The Faithfulness of Doubt

If anyone knew well the story of God’s promising and providing a child to Abraham and Sarah it was Zechariah. He was, after all, a priest whose life calling it was to know the story of God’s relationship and interaction with Israel through the years. Not only would he have known the story, it seems reasonable to suspect he might have held the story close in hopes that what God did for Abraham and Sarah, God might also do for Zechariah and Elizabeth. The two couples were quite alike. Just as Abraham and Sarah were faithful and righteous people, so Luke tells us both Zechariah and Elizabeth “were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.” But the more obvious commonality that makes me think Zechariah might have prized this story is the fact both couples, though faithful, were unable to conceive and give birth to a child.

It is not difficult to imagine that month after month, perhaps for several years, each time Zechariah and Elizabeth came face to face with the reality it would at least be another month until she could get pregnant, they would pray hopeful prayers: “God of Abraham and Sarah, who can create life even in the midst of lifeless wombs, grant us the blessing of raising a child to whom we might pass on our faith.”

But there’s only so much hope that can be drawn from a thousand year old story. And there’s only so many times one can pray the same desperate, pleading prayer, without growing tired and weary. So which of us can fault Zechariah for being rather skeptical when an angel appears and tells him Elizabeth will bear him a son? And yet, just as the angel declares, Elizabeth does indeed give birth to a son we know as John the Baptist.

I have occasionally heard well-meaning Christians respond to others’ doubts by suggesting greater familiarity with the stories of Scripture would prevent such doubts. The story of Zechariah, however, testifies to the fact that doubts will arise in the life of faith no matter how well one knows the story. Thankfully, what Scripture calls us to is not a doubt-free life, but a faithful life of growth toward maturity. Which is why I love the story of Zechariah. Because if a knowledgeable but skeptical priest can question God’s honesty only to sing a beautiful song of praise and raise a child who would prepare the way for the Lord, surely that gives us hope that our moments of greatest doubt are not discouraging signs of the death of our faith but reassuring signs of the life of our faith.

Who's Got My Back?

No one would have faulted him for being nervous. In fact, most probably would have expected him to be at least slightly unnerved. Yet when asked after pitching a masterful complete game in game one of the World Series whether he had been nervous, Cliff Lee responded quite matter-of-factly, “I really never have been nervous in the big leagues. This is what I’ve wanted to do my whole life; it’s what I enjoy doing. I put all the work in between starts . . . there’s no reason to be nervous if I did all the work. The game is the time to go out there and have fun . . . and trust your teammates and your skills.”

Listening to the interview, I was struck by Lee’s confidence. Confidence in the skills he had spent years practicing. Confidence in his teammates to have his back and cover his mistakes. Confidence in his coaching staff to provide strong leadership and appropriate guidance. In some ways, his confidence almost seemed absurd. He was, after all, pitching in the home of the greatest team in the history of baseball. He was surrounded by tens of thousands of screaming fans and dozens of reminders of the great players in history who had roughed up pitchers as good or better than he. He was going up against one of the most potent Yankee lineups in the last few decades. Yet during the game he looked so relaxed the commentators noted it was like he was throwing batting practice, not pitching the opening game of the World Series in which his team was the underdog.

It is interesting how often church people talk about the circumstances in which they find themselves living. If you listen closely you can hear all kinds of conversations about the devil’s well-chronicled history of success in convincing people to accomplish his purposes. You can hear all kinds of chatter about the hostile environment of people who seem to want Christians to fail and see dozens of reminders of those who have gone before who have been roughed up by evil. You can hear all kinds of short-sighted speculation about how it’s harder than ever to live a faithful life in these times.

It is altogether appropriate to have a healthy respect for your opponent. But there is a huge difference between worrying yourself into losing before you’ve even taken the field, deciding you’re likely to lose before you’ve even thrown the first pitch, and throwing yourself fully into practice and preparation, aligning with a team to watch your back and cover your mistakes, and submitting yourself to the leadership and guidance of a coaching staff. It seems to me as we enter into the Yankee Stadium of life we have no reason to be nervous. This is, after all, what we’ve spent so much time preparing for, and we have a wonderful team to support us and an unrivaled coaching staff to lead us and to guide us!

Infomercial Jesus

Donald Miller has quite a way with words. These, in particular, caught my attention this morning as I was finishing his latest page-turner, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life:

Growing up in church, we were taught that Jesus was the answer to all our problems.... But the idea that Jesus will make everything better is a lie. It's basically biblical theology translated into the language of infomercials. The truth is, the apostles never really promise Jesus is going to make everything better here on earth. Can you imagine an infomercial with Paul, testifying to the amazing product of Jesus, saying that he once had power and authority, and since he tried Jesus he's been moved from prison to prison, beaten, and routinely bitten by snakes? I don't think many people would be buying that product. Peter couldn't do any better. He was crucified upside down, by some reports. Stephen was stoned outside the city gates. John, supposedly, was boiled in oil. It's hard to imagine how a religion steeped in so much pain and sacrifice turned into a promise for earthly euphoria. (203-204)

It's one thing to recognize the truthfulness of these words. It's quite another to allow them to critique our own expressions of faith and practice of ministry.

• How do we honor this truth when ease and comfort are among society's ultimate values?
• How do we honor the true Christ when the primary hope of many Christians for future generations is that they be excited about church or Jesus, thus leading to the praise and exaltation of Infomercial Jesus?
• How do we honor the Servant who prays "Not my will but yours" in a made-to-order world in which we've made Jesus into a product pitch-person selling a customizable, made-to-order version of himself?

Surely our attentiveness to the stories of Jesus about the good Samaritan, a selfish older brother, a persistent and dedicated gardener, and others has helped us see that one of these things just doesn't belong here: ThighMaster, Salad Shooter, Awesome Auger, ShamWow!, Jesus.

May the Holy Spirit root out any desire we have for Infomercial Jesus and draw us nearer to the One who willingly lays down his life for others!