Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 (ESV)

Answers in Concrete – The Believe Series – Part 5

Go to PART 1  |  PART 2  |  PART 3  |  PART 4  |  PART 5  |  PART 6  |  PART 7

This week we’ve chatted a bit about faith and doubt and questions and mystery. If you’ve got some doubts and questions, don’t worry. You’re in good company.

It can be a daunting thing to talk about questions in the realm of faith. It can seem scary and insecure, even a tad rebellious. Rest assured; we’re not suggesting that you throw the baby out with the bathwater and send everything you have ever believed to the Spanish Inquisition.

But, don’t suppress your doubts, don’t silence your questions. Don’t pretend like you know everything when deep inside, you long for answers. Don’t walk around like a Christian pac-man swallowing everything set before you. Questions lead to truth.

Mary asked, “A virgin birth, how?”
A lawyer asked, “Who is my neighbour?”
Peter asked, “How many times should I forgive?”
Nicodemus asked, “What are you saying with this ‘born-from-above’ talk?”
The Pharisees asked, “By what authority do you do these things?”
John the Baptist asked, “Are you the one? Or should I look for another?”
Jesus asked, “My God, My God! Why have you abandoned me?”

And the answers come in the living. Not in words and formulas and certainties, but in the form of love and life and faith. It unfolds.

Faith is somewhat misunderstood; relegated to a box, a political party, the way a prayer is said out loud, the way we quote scripture, the lines we say when we hear bad news; the songs we sing, where we go on Sunday morning.

Faith is more than that; it’s so much more mysterious, rich and wondrous. And we all have it. We all follow something: an idea, a movement, a person. Everyone has a belief system about the world; how it works, even how it all came to be and if/who is in control of it and how. So it's not a question of who has faith and who doesn't. But rather, ‘What/who is your faith in?”

The questions we suppress are often the ones about where to place our faith and how to outwork it. There’s a fear that if we voice those questions, the faith we think we currently have will grow weaker, even dissipate. But I have found, and I know a TONNE of you have too, that the exact opposite happens. Questions deepen our faith and take us further down the road of belief.

The letter to the Hebrews says that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” (11:1).

Frederick Buechner writes, “Faith is better understood as a verb than as a noun, as a process than as a possession. It is on-again-off-again rather than once-and-for-all. Faith is not being sure where you're going, but going anyway. A journey without maps.”

Questions are some of the things that keep you walking.

Ones like:
What next?
How?
Why?
Where?
Are you sure?
Do you want me to choose?
Really?
Help me?
What do you mean?
Is there more going on here?

Here’s the thing, though. The answers to these questions don’t bring you to a full stop. They don’t always “settle the matter.” They lead you to ask more. They take you to the next step, which then requires you to take another step… and another… and another. Faith never comes to an end. It begs for more conversation, more walking it out, more living it out, more questions… Faith is more about celebrating the mystery of truth and love and hope, than conquering them with a set of concrete answers.

Questions and faith are a perfect pair.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus asked God, “Why have you forsaken me?”
You’ll never know if you never ask. Unasked questions are weights of the soul, and its often the asking, rather than the answer, that brings relief.

Many of the social justice movements we have seen (and need) have started from the questions: Why? Who says? How do you believe that? Where did you get that idea? And if we silence the questions within, we block and stunt our progress. Faith doesn’t suppress questions, it embraces them and directs them to the Divine.

Ask. Seek. Knock.

You will receive, you will find, and a door will open.
And then? You do it all over again.

What questions are ‘weighing' on your soul? Leave us a comment below.

Go to Part 6 – My Faith »

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