Not Without A Doubt
Audio sermon by Gordon D. Venturella | 24:45 min
TOPIC: Doubt
REFERENCES: Mark 9
SERIES: The Church with an Attitude | Part 5
SUMMARY
There really are just a few big questions in life. Why am I here? Where did I come from? Where will I go when I leave this life? The big questions in life are in response to the only things we know about this life and that is that I am here, I got here somehow, and I’ll leave here someday. And so the really big doubts surround the really big questions. What if God really is a cultural creation and my religion is nothing more than society’s means to control me. What if God is just a psychological defense mechanism that I along with other weak people dreamed up in order to survive in a world of hurt and pain? What if religion is the opiate of the people? What if life is absurd? What if I am a cosmic accident?
In too many churches, doubt is seen as the opposite of faith and the same thing as unbelief. But this view of doubt is a major misconception and presents a view of faith that is unrealistic and view of doubt that is unfair. Doubt is not the opposite of faith nor is it the same as unbelief. Doubt is a state of mind in suspension between faith and unbelief so that it is neither of them wholly and it is each only partly.
I’ve not heard doubt defended in many churches and that’s probably why most doubters don’t feel welcome in church. Too many churches say to the doubters, you must not have thought through your position, you must not be a very thoughtful person, a very bright person if you haven’t come to the same kind of faith that I have. What’s wrong with your intellect? You don’t believe like I believe. This kind of attitude is called "Spiritual Snobbery" which is to look down on another who has not come to the same place I have in my faith. You don’t find that in the gospels. Instead of an attitude of superiority, let’s be honest enough to admit that many critics of the church have been right. It takes courage to have open dialog.
So how do we come to any resolution in the arena of faith? Here are three attitudes about doubt to help us resolve our two mind:
1. Doubt Defined
2. Doubt Defended
3. Doubt Decided
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REFERENCES: Mark 9
SERIES: The Church with an Attitude | Part 5
SUMMARY
There really are just a few big questions in life. Why am I here? Where did I come from? Where will I go when I leave this life? The big questions in life are in response to the only things we know about this life and that is that I am here, I got here somehow, and I’ll leave here someday. And so the really big doubts surround the really big questions. What if God really is a cultural creation and my religion is nothing more than society’s means to control me. What if God is just a psychological defense mechanism that I along with other weak people dreamed up in order to survive in a world of hurt and pain? What if religion is the opiate of the people? What if life is absurd? What if I am a cosmic accident?
In too many churches, doubt is seen as the opposite of faith and the same thing as unbelief. But this view of doubt is a major misconception and presents a view of faith that is unrealistic and view of doubt that is unfair. Doubt is not the opposite of faith nor is it the same as unbelief. Doubt is a state of mind in suspension between faith and unbelief so that it is neither of them wholly and it is each only partly.
I’ve not heard doubt defended in many churches and that’s probably why most doubters don’t feel welcome in church. Too many churches say to the doubters, you must not have thought through your position, you must not be a very thoughtful person, a very bright person if you haven’t come to the same kind of faith that I have. What’s wrong with your intellect? You don’t believe like I believe. This kind of attitude is called "Spiritual Snobbery" which is to look down on another who has not come to the same place I have in my faith. You don’t find that in the gospels. Instead of an attitude of superiority, let’s be honest enough to admit that many critics of the church have been right. It takes courage to have open dialog.
So how do we come to any resolution in the arena of faith? Here are three attitudes about doubt to help us resolve our two mind:
1. Doubt Defined
2. Doubt Defended
3. Doubt Decided
POST A COMMENT
From this sermon...
“When the Bible tells us that the wisdom of the world is foolishness, it’s not telling us that the wisdom of the world is useless, it’s telling us that it’s foolish to try to use the methodology and technics of science to explore the truth about God.”-Gordon Venturella
“Spiritual Snobbery: To look down on another who has not come to the same place I have in my faith. You don’t find that in the gospels.”
-Gordon Venturella
“Doubt is not the opposite of faith nor is it the same as unbelief.”
-Gordon Venturella
Recommended Books
The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Languageby Eugene H. Peterson
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