The Basics of Life

There is no doubt about it: Christians are plagued by doubt. A short time ago I received an anonymous e-mail from a Christian who had a set of questions, of which I found one to be particularly intriguing: "I know that if you believe in God, you will be saved. But sometimes I have doubts as to whether or not there is a God. Does this mean I don't believe?" Another Christian who has brushed with suicide and finds herself constantly depressed and despairing simply wished "that I had the strength to believe my own beliefs." I have heard several stories of strong Christians who ended up abandoning their faith altogether. While doubting the core beliefs of our faith may not be a problem for most of us, I find myself doubting my ability to share my faith with others. I know that getting the message across to people rests in God's ability and not my own, but I find myself doubting that God could ever use me, in all of my weakness, to make a difference. Especially when the issues which often cause people to reject the Gospel, whether it be religion or sinful practices they don't want to give up, seem too far above my head for me to deal with, and I only seem to cause conflict and friction when they are brought up. When I pray for my unsaved friends and co-workers, I may ask for opportunities to share love and truth with them, but I'm often hoping that God would instead bring a stronger Christian into their lives to help them.

What a headache. Whatever the case may be, God did not intend us to live in doubt, although I believe He intends to use our doubts to ultimately strengthen our faith. When we're six feet under in theology, our minds are tied up in doubt, and the world's problems seem to be crashing down on us from every side, it's time that we get back to the basics of our faith in Christ. And where better to turn than Abraham, who is considered to be the father of those who have faith (Rom 4:11). When Abraham was 99 years old, God promised that he would become the father of many nations (Gen 17:4), and against all hope he believed, not taking into account that his body was as good as dead and Sarah's womb was also dead (Rom 4:18-19). After fulfilling His promise, God then decided to put Abraham through the ultimate test of his faith. Seemingly contradicting His promise that Abraham's offspring would be through Isaac, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son as a burnt offering. Of course, God had to butter things up a little, directly reminding Abraham that he was going to kill his only son whom he loved. (Gen 22:2) "Oh yeah, and one more thing Abraham: you aren't going to get off easy by carrying this out in your backyard. There is going to be a 3-day journey before the sacrifice" (v.4). I sure do wonder what must have been going through Abraham's head during that journey! We all know the end of the story, but here's the point: Because Abraham obeyed God even when His command didn't make sense, God's promise would be fulfilled that all nations would be blessed through Abraham (v.15-18). Really, what could that promise have meant to Abraham? He knew nothing of the prosperous nation which would form from that promise and survive to this day in the Middle East, and he certainly didn't have a clue about the millions of people (including me and you) who would be blessed as a result of the promise, for Christ was indeed reckoned from the line of Isaac. There wasn't a whole lot in that promise for Abraham right then and there, and he could have easily been caught up in the grief and doubt of the moment and not sacrificed his son, but he had the faith not to ignore the bigger picture of God's plan even when he didn't fully understand what the bigger plan was.

It's the same for us. We aren't going to understand everything God is doing in and through our lives, and that may cause us to doubt that we could ever be an effective witness for the Lord. It may even cause us to doubt the truths behind our faith. Doubting may only be natural, but when we doubt, let's be sure to doubt our doubts! It would be easy for the Italy team to have doubts over whether we were an effective witness last summer since we didn't see much fruit from our efforts, and perhaps only one or two of our contacts still expresses any interest in the Gospel today. Yet I remain confident, and will not give up praying, because I realize that I simply don't understand how God is working and I believe that He may one day water a seed that was planted in an Italian heart. Just as Abraham could not see the end result, so I cannot see to what ends God is now working, but this I know: The Gospel is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating even to divide soul and spirit, joints and marrow, judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart; it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, and it will not return empty, but will accomplish what God desires and achieve the purpose for which it was sent (Heb 4:12, Rom 1:16, Isa 55:11).

So it's okay if I can't answer the arguments of the Roman Catholic or the Mormon or the Muslim. It's okay that I have trouble answering the atheist, the philosopher, and the evolutionist. The power behind witnessing does not rest in my amount of knowledge or my ability to give a cunning defense but only in a plain presentation of the Gospel which saved me. If you ever doubt the power of the Gospel, remember how it changed your own life, dig into God's Word, and allow Him to silence your worries. Remember that Christianity is only for the weak; even Paul was weak when he presented the Gospel:

"You'll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God's master stroke, I didn't try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who He is; then Jesus, and what He did--Jesus crucified.

I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate--I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it--and nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the message came through anyway. God's spirit and God's power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God's power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else." (1 Corinthians 2, from The Message)

Paul kept it simple. He stuck with the basics, and even though he may not have had the most convincing speech, and despite the definite sense of his own inadequacy, the Holy Spirit still worked in the hearts of those who heard him. As Avalon sings, "It's not about perfect performance or resolution of will; it's all about surrender: giving up, being still."

I think it's time that we follow the advice of 4Him and get back to the basics of life.

--Written by Steven Wakeman (2/11/03)