Have you ever felt like doubting your Christian faith makes you look “less Christian?” Does God have a problem with us asking the hard questions? Does he look down on us as if to say, “How dare you question me?”

Of course not.

He longs to lovingly “discuss” our doubts and questions with us.

In his book, Wandering Toward God: Finding Faith amid Doubts and Big Questions, Travis Dickinson offers some wisdom where doubting our faith is concerned.

Below is one excerpt. I hope you enjoy it. (Also, linked here is a blog I wrote this past summer that includes a section on “doubting the faith.”)

Here’s that excerpt, nw

When you doubt your faith, you often feel like you’ve been beat up.

This can be a lonely place. Sometimes it feels like you have stumbled on something people either have never seen or are just ignoring. You wonder why no one else is talking about the issue you’ve found. What adds to the isolation is you might be brave enough to share your doubts with another Christian only to have that person dismiss your doubts as insignificant. Too often when it comes to doubting, pastors and well-meaning Christians are telling people to, in effect, knock it off, as if doubting is nothing more than a bad choice we are making.

Here’s a ticking time bomb: you have some questions, and these questions are causing you to doubt, but you can’t find a safe place to address those doubts. If you’ve also been told by your pastor or a parent that faith requires absolute certainty and anything short of that is sin, you will find yourself in what may feel like a hopeless struggle. Since no one is willing to take the time and effort to provide answers to your questions, it can feel like there are no answers.

The great shame is this couldn’t be further from the truth. When it comes to questioning Christianity, there’s nothing new under the sun. We stand in a long tradition of Christians asking deep and difficult questions and pressing Christianity for its truth. Consequently, virtually every question we may have has been asked in one form or fashion at some point.