’s in no hurry to share the violence being inflicted on his dear teacher.
The first witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection were women. Upon receiving the news, the men had their own doubts. They were slow to believe Mary Magdalene and the others.
To Thomas’ credit, we should note that after Lazarus has died, Jesus plans to go to his home in Judea. The disciples beg him not to, understanding he has enemies there ready to stone him if he shows his face. Still, Jesus is resolute. It is Thomas who steps forward and tells the others, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (11:16). Thomas is ready to lay down his life with, and for, Jesus. The doubt of Thomas doesn’t come from a place of stubbornness or from a refusal to love his Lord.
Is it fair to label Thomas based on this one instance? It’s not like the Bible gives him the nickname “doubting Thomas”! I would suggest Jesus’ response to Thomas doesn’t automatically carry a negative tone. It could simply be an observation, of whatever nature. Jesus doesn’t tell Thomas he is guilty of “unbelief.” That isn’t the same thing as doubt. That isn’t the same thing as “not believing.”
Mark Buchanan, professor at Ambrose University in Calgary, Alberta, comments on doubt itself.* “Sometimes doubting is not a lack of faith but rather an expression of it. Sometimes to doubt is merely to insist that God be taken seriously, not frivolously.” (64)
Strangely enough, doubt can be seen as a gift. And conversely, certainty can be seen as a danger — even as a sin. It can lead to folly of many varieties.
There is one good way to shut down debate or discussion. Simply claim, “God told me.” “I was following the leading of the Spirit.” It is a tad difficult to respond to that! Certainly, those might be true statements, but it can be quite a temptation to someone who wants to avoid questioning to employ them as tactics.
Taking it a step farther, one might really run with it and wonder why you don’t agree with them. After all, they have been presented with that direct message from the divine. “Maybe if you got right with God, you wouldn’t doubt — and you would see that I’m right.” It could even be seen as a philosophical notion known as determinism. That is, we are “determined” to follow a path. We lack free will; we have no real choice. However, those utilizing this approach can turn it into a controlling mechanism. It can be used to manufacture manipulation.
(Full disclosure: I am one of those who soon becomes wary of “God told me”… and “I was following the leading of the Spirit.”)
Also, I’m not suggesting Jesus, because of Thomas’ doubt, says he lacks free will! Quite the opposite. A reading of the text clearly demonstrates that.
Buchanan continues, “The depth of our doubt is roughly proportionate to the depth of our faith. Those with strong faith have equally strong doubts. That principle bears out in the other direction as well: people with a trivial and shallow faith usually have trivial and shallow doubts.” (65)
Those with (and those who seek) durable faith are willing to be questioned. They’re willing to question themselves.
That would be a useful quality to combat the tedious nature of our proclivity to embrace mind-numbing dualities. We are so certain our side is right; we are so certain their side is wrong. Buchanan’s remark about frivolity should be borne in mind.
One over-the-top illustration is displayed ad nauseum by major news networks. One big boy is unable to admit the Democrats are correct on anything — unless they happen to agree with their own preconceived notions. Other big boys are unable to admit the Republicans are correct on anything — unless they happen to agree with their own preconceived notions. (Wow, I think I just needed a hit of caffeine from my iced coffee and milk drink to avoid the attendant monotony and drifting off to sleep!)
“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For the judgment you give will be the judgment you get, and the measure you give will be the measure you get” (Matthew 7:1–2). Among other things, Jesus’ prohibition on judging warns that justice is a cosmic boomerang. Beware of that oh-so-sure certainty, because it might come back and bite you on the backside.
One more note by Buchanan: Thomas “doubted, not to excuse his unbelief, but to establish robust belief. He doubted, so that his belief might be based on something more than rumor and wishful thinking.” (64) Not that his friends were necessarily given to flights of fancy — well, who knows, maybe they were — but Thomas opts for a bit of fact checking.
In 1 John 4, the apostle counsels us, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (v. 1). Belief has its own sort of fact-checking.
Again, not that I’m suggesting Jesus promotes deception!
So, to review: Thomas doesn’t believe; he doubts the existence of Jesus’ wounds. The following week, Jesus satisfies his doubts. But why has Thomas been the one labeled “doubting,” when there’s ample evidence he wasn’t the only one?
Doubt itself can be a safeguard. It can be a gift. On the other hand, certainty can lead to many dangers. In the wrong hands and at the wrong time, it can be a means of control. Jesus warns against faulty certainty. What comes around, goes around. John’s first epistle underlines the importance of testing the spirits.
Therefore, the line between doubt and certainty is clearly drawn. I’m certain I have made my position clear, without any hint of fuzziness.
Though I have my doubts…
*“The Benefit of the Doubt,” Christianity Today 44:4 (3 April 2000)
